 |
Ricardo Autobahn (John Matthews) | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | John Matthews |
| Also known as | Rikki (in Rikki & Daz) |
| Born | 8 March 1978 |
| Genres | Pop, hip hop, dance, Europop |
| Website | www |
John Matthews (born 8 March 1978) better known by his stage name Ricardo Autobahn is an English producer, songwriter and musician. He is also known in collaborations with Daz Sampson as in Rikki & Daz and the projects like Barndance Boys, Cuban Boys, and his current project Spray.
Matthews is a member of the band Spray and earlier in the Cuban Boys. The latter was most famous for their UK Christmas hit “Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia”. The band allowed their label to market "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" as "The Hampster Dance Song".
In addition, Matthews was Rikki in the duo Rikki & Daz (with Daz Sampson), who also recorded under the name of the Barndance Boys. Rikki & Daz scored a UK top 20 hit with their version of the song "Rhinestone Cowboy", involving Glen Campbell who re-recorded his vocal and appeared in the video. The Barndance Boys, infamous for their papier mache heads, had a top 40 hit in 2003 with "Yippie-I-Oh". With Daz Sampson, Matthews co-wrote and produced the UK's 2006 Eurovision entry "Teenage Life" with Daz Sampson and the European hit "The Woah Song" by DJ Daz.
In 2006, Matthews co-wrote and co-produced the eponymous debut album for US electro artist Lolly Pop. He was also involved in Pop Inc, known for their single "Looking 4 The KLF". In 2008 he formed the musical project called Attery Squash, who had their single "Devo Was Right About Everything" remixed by Devo members Robert & Gerald Casale [1]
In 2009, Matthews released a video on YouTube called "The Golden Age of Video". [2] This was a mash-up of video clips from various TV Shows and movies. In 2012, he collaborated on a Christmas single release titled "And The Salvation Army Band Plays" with Helen Love, [3] and playing keyboards with the band. [4] Matthews also co-founded Pound Shop Boys with Phil Fletcher, performing covers of songs from children's television programmes in the style of the Pet Shop Boys. [5]
As a remixer and producer, Ricardo Autobahn has remixed Becky's dance single, "Less Than Three", The Crimea's "Loop a Loop", along with singles by Nathalie Archangel, Jane Badler and Christopher Anton. And he directed work vocalist/performer Brooke R. Calder's on-stage personae Lolly Pop in collaboration with Minneapolis producers Monte Moir and Doctor Fink.
In 2014, Matthews joined the band Helen Love to play keyboards for a number of dates, including at Primavera Sound in Spain. He also remixed Helen Love's "Pogo Pogo".
(for a comprehensive listing, see discography section in Cuban Boys
 | This section needs expansionwith: more compositions. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017) |
"Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia", also known as "C vs. I", is a song by English electronic music group the Cuban Boys. The song consists almost in its entirety of an unofficial soundalike sampled loop from "Whistle Stop" by Roger Miller which was featured in the Disney movie Robin Hood, played at high speed in a manner similar to the classic "Chipmunks" records. The original sample, also sped up, was first featured on the Internet as part of "The Hampster Dance" song on the website of the same name.
The Tip Sheet (1993–2002) was a weekly magazine and CD insert for UK music industry insiders. Jonathan King founded it and was managing editor until his imprisonment in 2001. His brother, Andy, took over the position, helped by Joe Taylor.
The Cuban Boys are an English electronic group and production team, currently composed of Skreen B and Ricardo Autobahn; the band formerly also included B.L. Underwood ("Blu") and Jenny McLaren. Their music is characterised by fast electronic beats, heavy reliance upon samples and the repetition of the name drop "the Cuban Boys" in the background of many of their tracks. They achieved success after being aired on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show with sample-heavy dance tracks and cut-ups and were responsible for the UK No. 4 hit single "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" which was released through EMI.
Spray is a synth-pop duo from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, consisting of siblings Jenny McLaren and Ricardo Autobahn. Following the demise of their previous band, the Cuban Boys, McLaren and Autobahn released the album Living In Neon on Ninthwave Records in the United States. This was followed in 2003 by the extended single "I Am Gothic". A new album, Children of a Laser God was released online in 2006, along with the single "Run With Us", a cover of the theme tune of the popular 1980's cartoon The Raccoons with the "Michael Trenfield" remix as the main single accompanied with the original version and remixes from JKZ, Absorb, FMU and Diskowarp.
