Saint Etienne (band)

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Saint Etienne
(L-R) Pete Wiggs, Bob Stanley and Sarah Cracknell on the American Good Humor cover.
(L-R) Pete Wiggs, Bob Stanley and Sarah Cracknell on the American Good Humor cover.
Background information
Origin England Croydon, Surrey, England
Genre(s) House
Alternative rock
Techno
Synthpop
Dream pop
Electronica
Years active 1988 – Present
Label(s) Heavenly Records
Creation Records
Sub-Pop
Mantra Records
Sanctuary Records
Members
Sarah Cracknell
Bob Stanley
Pete Wiggs

Saint Etienne are an English indie dance act, fronted by Sarah Cracknell (born April 12, 1967, Chelmsford, Essex). Ex-music journalists Bob Stanley (born December 25, 1964) and Pete Wiggs (born May 15, 1966) are the other regular members of the band. They are named after the famous French football team, AS Saint-Étienne, European Cup runners-up in the 1970s.

Contents

[edit] History

During the 1990s the band recorded two tracks called "7 Ways to Love" and "He Is Cola" under the name Cola Boy. However, it is as Saint Etienne that they were one of the bands that helped define the indie dance genre in the early 1990s, fusing the production values of the dance-pop that emerged in the wake of the Second Summer of Love with the clever lyrics and self-aware production of indie music.

Their early recordings were packed with generic house music clichés, such as standard TR-909 drum patterns and Italo house piano riffs, but they soon found a more original sound notable by the use of found dialogue, mainly from classic 60's British realist cinema as featured on their albums Foxbase Alpha and So Tough. Some of these earlier recordings included skits by satirist Chris Morris.[citation needed] They began to shift towards a more atmospheric type of electronica in 2000 with the release of Sound of Water, dividing their fanbase.

Their best known songs are the cover of Neil Young's classic "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" (on which Moira Lambert provided vocals), "Nothing Can Stop Us" (which was Sarah Cracknell's first contribution as lead singer) and the anthemic "He's on the Phone". The album Finisterre was released in 2002. A follow-up DVD by photographer and film maker Paul Kelly was released 4 July 2005.

In November 2004, they released their first US compilation of greatest hits, called Travel Edition 1990-2005.

13 June 2005 saw the release of the band's new album, entitled Tales from Turnpike House. It was preceded by a single for the track "Side Streets". A second single, "A Good Thing", was released in the UK on 31 October 2005. Early editions of the album were accompanied by a six-track sampler CD for a planned album of songs for children entitled Up the Wooden Hills.

"A Good Thing" is featured in Pedro Almodóvar's award winning 2006 Spanish movie Volver.

[edit] Collaborations

1993's non-album single "Who Do You Think You Are" is a cover of a song by Candlewick Green, a winning act on the UK talent show Opportunity Knocks; it was recorded as a duet with Debsey Wykes, former singer of Dolly Mixture.

In 1995, the band co-recorded the Reserection EP with French pop star Étienne Daho; later, they also worked on his album Eden and single "Le Premier Jour".

For the band's first greatest hits compilation Too Young to Die (1995), Eurodance producer Steve Rodway reworked "Accident" from Reserection, producing the renamed single "He's on the Phone". The single, co-credited to Daho, gained the singer additional exposure to English-speaking audiences.

Rodway's co-producer Brian Higgins produced the band's following single, "Burnt Out Car"; Higgins's songwriting production team, Xenomania, went on to co-write and co-produce songs on Tales from Turnpike House in 2005.

In 2000, the band crossed genres by working with trance producer and DJ Paul van Dyk, resulting in the single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)", with vocals by Cracknell.

Tales from Turnpike House features David Essex as a guest vocalist.

[edit] Films

The 1998 album The Misadventures of Saint Etienne is the soundtrack to the independent film The Misadventures of Margaret, starring Parker Posey.

