| Groove Armada |
| Background information |
| Origin |
London, England |
| Genre(s) |
Electronica
House
Trip
hop
Downtempo |
| Years active |
1996 – present |
| Label(s) |
Columbia
UK |
| Website |
http://www.groovearmada.com/ |
| Members |
Andy
Cato
Tom Findlay |
Groove Armada is an electronic
music group from England,
composed of two members, Yorkshireman Andy Cato (real name Andrew Cocup)
and Tom Findlay, hailing from Cambridge. They are now primarily based in
London,
and continue to produce and record music as well as hosting
semi-regular club nights in London and an annual London festival under
the Lovebox banner.
The group has collaborated with a diverse array of artists
including Neneh Cherry, DJ Gram’Ma Funk, Sophie
Barker, Nappy
Roots, Sunshine Anderson, Mutya
Buena and Richie Havens. They have expressed
their desire to work with Kylie Minogue on her comeback album
due in late 2007 and have now confirmed that they are indeed
collaborating with Kylie. They also recently stated that one of the
tracks on which they have collaborated with Kylie is one, if not the
best, track they have ever done. Tom Findlay has also described working
with Prince as his dream collaboration,
although there are no plans for such at the moment.
Groove Armada is probably best known to the music listening
public for producing music that have featured in numerous media
including advertising campaigns, movies and computer games (see below).
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Appearances
in Media
- 3 Albums
- 4 Discography
- 4.1 Albums
- 4.2 Compilations
- 4.3 Singles
- 5 Other
work
- 6 References
- 7 External
links
|
History
Groove Armada first formed in the mid-1990s after they had
been introduced by Cato’s girlfriend and soon started their own club,
also called Groove Armada, after a 70’s discotheque.
By 1997 they had released a few singles including “4 Tune
Cookie” and the song that first brought them minor fame, “At The
River”, which sampled "Old Cape Cod" by Patti
Page. The song has gone on to be one of Groove Armada’s most well-known
tracks and has since been found on numerous chill
out compilations.
Their first album Northern Star was
released in 1998, and was followed by their second album Vertigo
in 1999, which made the British chart’s Top 20 and silver status in the
UK.
An album of remixed tracks from Vertigo entitled The
Remixes debuted in 2000, along with their contribution to the
Back
To Mine series.
Their next studio album Goodbye Country: Hello
Nightclub was released in 2001, and as its title suggests
marked a move away from chill out to more upbeat music. Another mix
album followed, this time for the Another
Late Night series, before the 2003 debut of Lovebox,
which featured a variety of genres and was noticeably sassy and brought
a new type of funk to Groove Armada.
A Greatest Hits album appeared in 2004, the last of their
releases with Pepper Records, before their latest studio album Soundboy
Rock, was released in 2007.
Appearances in Media
- "I See You Baby", remixed by Fatboy
Slim in the big beat style was used extensively in a
2003 Renault UK television marketing campaign advertising the Renault
Mégane.
- "If Everybody Looked The Same" in a 2001 Mercedes-Benz
UK television advert.
- "At The River" is being used in a 2007 Marks
& Spencer Food UK television campaign, a decision which Groove
Armada now regret making.
- "Hands of Time", starring folksinger Richie Havens, is
featured in the movie 2004 Collateral,
and is referred to by one of the characters as a "classic song."
- "Hands of Time" was also used at the end of the Las
Vegas episode "What Happens in Vegas Stays in
Vegas" in 2003.
- "Edge Hill" is featured in the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,
and was used by Channel 4 (UK) promotional adverts for the
hit series Lost
in 2005.
- "Madder" is featured in the video game Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
as the game introduction.
- They also have an appearance on the soundtrack of the
popular TV series, Sex And The City,
remixing the show's theme song into an extended chillout track.
- "But I Feel Good" appeared on the multi-platform cricket
game Brian Lara
International Cricket 2007.
- The song "Superstylin'" was featured in the hit film Bride
and Prejudice starring former Miss World Aishwarya
Rai.
Albums
- Groove Armada's debut album was Northern
Star, released in 1998.
- In 1999 Groove Armada released Vertigo,
which had a more mainstream and more 'polished' sound. This album
includes "At The River", which was re-released as a single. (#23 UK)
- In 2001, Goodbye Country
(Hello Nightclub) was released. The title
suggested that their new album is more upbeat and less chill out - as
demonstrated by the Grammy
nominated single "Superstylin'". (#5 UK)
- In 2002, they released the DJ mix album, Another Late
Night: Groove Armada, part of the Another
Late Night series on Azuli Records.