Uniting Nations are a British dance music act formed in Liverpool in 2004. They achieved chart success across Europe. The act was originally made up of Paul Keenan and Daz Sampson as band members, songwriters and producers. After their 2005 hit "Out of Touch", which was the debut and most successful single of the band, Craig Powell joined in as frontman of the band. A number of songs on the Uniting Nations' debut and only album One World, released in 2005 on Gut Records, were also performed by vocalist and session artist Jinian Wilde.
Helen Love are an indie band from Wales whose music is a combination of punk rock, bubblegum pop and disco dance music. The band was formed in 1992 by Helen Love with Sheena, Roxy, and Mark (keyboards). Current members are Helen, Sheena and Ricardo Autobahn.
"3 a.m. Eternal" is a song by British acid house group the KLF, taken from their fourth and final studio album, The White Room (1991). Numerous versions of the song were released as singles between 1989 and 1992. In January 1991, an acid house pop version of the song became an international top ten hit single, reaching number-one on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the UK Dance Singles Chart and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, and leading to the KLF becoming the internationally biggest-selling singles band of 1991.
Darren "Daz" Sampson is a British professional football manager/scout, music producer and broadcaster. Sampson is known for his commercial dance music as part of several groups and his television appearances. He has had nine Top 30 UK singles.
Van She are an electropop band formed in 2002 in Sydney, Australia, with Matt Van Schie on bass guitar/vocals, Tomek Archer on drums/sequencer, Michael Di Francesco on synth/guitar and Nicholas Routledge on vocals/guitar. The band's debut album, V was released on the Australian label Modular Recordings in August 2008, and peaked at number 10 on the ARIA Charts.
The KLF are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty began by releasing hip hop-inspired and sample-heavy records as the JAMs. As the Timelords, they recorded the British number-one single "Doctorin' the Tardis", and documented the process of making a hit record in a book The Manual . As the KLF, Drummond and Cauty pioneered stadium house and, with their 1990 LP Chill Out, the ambient house genre. The KLF released a series of international hits on their own KLF Communications record label and became the biggest selling singles act in the world in 1991.
"Teenage Life" was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, which was sung by Daz Sampson in English.
Bus Stop was a British dance act made up of Darren Sampson, alongside Graham Turner, Mark Hall and Nikki Reid (Lane). The group was formed in 1998 and had a string of hit singles before disbanding in 2002. Main vocalist, Sampson, went on to represent the UK in the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.
"Rhinestone Cowboy" is a song written by Larry Weiss and recorded by American country music singer Glen Campbell. When released on May 26, 1975, as the lead single and title track from his album Rhinestone Cowboy, it enjoyed huge popularity with both country and pop audiences.
Lolly Pop is an on-stage persona of Brooke R. Calder, produced by Ricardo Autobahn, Monte Moir and Doctor Fink.
Andreas S. Jensen is a Danish-born, London-based, singer-songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist.
Attic Lights are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 2005 by Kev Sherry, Colin McArdle and Jamie Houston, later joined by Tim Davidson and Noel O'Donnell. The four-part harmonies in a number of their songs have led to critical comparisons with Teenage Fanclub and The Beach Boys. Their guitar heavy powerpop has been compared to alternative rock bands such as Weezer, R.E.M. and The Lemonheads.
Eastwood is the Cuban Boys' first and only major label album. It was released in 2000, after some delay, following the band's only UK hit single, "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia".
Rikki & Daz, was a pop music duo, formed in 2002 by John Matthews and Daz Sampson. John Matthews of the Cuban Boys fame and also known as Ricardo Autobahn, became Rikki in the duo. He teamed up with Sampson, named just Daz in the duo and went on to release the single, "Rhinestone Cowboy ", a take on Glen Campbell's hit "Rhinestone Cowboy". It featured the country singer in a new vocal for the release, and Campbell appeared in the video. The single went on to reach No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 16 in the Irish Singles Chart. The pair also contributed separately to a cover of their version of the song with the band Hyperbubble on their 2017 album Western Ware.
The Barndance Boys was an English trio musical formation made as a country and folk dance act in 2003. Barndance Boys was the brainchild of John Matthews from the Cuban Boys fame. He launched the novelty band with Darren Sampson known as Daz Sampson, with whom he had cooperated in many other musical projects including in the duo Rikki & Daz. Brian LH was also included to complete the trio.
Western Ware is an album by the American synth-pop/electropop band Hyperbubble from Fellowshipwreck released on February 26, 2017. An aim of the collection was to follow through on the promise of band member Jess DeCuir to "plan to produce, mix and create the first electro Country & Western LP" since the work of Gil Trythall. One reviewer noted that the recording also marked a change for Hyperbubble in that while Jess is regarded as "the voice of band, ...on this album Jeff (DeCuir) cleans up rather nicely as lead vocalist on a good number of tracks."