The band have also produced two films documenting the landscape of the city of London: Finisterre (2003), and What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (2005), which has a more specific focus on the dilapidation of the Lower Lea Valley.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Studio albums

1. Foxbase Alpha - 1991, Heavenly Records - #34 (UK)

2. So Tough - 1993, Heavenly Records - #7 (UK)

3. Tiger Bay - 1994, Heavenly Records - #8 (UK)

4. Good Humor - 27 September 1998, Creation Records - #18 (UK)

5. Sound of Water - 2000, Mantra Records - #33 (UK)

6. Finisterre - 2002, Mantra Records - #55 (UK)

7. Tales from Turnpike House - 2005, Sanctuary Records - #72 (UK)

[edit] Other albums

[edit] Compilation albums

[edit] Fan club releases

This song or music-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • 1995 I Love to Paint (full CD album)
  • 1995 Xmas '95 (3-track CD single)
  • 1997 Valentines Day '97 (4-track CD single)
  • 1998 Xmas '98 (2-track CD single)
  • 1999 Built on Sand (full CD album)
  • 2002 Asleep at the Wheels of Steel (full CD album)
  • 2003 Xmas 2003 (3-track CD single initially given away free at Xmas '03 gig then given out free to fanclub members in 2004)
  • 2006 Nice Price (full CD album)
  • 2006 What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (full CD album)

[edit] Singles

Year Song UK singles US Hot 100 US Hot Dance US Modern Rock Album
1990 "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" 95 - - - Foxbase Alpha
1990 "Kiss and Make Up" 90 - - - -
1991 "Nothing Can Stop Us" / "Speedwell" 54 - 1 - Foxbase Alpha
1991 "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" Re-release 39 97 1 11 Foxbase Alpha
1991 "7 Ways to Love" As Cola Boy 8 - 9 - -
1991 "He Is Cola" As Cola Boy - - - - -
1992 "Join Our Club" / "People Get Real" 21 - - - -
1992 "I'm Too Sexy" as part of The Fred EP
Right Said Fred covers EP, with Flowered Up and Rockingbirds		 26 - - - -
1992 "Avenue" 40 - - - So Tough
1993 "You're in a Bad Way" 12 - - - So Tough
1993 "Hobart Paving" / "Who Do You Think You Are" 23 - 5 - So Tough
1993 "Xmas 93" (I Was Born on Christmas Day) featuring Tim Burgess 39 - - - -
1994 "Pale Movie" 28 - - - Tiger Bay
1994 "Like a Motorway" 47 - - - Tiger Bay
1994 "Hug My Soul" 32 - 40 - Tiger Bay
1995 "He's on the Phone" 11 - 33 - Too Young to Die
1996 "Burnt Out Car" / "Angel" limited release - - - - Casino Classics
1998 "Sylvie" 12 - - - Good Humor
1998 "The Bad Photographer" 27 - - - Good Humor
1998 "Lose That Girl" Austria promo only - - - - Good Humor
1999 "Lover Plays the Bass" France limited 7" only - - - - n/a
1999 "52 Pilot" USA limited 7" only - - - - Places To Visit
1999 "Saturday" France limited 7" only - - - - The Misadventures of Saint Etienne
2000 "How We Used to Live" Ineligible for chart - - - - Sound of Water
2000 "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)"
Paul van Dyk featuring Saint Etienne		 7 - - - Out There and Back
(Paul van Dyk Album)
2000 "Heart Failed (in the Back of a Taxi)" 50 - - - Sound of Water
2001 "Boy Is Crying" 34 - - - Sound of Water
2002 "Action" 41 - - - Finisterre
2002 "Shower Scene" Spain promo only - - - - Finisterre
2003 "Soft Like Me" 40 - - - Finisterre
2005 "Side Streets" 36 - - - Tales from Turnpike House
2005 "A Good Thing" 70 - - - Tales from Turnpike House
2006 "Stars Above Us" US Only - - 6 - Tales from Turnpike House

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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