Stereo MCs

Career

Vocalist Rob Birch and disc jockey (DJ)/producer Nick Hallam founded their Gee Street recording studio and record label with money they were given to leave their London flat and, dispensing with using a backing band, travelled to early gigs on public transport.

When Gee Street attracted the attention of 4th & Broadway, they recorded the début Stereo MCs' album, 33-45-78 (1989), on a shoestring budget with DJ Cesare, drummer Owen If and backing vocalist Cath Coffey. In 1990, "Elevate My Mind" by the Stereos was the first British hip hop single to reach the United States R&B record chart. Having supported the Happy Mondays on a US tour, in the emerging UK alternative dance scene, it took an alliance with the Jungle Brothers to ensure chart success for Supernatural (1990). Remix work for U2, PM Dawn, Queen Latifah, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Monie Love and Electronic followed.

Their live band included singers Andrea Bedassie and Verona Davis, and they were one of the few hip hop outfits to play at rock music festivals at the time. 1992's mainstream breakthrough Connected, a UK Albums Chart #2, contained the hit singles "Connected", "Step It Up", "Creation", and "Ground Level", and won them BRIT Awards for Best Group and Best Album. Hallam and Birch then created the music-publishing firm Spirit Songs, which signed Finley Quaye.

However, the follow-up to Connected did not appear for almost a decade. Further remix duties for Madonna ("Frozen") and the Jungle Brothers ("Jungle Brother") in 1998 kept the Stereo MCs' name in the limelight. Madonna went on to use the "Frozen" remix on her 2001 Drowned World Tour.

In 2000, they released a Disc Jockey mix for Studio !K7's DJ-Kicks series and remixed another song for Madonna ("Music"). The following year saw the release of Deep Down & Dirty, followed by a tour including slots opening for the recently re-united Jane's Addiction.

Their sixth studio album, Double Bubble, was released in July 2008, followed by their seventh, Emperor's Nightingale, in August 2011. In December 2008, they supported Madness at the O2 Arena in London.

Members

Albums

† This EP was written, produced and composed by the Stereo MCs and released on Island Records. The songs would later appear on their first album. The track listing is as follows:

1. "What Is Soul?" (sampled Ben E. King's "What Is Soul?", David Byrne and Brian Eno's "Regiment" and Talking Heads' "Once In A Lifetime")
2. "On 33" (sampled George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Deep Purple's "And The Address")
3. "Bring It On"
4. "Neighbourhood"
5. "Gee Street" (sampled Rose Royce's "6 O'Clock DJ")

Song appearances in other media