Bentley Rhythm Ace (BRA) are a British

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

act formed in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1995, originally consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March.

Career

The band was formed in

by Richard March, formerly with the group

Pop Will Eat Itself Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorpo ...

, and Mike Stokes formerly with Bugweed Centipede. "Both more or less penniless, they drank in the same pub and were forced to buy their records at the cheapest place possible - car boot sales". Their live drummers include Keith York and Car SOS's Fuzz Townshend (alongside whom March previously played with in Pop Will Eat Itself), while EMF's James Atkin is also involved with BRA as a touring member. BRA signed on the

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

based

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Skint and released their eponymous debut album, '' Bentley Rhythm Ace'' in 1997, which spawned the popular single "Bentleys Gonna Sort You Out!". A second

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' For Your Ears Only'', was released in 2000 on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

but was less popular. A further single "Madam, Your Carriage Awaits" was released. The group also compiled a two- CD ''FSUK''

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

. In 2004, the Bentleys released a 4-song record with Sophia Lolley called ''Angel Face''. The name probably refers to the Rhythm Ace line of analogue

drum machines A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

manufactured by

Ace Tone Ace Electronic Industries Inc., or Ace Tone, was a manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, including electronic organs, analogue drum machines, and electronic drums, as well as amplifiers and effects pedals. Founded in 1960 by Ikutaro Ka ...

, some of which were rebranded and distributed by Bentley Pianos in the UK.ACE-TONE ARCHIVE PAGE
retrieved 2 April 2006. The group epitomises the

big beat Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as the ...

era. Signed to Skint Records, they enjoyed commercial success with their music being used on television

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

s and having an underground following. The group split in 2000 after which they played the occasional low-key DJ set. In 2016, the duo reformed and played live sets across the UK at festivals, supporting

the Wonder Stuff The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock musical ensemble, band. Originally based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, the band's first lineup released four albums and nearly 20 singles and EPs, enjoying ...

's December tour and headlining a few of their own shows.

Band members

* Richard March (born 4 March 1965,

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England) -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, keyboards, programming, engineering * Mike Stokes (born 15 June 1971,

, England) -

turntables A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

, samples * James Atkin (vocalist for EMF, born 28 March 1969, Birmingham) - vocals, guitars * Fuzz Townshend (born 31 July 1964, Hammersmith, London, England) - drums

Discography

Albums

Singles

DJ mixes

* ''FSUK3'' (1998)

References

External links

Bentley Rhythm Ace
page on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Bentley Rhythm Ace
discography on

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{Authority control English electronic music duos English male musical duos Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands Big beat groups Parlophone artists