Saint Etienne are an English band from London, formed in 1990. The band consists of Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They became associated with the UK's indie dance scene in the 1990s, beginning with the release of their debut album Foxbase Alpha in 1991. Their work has been described as uniting 1990s club culture with 1960s pop and other disparate influences. The name of the band comes from the French football club of AS Saint-Étienne.
Finisterre is the sixth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne, released on 7 October 2002 by Mantra Records. A double-disc deluxe edition was released on 3 May 2010 by Heavenly Records.
Good Humor is the fourth studio album by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne. It was released on 4 May 1998 by Creation Records. The American spelling of humor is used in the title as the band were, according to Sarah Cracknell, "fed up with the 'quintessentially English' tag, so there was a bit of a backlash against that."
Tiger Bay is the third studio album by English indie dance band Saint Etienne. It was released 28 February 1994 by Heavenly Records. In an interview with Record Collector, band member Bob Stanley stated that the title is a reference to the 1959 film Tiger Bay.
"Turn the Beat Around" is a disco song written by Gerald Jackson and Peter Jackson, and performed by American actress and singer Vicki Sue Robinson in 1976, originally appearing on her debut album, Never Gonna Let You Go. Released as a single, the song went to #10 on the Billboard pop charts, and #73 on the Billboard soul chart. The song earned Robinson a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The track also went to number one on the Billboard disco chart for four weeks. "Turn the Beat Around" is considered a disco classic and is featured on many compilation albums.
"No Good " is a song by English electronic music group the Prodigy. Written and produced by group member Liam Howlett, it was released on 16 May 1994 as the second single from their second studio album, Music for the Jilted Generation (1994). It is built around a repeated vocal sample from "You're No Good for Me" by Kelly Charles (1987). Howlett initially had doubts whether to use the sample because he thought it was too pop for his taste. The song also contains samples from "Funky Nassau" by Bahamian funk group the Beginning of the End. It was certified Gold in Germany for 250,000 sold copies.
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written in the 1960s by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" first charted for Lou Johnson, whose version reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1964. Sandie Shaw took the song to No. 1 in the UK that same year, while the duo Naked Eyes had a No. 8 hit with the song in the US two decades later in 1983.
"You're in a Bad Way" is a 1993 song by British pop group Saint Etienne. It was released as the second single from their second album, So Tough (1993). The song is a deliberately old-fashioned throwback to 1960s pop music. In an interview with Melody Maker magazine, Bob Stanley claims that it was written in ten minutes as a simple imitation of Herman's Hermits, and was only intended to be a B-side to "Everlasting", but the record company decided that it should be a single. "Everlasting" was dropped as a single and remained unreleased until it was eventually included on disc 2 on the deluxe edition of So Tough in 2009.
"He's on the Phone" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne in collaboration with French singer-songwriter Étienne Daho. A fast-paced dance track, it is one of Saint Etienne's biggest hits, reaching number 11 on the UK Singles Chart, number 31 in Iceland, number 41 in Sweden and number 33 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. The lyrics tell of an "academia girl" trying to escape from a relationship with a married man: "He's on the phone / And she wants to go home, / Shoes in hand, / Don't make a sound, / It's time to go." At the centre of the track is a spoken-word section by Daho.
"Pale Movie" is a 1994 song by British pop group Saint Etienne, released as the first single from their third album, Tiger Bay. It reached number 28 on the UK Singles Charts and also became a hit in other countries, peaking at number one in Lebanon and number 24 in Iceland.
"Avenue" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne, released as the first single from their second album, So Tough (1992), in October 1992. It was originally titled "Lovely Heart" or "Young Heart". The album version is a 7-minute version with lengthy instrumental sequences; it was edited down to around 4 minutes for radio play, though the commercial single contained the full-length version, with the radio edit only released on promotional material. The edit wasn't released commercially until 2005's Travel Edition 1990-2005.
"Into the Blue" is a song by American electronica musician Moby, released as the fourth single from his third studio album, Everything Is Wrong on June 19, 1995. American musician Mimi Goese co-wrote the song with Moby and provided the vocals. The song is slow and melancholy, a stark contrast to the first four singles from the album.
"Surrender Your Love" is a song recorded by British house music group Nightcrawlers, released as the second single from their only album, Lets Push It (1995). Produced by American DJ and record producer MK, it is co-written by him with John Reid and was released in July 1995, shortly after the previous single, "Push the Feeling On". It became a hit in various countries, such as the UK, Finland, France and the Netherlands, where it reached the top 10. On the Eurochart Hot 100, it peaked at number 19. Outside Europe, the song was successful in Israel, peaking at number eight.
English alternative dance band Saint Etienne have released ten studio albums, two soundtrack albums, nine compilation albums, two remix albums, seven mix albums, two video albums, one box set, four extended plays, 38 singles, and five promotional singles.
"Nothing Can Stop Us" is a 1991 song by English band Saint Etienne, released as the third single from their debut album, Foxbase Alpha. It is the first release to feature Sarah Cracknell, who would continue to front the band from this release on. The single reached the number one spot on the American dance charts for one week. The song is based on a looped sample from Dusty Springfield's recording of "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face".
"Xmas 93" is a Christmas-themed single by English alternative dance band Saint Etienne. It was released in the United Kingdom on 6 December 1993 by Heavenly Recordings. The lead track "I Was Born on Christmas Day" features guest vocals from The Charlatans singer Tim Burgess, and peaked at number 37 on the UK Singles Chart. The song's title is a nod to band member Bob Stanley who was born on 25 December 1964. The music video for the single was filmed in the vicinity of Kensington and Chelsea Register Office in London.
"Hug My Soul" is a single by British band Saint Etienne. It was the third single from the album Tiger Bay, and was released September 1994 by Heavenly Records. It was written by vocalist Sarah Cracknell along with songwriting partners Guy Batson and Johnny Male.
"Take Me Higher" is a song by American singer Diana Ross, released on August 5, 1995 by Motown Records as the first single from her twenty-first album by the same name (1995). Co-written and produced by Narada Michael Walden featuring additional credits from Mike Mani, it became Ross' fifth number-one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in the US. In Europe, it entered the top forty in Scotland and the UK, but was a even bigger hit on the UK Dance Chart, peaking at number four.
"Luv 4 Luv" is a song by American singer Robin S., released in August 1993 as the second single from her debut album, Show Me Love (1993). It was written by Allen George and Fred McFarlane and was Robin S.'s second number one on the US dance chart, where it spent one week at the top, and a total of eleven weeks on the chart. On other US charts, the song went to number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 52 on the soul singles chart. Overseas, "Luv 4 Luv" reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and number 24 in Ireland. A black-and-white music video was produced to accompany the song. It sees Robin S. performing the song in a self-service laundry. "Luv 4 Luv" was re-released in the UK in 2003 but only lasted one week on the chart, peaking at number 78.
"The Bad Photographer" is a 1998 song written and performed by British pop group Saint Etienne, and released as the second single from their fourth album, Good Humor (1998). It is produced by Swedish record producer, composer and musician Tore Johansson, and peaked at number 27 on the UK Singles Chart. The song also reached number 24 in Scotland and number four on the UK Indie Singles Chart.
