Shades of Rhythm are an English

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

most active from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, still performing live today and hailing from

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

in 1988. They are best known for being a part of the early '90s

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

scene.

Career

Shades of Rhythm were signed to

ZTT Records ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the ''NME'' journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, the ...

. Their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

release was "Homicide"/"Exorcist" in January 1991. This was followed in April by "Sweet Sensation" (which sampled

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

's "Something Special (Is Gonna Happen Tonight)" from her 1986 album

Winner in You ''Winner in You'' is the eighth studio album by American R&B singer Patti LaBelle. It was released by MCA Records on April 28, 1986, in the United States. Recording sessions took place during 1985–1986. Production was handled by several record ...

), and then "The Sound of Eden" which was a #35 UK Singles Chart hit in August that same year. The next release was "Extacy" which peaked at #16 in December 1991. Their debut album ''Shades'' (ZTT 11, later reissued as ''The Album'') sold over 50,000 copies, and they

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed " Set You Free" by

N-Trance N-Trance () are a British electronic music group who were formed by Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth in 1990. The group is known for their European hit songs " Set You Free" and " Electronic Pleasure", and their covers of the 1970s disco songs " ...

. All these

recordings A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

were supported by live appearances at raves, such as Technodrome and Fantazia. In March 1991, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

music magazine, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', reported that Shades of Rhythm were appearing at the 'Great Indie Festival - A Midsummer's Day Dream' at

Milton Keynes Bowl The National Bowl (originally the Milton Keynes Bowl) is an entertainment venue located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The site was a former clay pit (for brick-making), filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using sub-soil e ...

in June that year. Also on the bill were

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. Taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" the members shared, they released ...

Gary Clail Gary Clail (born 1959) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit ...

New Fast Automatic Daffodils New Fast Automatic Daffodils (later shortened to New FADS) were an alternative rock group from Manchester, England, active between 1988 and 1995. History Formed in 1988 by Dolan Hewison (guitar), Justin Crawford (bass), Perry Saunders (drums) ...

The Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping electronic dance music act on the UK Singles Chart by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith Mc ...

Paris Angels Paris Angels were an English seven-piece band from Guide Bridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England, associated with the Madchester scene of 1989–1991. Their music fused indie guitars with electronic dance music. The band com ...

plus

Flowered Up Flowered Up were an English indie pop-alternative dance band, formed in Camden Town, London, in 1989, active during the baggy movement. Their 13-minute single " Weekender" reached the UK top 20. The band split up in 1994 amid drug problems. ...

. Shades of Rhythm released "Sweet Revival (Keep It Comin')" in February 1993, followed in May by "Getting Away". Their time with the

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, ...

was rounded off with a #37 UK chart placing for the reissue of "The Sound of Eden", which featured

X-Press 2 X-Press 2 are an English electronic dance music duo. The members are DJ Diesel (Darren House) and DJ Rocky (Darren Rock). Ashley Beedle left to pursue solo projects in 2009. They were DJ Award winners in 2002 and Ivor Novello winners in 2003 ...

, Chris Coco,

Joey Negro David Russell Lee (born 18 June 1964) is an English DJ and music producer, formerly known by the stage name Joey Negro, which he retired in July 2020 following the George Floyd protests. He has released music under a variety of pseudonyms ...

and

Richie Hawtin Richard "Richie" Hawtin (born June 4, 1970) is a British-Canadian electronic musician and DJ. He became involved with Detroit techno's second wave in the early 1990s, and has been a leading exponent of minimal techno since the mid-1990s. He becam ...

. Their final chart outing was in June 1997, when "Psycho Base" spent one week at #57 on Coalition Records. Shades of Rhythm also regularly appeared on some of the dance

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 ...

s of the day, such as ''Deep Heat'', ''Total Science'', ''Cream Live'', ''Hard Fax'', ''Essential Hardcore'' and ZTT's own ''Zance''. "The Sound of Eden" has also been

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by two different British dance acts, Casino in 1997 and Another Chance in 2007 - the latter titled "Everytime I See Her (Sound Of Eden)". In later years, group members Kevin Lancaster and Nick Slater joined to form the

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

duo the Drumattic Twins.

Group members

* Kevin Lancaster * Nick Slater * Rayan Hepburn

Discography

Albums

*1990: ''Frequency'' (S.O.R. Recordings) *1991: ''Shades'' (

ZTT ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by the record producer Trevor Horn, the businesswoman Jill Sinclair and the ''NME'' journalist Paul Morley. They released music by acts including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Grace Jones, ...

) - UK #51 *1992: ''The Album'' (

)

Singles

*1991: "Homicide"/"Exorcist" - UK #53 *1991: "Sweet Sensation" - UK #54 *1991: "The Sound of Eden" - UK #35 *1991: "Extacy" - UK #16 *1993: "Sweet Revival (Keep It Comin')" - UK #61 *1993: "Getting Away" - UK #81 *1993: "The Sound of Eden" (reissue) - UK #37 *1994: "The Wandering Dragon" - UK #55 *1997: "Psycho Base" - UK #57

References

External links

*
Page on ZTT Records official website
{{Authority control Hardcore techno music groups English electronic music groups English dance music groups English techno music groups English house music groups Breakbeat hardcore music groups ZTT Records artists