Shut Up and Dance (duo) explained

Shut Up and Dance
Background:group_or_band
Origin:Stoke Newington, London, England
Genre:House, breakbeat hardcore, jungle, breakbeat, UK garage
Years Active:1988–present
Label:Shut Up and Dance Records, Pulse-8 Records
Website:http://www.shutupanddance.co.uk/
Current Members:Philip Johnson
Carlton Hyman

Shut Up and Dance are an English duo that fused hip hop, house and hardcore. They are acknowledged as one of the pioneers of breakbeat hardcore and jungle music.[1]

Career

The group was formed in 1988 in Stoke Newington, London, by Philip 'PJ' Johnson and Carlton 'Smiley' Hyman. In 1990, they made the lower end of the UK chart with two singles, "£10 to Get In" and "Lamborghini", both released on their own record label, Shut Up and Dance Records.[2] [3] At this time, they also worked with the Ragga Twins for the first time and produced their first releases.[4]

In 1992, they reached No. 43 with their double A-side single "Autobiography of a Crackhead / The Green Man", before hitting the headlines in May of that year when they released "Raving I'm Raving",[5] based on Marc Cohn's hit single "Walking in Memphis". Upon its release, Cohn obtained an injunction to stop production of further copies of the single due to the lack of clearance.[5] A court order was also sought to prevent the sale of any copies already produced, but Cohn was persuaded to allow such sales on condition that all the proceeds went to charity. This caused panic-buying of the copies on sale, as consumers knew that no more would be produced. The single soared to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, but plummeted to No. 15 the following week, before leaving the chart completely.[6] Nevertheless, the No. 2 chart position earned them a live performance slot on BBC One's Top of the Pops alongside Bassheads, Don-E and Lisa Stansfield on the 28 May 1992 episode, though as they could not perform the "Walking in Memphis" melody they had to sing the lyrics to another tune.[7]

Shut Up and Dance released one further single from their Death Is Not the End album,[5] "The Art of Moving Butts", which featured singer Erin. The album itself reached No. 38 on the UK Albums Chart in June 1992.

Throughout 1994/5, they released a number of jungle tracks under the alias 'Red Light'.[8] [9] This was followed by the 1995 album Black Men United which encompassed jungle, downtempo, reggae and hip hop.[5] A single from this album, "Save It 'Til the Mourning After", which samples Duran Duran's hit "Save a Prayer", reached No. 25 on the UK chart and was track 14 on Now That's What I Call Music! 30.[10] In 1995, "Walking in Memphis" was covered by Cher for her twenty-first studio album titled It's a Man's World and when it was released as a single on 16 October 1995 it came with remixes produced by Shut Up and Dance.

In the early 2000s, they re-emerged releasing a number of UK garage tracks, followed by the breakbeat album Reclaim the Streets.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

Singles

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p183229/biography|pure_url=yes}} Shut Up and Dance Biography by John Bush ]. Allmusic.com . 21 April 2009.
  2. Web site: "Experimentation All the Way:" An Interview with Shut Up and Dance. Bill Brewster. 23 January 2019. RBMA Daily. https://archive.today/20190407155536/http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2019/01/shut-up-and-dance-interview. 7 April 2019.
  3. Reynolds S, 1998, Energy Flash, Picador,
  4. Web site: Hackney Soldiers: The Birth Of Jungle. Matthew Bennett. 11 April 2011. Clash Music.
  5. Book: The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music. Colin Larkin. Virgin Books. 1998. First. 0-7535-0252-6. 307.
  6. Web site: Shut Up And Dance - Raving Mad. 6 June 1992. Pushstuff.co.uk.
  7. Web site: BBC One - Top of the Pops, 28/05/1992.
  8. Web site: Shut Up And dance Interview. Blogtotheoldskool.com. 6 May 2009.
  9. Web site: Shut Up and Dance Interview - Canned Goods. dead. 1 September 2007. Canned Goods. https://web.archive.org/web/20091102130001/http://www.canned-goods.co.uk/music-interviews/shut-up-and-dance/80/. 2 November 2009.
  10. Web site: NOW 30.
  11. Web site: Official Charts Company: Shut Up & Dance . Official Charts Company . 27 July 2015.

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