Stereo MC's are an English

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

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music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals.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

Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...

, London, in 1985. They had an international

top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

hit with their single " Connected" and a UK top 20 hit with " Step It Up". After releasing eight albums for

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

, !K7, Graffiti Recordings, and PIAS, they formed the label Connected with the band Terranova to release their own material and that of other artists within the house/techno/electronic genre.

Career

Rob Birch (vocalist/songwriter) and Nick Hallam (DJ/producer) co-founded the Gee Street recording studio and record label, in 1985 along with Jon Baker and DJ Richie Rich. Part of the finance came from Birch and Hallam's joint receipt of £14,000 from a property developer, on condition they vacated their adjacent flats. When Gee Street attracted the attention of 4th & Broadway, they recorded the debut Stereo MCs' studio album, '' 33-45-78'' (1989), on a shoestring budget with DJ Cesare. Drummer Owen If and backing vocalist Cath Coffey joined the group for the ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

LP''. In 1990, "Elevate My Mind" was the first British hip hop single to reach the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. Having supported the Happy Mondays on a US tour, in the emerging UK

alternative dance Alternative dance (also known as indie dance or underground dance in the United States) is a musical genre that mixes alternative rock with electronic dance music. Although largely confined to the British Isles, it has gained worldwide exposure ...

scene, it took an alliance with the

Jungle Brothers Jungle Brothers are an American hip hop trio composed of Michael Small (Mike Gee), Nathaniel Hall (Afrika Baby Bam) and Sammy Burwell (DJ Sammy B). Hailed as pioneers of the fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and house music, they were the first hip-hop g ...

to ensure chart success for ''

'' (1990).

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 ...

work for U2 and Queen Latifah 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 number 2 success in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, contained the hit singles " Connected", " Step It Up", "Creation", and "Ground Level", and won them 1994 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 Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

(" Frozen"), Tricky ("Makes Me Wanna Die" Weekend Mix), and the

("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 The Drowned World Tour (billed as Drowned World Tour 2001) was the fifth concert tour by American singer Madonna, launched in support of her seventh and eighth studio albums, '' Ray of Light'' (1998) and ''Music'' (2000). It began on June 9, 20 ...

. In 2000, they released a Disc Jockey mix for Studio !K7's DJ-Kicks series and remixed another song for Madonna ("

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

"). 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 Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

. 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. Stereo MCs Orange Music Haifa 2005 03

Drummer Owen If died on 10 July 2022, at the age of 63.

Members

* Nick Hallam – born 11 June 1960,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England. * 'Rob B' – born Robert Charles Birch, 11 June 1961, Ruddington,

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, England. * 'Owen If' – born Ian Frederick Rossiter, 20 March 1959, Newport,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

, Wales – died 10 July 2022, Newport, Wales. * Cath Coffey – born Catherine Muthomi Coffey, c. 1965,

Eldoret Eldoret is a city in the Rift Valley region of Kenya. It serves as the capital of Uasin Gishu County. Located in western Kenya and lying south of the Cherangani Hills, the local elevation varies from about at the Eldoret International Air ...

, Kenya.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''Retroactive'' (2002) *''Live at the BBC'' (2008)

Other albums

*'' DJ-Kicks: Stereo MC's'' (2000) (Remix album of other artists)

Singles

References

External links

Official websiteBritishhiphop.co.uk – The original UK Hip Hop historyStereo Mc's Mixtape for The New WorckStereo Mc's Interview Themselves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stereo Mcs English hip-hop groups Musical groups from Nottingham English electronic music groups English house music groups Hip house music groups Gee Street Records artists Musical groups established in 1985 Brit Award winners 1985 establishments in England