New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The members regrouped after the disbandment of their previous band Joy Division due to the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis. They were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. New Order's integration of post-punk with electronic and dance music made them one of the most acclaimed and influential bands of the 1980s. They were the flagship band for Manchester-based independent record label Factory Records and its nightclub The Haçienda, and they worked in long-term collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville.
François Kevorkian, also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. Kevorkian has produced and remixed work by a diverse range of musicians including the Smiths, Adam Ant, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan and U2, and is considered one of the forefathers of house music.
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
Utah Saints are an English electronic music duo consisting of members Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt. The band had three top-ten and another five top-40 singles on the UK Singles Chart in the 1990s, as well as number-one dance tracks in the UK and US. They were notable for pioneering use of sampling technology, in particular, their practice of manipulating samples from mainstream pop, rock, R&B and soul songs and combining them with contrasting dance beats, using the samples in a new context. The band wrote, produced and mixed all of their own music. The duo were joined on stage by additional musicians when they played live from 1991 to 2001. They were one of the first electronic groups to play as a live collective and supported both the Shamen and U2 live at 10 stadium shows. Since then the duo have performed live sets themselves.
Skint Records is a Brighton and Hove based dance music record label owned by JC Reid, Tim Jeffery and Damian Harris. It was created as a sublabel of Loaded Records, also founded by Reid and Jeffery. Along with Wall of Sound, the label was a leader in the big beat music scene of the mid to late 1990s.
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records.
Positiva Records is a subsidiary of Universal Music Group and concentrates on releasing dance music in the UK. The record label was set up in 1993, by Nick Halkes, who previously ran XL Recordings. Its headquarters are at the Universal UK offices, where it is the only large dance music label under the EMI banner.
Manchester's music scene produced successful bands in the 1960s including the Hollies, the Bee Gees and Herman's Hermits. After the punk rock era, Manchester produced popular bands including Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths and Simply Red. In the late 1980s, the ecstasy-fuelled dance club scene played a part in the rise of Madchester with bands like the Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets and Happy Mondays. In the 1990s, Manchester saw the rise of Britpop bands, notably Oasis.
52nd Street were a British jazz-funk and R&B band formed in Manchester in late 1980. Throughout the 1980s the group enjoyed success not only in the UK but also on the Billboard chart in the United States. Their biggest and best-known hit single was "Tell Me ", released in 1985 by the 10 Records subsidiary of Virgin Records in the UK, and then months later on in 1986 on MCA Records in the US.
Lost Souls is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Doves, released by Heavenly Recordings on 3 April 2000. The album was recorded over a period of several years, following the dissolution of Doves' original musical incarnation as house music act Sub Sub. Lost Souls was a moderate chart success in the UK; the album peaked at number 16, while the three singles taken from the album charted in the Top 40.
Sub Sub were an English dance act from Handforth, Cheshire composed of Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers Andy and Jez Williams.
Christian Jay "C. J." Bolland is an English-Belgian electronic music producer and remixer with British roots.
Robert Leo Gretton was the manager of Joy Division and New Order. He was partner in and co-director of Factory Records and a founding partner of The Haçienda. For ten years until his death in 1999, Gretton ran his own label, Rob’s Records.
Sea EP is the second EP from Doves. It was self-released on the band's Casino Records label on 24 May 1999 on limited CD and 10" vinyl. The band dedicated the EP to Rob Gretton, who helped fund Doves' early releases as well as when the band played as Sub Sub. Rob died of a heart attack only a few days before the EP was released. In the music video for "Sea Song," the opening title card reads "For Rob."
Rick Squillante was a nightclub disc jockey and music industry representative and record producer, who rose to fame during the 1980s as the principal DJ at the Starck Club in Dallas, Texas. He has been noted as a major influence on many of today's modern DJs in the dance music trade.
The Beat Club is a techno music group that was founded in the late 1980s by Ony Rodriguez and Mirey Valls in Miami, Florida.
Love to Infinity are a UK-based remix, production and songwriting team of brothers Andy Lee, Pete Lee and Dave Lee.
The Showstoppers was a four-piece African-American vocal soul group formed in Philadelphia about 1967. They are best remembered for their 1967 hit, "Ain't Nothin' But a Houseparty", which was the debut release on three record labels: Showtime Records, Heritage Records, and Beacon Records.
"Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)" is a song by British dance music act Sub Sub, released on 29 March 1993 by Rob's Records as the second single from their debut album, Full Fathom Five (1994). It features Temper Temper's Melanie Williams on vocals. The song was the act's biggest single, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the UK Dance Singles Chart; it became one of many dance singles in 1993 to cross over into mainstream popularity in the UK. In the accompanying music video, Jimi Goodwin plays bass, Jez Williams plays keyboards and percussion, and Andy Williams plays keytar. After struggling to repeat the success of the single, and after a fire destroyed the band's Ancoats studio in 1996, the group eventually reformed with a radically different sound as Doves in 1998.
Black Sheep is an American hip hop duo from Queens, New York, United States, composed of Andres "Dres" Vargas Titus and William "Mista Lawnge" McLean. The duo was from New York but met as teenagers in Sanford, North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was part of the Native Tongues collective, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul. After getting together in 1989, Black Sheep debuted in 1991 with the hit song "Flavor of the Month" and later released its first album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, which gained them praise and recognition in the hip-hop community for the album's unique rhythms and intelligent, often humorous lyrics. After six years together, Black Sheep disbanded in 1995, citing creative differences.
