Swings and Roundabouts | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 31 July 2000 | |||
Recorded | 1998–2000 | |||
Genre | UK garage, dance, R&B | |||
Label | Jive Pepper Records [1] | |||
Producer | Steven Meade, Danny Langsman [2] | |||
Shanks & Bigfoot chronology | ||||
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Singles from Swings and Roundabouts | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Times | 4/10 [4] |
Swings and Roundabouts is the debut album by the British dance duo Shanks & Bigfoot. [5] The album was released on 31 July 2000 but failed to break the UK top 75 despite the success of its two singles. It is best known for the 1999 hit single "Sweet Like Chocolate", which reached No. 1 in the UK as well as being a top 10 hit in Australia and New Zealand. [6]
Released a year after the runaway success of "Sweet Like Chocolate", the follow-up single "Sing-A-Long" failed to meet popular expectation, reaching No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart. The majority of the female vocals for the album were provided by Terri Walker. [7]
The Guardian called the album "surprisingly palatable", writing that the duo "offer amiable kid's-party fare, now and then sneaking out a great pop song such as 'Like You'." [8] The Scotsman wrote that "Walker's vocals are clear, vivid pop treats, but the album as a whole is so obviously directed at the commercial rewards of a string of top-ten hits that it loses all credibility." [1]
All songs written by Steven Meade and Danny Langsman.
The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music.
"Chocolate Salty Balls " is a song from the animated comedy TV series South Park, performed by the character Chef and featured on the soundtrack album Chef Aid: The South Park Album. The song's vocals are performed by Isaac Hayes, the voice actor for Chef. The song as it originally appeared was in the 1998 episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls", in which Chef creates a confectionery treat, the eponymous Chocolate Salty Balls. He then begins to sing the lyrics that became the basis for the single.
The Proclaimers are a Scottish rock duo formed in 1983 by twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid who were born on 5 March 1962. They came to attention with their 1987 single "Letter from America", which reached No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and the 1988 single "I'm Gonna Be ", which topped charts in Australia, Iceland and New Zealand. The Proclaimers have sold over 5 million albums worldwide.
Swing Out Sister are a British pop group best known worldwide for the 1986 song "Breakout". Other hits include "Surrender", "Twilight World", "Waiting Game", and a remake of the Eugene Record soul composition "Am I the Same Girl?"
"Chocolate" is a song by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, taken from her ninth studio album Body Language (2003). It was written by its producer Johnny Douglas and Karen Poole. The song is a ballad that uses chocolate simile to describe Minogue's obsession with love. It contains elements of disco and funk and employs breathy and whispery vocals. It was released as the third and final single from the album on 28 June 2004 by Festival Mushroom Records and Parlophone.
The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel, John Walker and Gary Leeds. After moving to Britain in 1965, they had a number of top-10 albums and singles there, including the No. 1 hits "Make It Easy on Yourself" and "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)", both of which also made the US top 20 and Canadian top 2. Between the two was the lesser US hit "My Ship is Coming In", another major hit in Britain, where it reached No. 3 in the chart. The trio split up in 1968, but reunited in the mid- to late 1970s and scored a final top-10 UK hit with "No Regrets".
"You Sexy Thing" is a song recorded by British group Hot Chocolate. It was written by lead singer Errol Brown and bass guitarist Tony Wilson, and was produced by Mickie Most. The song was released in October 1975 as the second single from their second album, Hot Chocolate (1975), and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in November 1975, as well as number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 the following February. Billboard ranked it the number-twenty-two song for 1976. It went on to gain notability by being featured in films, such as The Full Monty (1997).
Shanks & Bigfoot were a British duo of UK garage producers Steven Meade and Danny Langsman, known principally for their single "Sweet Like Chocolate", which topped the UK Singles Chart in 1999. They were originally known as Doolally, recording the pirate anthem "Straight from the Heart" under this name in 1998. Upon its first release, "Straight from the Heart" peaked at number twenty on the UK chart. It was subsequently re-released in 1999 on the back of their chart success with "Sweet Like Chocolate", and reached number nine on the chart.
"Sweet like Chocolate" is a song by British garage music duo Shanks & Bigfoot with vocalist Sharon Woolf. It was released as a single on 17 May 1999 and was included on the duo's debut album, Swings and Roundabouts, the following year. Vocals on the track are sung by Sharon Woolf, who had also sung on their track "Straight from the Heart", which was released under their previous band name, 'Doolally'.
Terri Walker is an English R&B and soul singer-songwriter. Walker has released four albums in the United Kingdom, Untitled, L.O.V.E, I Am and Entitled. She also provided the majority of the vocals for Shanks & Bigfoot's debut album Swings and Roundabouts.
Chocolate Puma are a DJ and music production duo from Haarlem, North Holland, consisting of René ter Horst and Gaston Steenkist ("Dobre"). Their stage names include "Zki & Dobre", "The Good Men", and "The Goodmen".
"Sweet Dreams " is a song by British new wave music duo Eurythmics. It is the title track of their album of the same name (1983) and was released as the fourth and final single from the album in early 1983. The song became their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. Its music video helped to propel the song to number two on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100; it was their first single released in the US.
"What Have I Done to Deserve This?" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys and soul singer Dusty Springfield, taken from the duo's second studio album, Actually (1987). The song was released as the second single from the album on 10 August 1987.
"We're All Alone" is a song written by Boz Scaggs, which became a hit for Frankie Valli in 1976. The next year it was a top-ten hit for Rita Coolidge in the US and the UK. Scaggs introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees, and included it as the B-side of two of the four single releases from that LP, including "Lido Shuffle".
The discography of British N-Dubz singer Tulisa consists of one studio album, seven singles and six music videos.
"Sing-A-Long" is a song by UK garage duo Shanks & Bigfoot, released on 17 July 2000. The song did not match the success of their previous UK number-one hit, "Sweet like Chocolate", but was still a hit single, peaking at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on both the UK Dance and Independent charts. Terri Walker provides vocals on the song.
"Straight from the Heart" is the debut single of UK garage duo Doolally, later known as Shanks & Bigfoot, with vocals provided by Sharon Woolf. The song was first released in 1998, and reached the top 20 in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 20. After the success of their UK number-one single "Sweet Like Chocolate" the following year, "Straight from the Heart" was re-released and peaked at No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached No. 1 on the UK Dance Singles Chart in both 1998 and 1999.
UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house, but also incorporates elements from dance-pop, R&B, and jungle. It is defined by percussive, shuffled rhythms with syncopated hi-hats, cymbals, and snares, and may include either 4/4 house kick patterns or more irregular "2-step" rhythms. Garage tracks also commonly feature 'chopped up' and time-stretched or pitch-shifted vocal samples complementing the underlying rhythmic structure at a tempo usually around 130 BPM.