- In 2002, less than a year after Goodbye Country,
Hello Nightclub, Groove Armada produced Lovebox,
which included a variety of genres. Some tracks had a rock
element to them such as "Madder", while others were closer to their
traditional house, such as the title track
"Lovebox", and "Remember", which has vocals made up entirely of samples
of Sandy
Denny's singing for Fairport
Convention. An additional 'bonus' track was later released on their
website entitled 'Fairport'.
- In 2004 Groove Armada released a Best
Of album, including their hits and new
productions. (#6 UK)
- In 2007 Soundboy Rock
was released featuring tracks such as "Get Down", "Groove Extracts"
which follow the current UK trend of electric hard-house with rock
elements and "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" featuring the vocals of ex-Sugababes
singer Mutya Buena, hailed by online
music guide Popjustice
as one of the best songs of 2007.
Discography
Albums
| Year |
Album |
UK
Albums Chart |
U.S.
Top Electronic Albums |
| 1998 |
Northern
Star |
— |
— |
| 1999 |
Vertigo |
23 |
— |
| 2000 |
The
Remixes |
— |
— |
| 2001 |
Goodbye Country
(Hello Nightclub) |
5 |
7 |
| 2002 |
Lovebox |
9 |
3 |
| 2004 |
Best Of |
6 |
— |
| 2007 |
Soundboy
Rock |
10 |
— |
Compilations
- Groove Armada Presents...
- Doin' It After Dark Vol 1
- Doin' It After Dark Vol 2
- Another Late Night (Groove Armada)
- Back To Mine (Groove Armada)
Singles
| Year |
Single |
UK
Singles Chart |
US Dance |
Album |
| 1997 |
"At the River" |
— |
— |
Non-album
single |
| 1997 |
"Captain
Sensual" |
— |
— |
Northern
Star |
| 1997 |
"Four Tune
Cookie" |
— |
— |
Non-album
single |
| 1997 |
"M2 Many" |
— |
— |
Northern
Star |
| 1999 |
"Innocence Is
Lost (feat. Boy George)" |
— |
— |
Non
album 12" Promo |
| 1999 |
"If Everybody
Looked the Same" |
25 |
— |
Vertigo |
| 1999 |
"At the River"
(re-release)" |
19 |
— |
Vertigo |
| 1999 |
"I
See You Baby" (feat. Gram'ma Funk)" |
17 |
12 |
Vertigo |
| 2001 |
"Superstylin'" |
12 |
40 |
Goodbye
Country (Hello Nightclub) |
| 2001 |
"My Friend" |
36 |
— |
Goodbye
Country (Hello Nightclub) |
| 2002 |
"Purple Haze" |
36 |
— |
Lovebox |
| 2002 |
"Final
Shakedown" |
— |
— |
Lovebox |
| 2003 |
"Easy" |
31 |
5 |
Lovebox |
| 2003 |
"But I Feel
Good" |
50 |
— |
Lovebox |
| 2003 |
"Fireside
Favourites EP" |
— |
— |
Non-album
single |
| 2004 |
"I See You Baby
(re-issue)" |
11 |
— |
Best Of |
| 2007 |
"Get Down" |
9 |
— |
Soundboy
Rock |
| 2007 |
"Song 4 Mutya (Out Of
Control)" |
8 |
— |
Soundboy
Rock and Real Girl |
Other work
From 1995 to 2000, Andy Cato was part of the progressive
house music projects Mother's Pride and Qattara, and produced solo
efforts under the aliases Caia and Journeyman DJ. In 2002 Cato
collaborated with Rachel Foster, producing the album Pursuit
Of Happiness under the name Weekend
Players. He also co-wrote with Sophie Ellis-Bextor on
her album Shoot From the Hip,
and released his first solo single under his own name, "La Luna".
Tom Findlay makes up one half of Sugardaddy,
with Tim
Hutton, and has collaborated with Keeling Lee. In 2005 he set up Tunetribe, a
music download store.
Andy Cato has also been working with Roisin
Murphy on her new album Overpowered. Work with
Roisin includes the forthcoming single "Let Me
Know" plus another track entitled "You Know Me".
They are currently collaborating with singer Kylie
Minogue on her upcoming album, slated to be released late 2007.
Groove Armada
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References
External links