| Skunk Anansie | |
|---|---|
Skin |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Rock, Britrock, alternative rock |
| Years active | 1994–2001 2009–present |
| Labels | One Little Indian Virgin Epic (USA) |
| Website | SkunkAnansie.net |
| Members | |
| Skin Cass Ace Mark Richardson |
|
| Past members | |
| Robbie France | |
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin (born Deborah Dyer, 3 August 1967, Brixton), Cass (born Richard Keith Lewis, 1 September 1960, London), Ace (born Martin Ivor Kent, 30 March 1967, Cheltenham) and Mark Richardson (born 28 May 1970, Leeds).
Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009. The name "Skunk Anansie" is taken from the West African folk tales of Anansi the spider-man,[1] with “Skunk” added to "make the name nastier".[2] They are often grouped as part of a Britrock movement, running alongside Britpop. The band, in 2004, was named as one of the most successful UK chart acts between 1952 and 2003 by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, with a total of 141 weeks on both the singles and album charts ranking them at #491.[3] When the book first published this annual top 500 list in 2000, it only involved weeks spent on the singles chart until 2004's 17th edition, meaning the band's highest ranking has not been notified in any of the past editions. Their longest running release is 1996's Stoosh album with 55 weeks and a peak of #9.[3] The band released their fifth studio album Wonderlustre (their first studio album after their reformation) internationally on 13 September 2010, preceded in August by its first single "My Ugly Boy".
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The group played its first gig at London's Splash club in March 1994[2] (now known as Monto Water Rats Theatre). In 1995 they were voted Best New British Band by the readers of Kerrang! magazine. At the award ceremony that year drummer Mark Richardson met the band who were looking for a permanent replacement for Robbie France so an audition was set up and the band was reformed. Soon after that, two of their songs, "Feed" and "Selling Jesus", appeared on the soundtrack of the film Strange Days in 1995. "Selling Jesus" became Skunk Anansie's controversial second song to receive radio play, following their first radio release "Little Baby Swastikkka". After hearing this song, radio personality Howard Stern claimed that the band would become a huge hit. Success continued for the band and they were also voted Kerrang!'s Best British Live Act in 1996. In 1997 they were nominated for Best Live Act and Best Group at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Their first two albums, Paranoid and Sunburnt and Stoosh, were released under One Little Indian Records in 1995 and 1996 respectively. After switching to the Virgin label in 1998, their third and final album, Post Orgasmic Chill, was released in 1999.
Skin has described Skunk Anansie as a "clit-rock" group, which Allmusic clarifies as "an amalgam of heavy metal and black feminist rage".[2] Members Skin and Ace have mentioned the Sex Pistols, Blondie, dub, reggae, electronica, hip-hop and world music as significant influences.[4]
Throughout the 1990s, the group toured globally with such bands as U2, Aerosmith, Feeder, Lenny Kravitz, Bad Religion, Rollins Band, Therapy?, Rammstein, Killing Joke, Soulfly, Sevendust, Oomph!, Muse, Staind, Powerman 5000, Veruca Salt, Marion and A Perfect Circle.
After their split in 2001, Skin embarked on a solo career. Her debut solo album Fleshwounds, was released in September 2003 and Fake Chemical State was released in March 2006. She has also provided vocals for a number of other acts' songs.
Ace released a low-key album, Still Hungry under the name Ace Sounds, which featured many collaborations including Shingai Shoniwa from Noisettes and Skye from Morcheeba. He later joined a band called "Inner Mantra". Ace is also a tutor at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music
In 2002 Cass recorded the album Scars with Gary Moore, and played bass and performed backing vocals. Cass also played various instruments on Skin's first solo album. When not recording it is thought that he concentrates on photography.
Mark recorded sessions for various artists including Skin before joining Feeder after the death of their original drummer, Jon Lee.[5][6] Mark has also been tutoring at the Brighton Institute with bandmate Ace.
In an interview with UK radio station XFM, Skin announced that their 1997 single "Brazen" will be featured in the upcoming video game Rock Band 2.
Mark Richardson confirmed reports that the band was reforming in an interview with Drummer Magazine (November 2008 issue), and said that the band planned to release a "best of" compilation as well as new material. Ace later set up an official page for the band on MySpace.[7]
Skin said about the reformation: "Basicially we have never done a greatest hits album. We have been bugged to do it for ages and ages from various places but only now does everyone have time and want to do it. It will have new songs on it and you will start to hear some amazing remixes from rock and rave to dubstep, all very exciting."[8]
On 2 and 3 April 2009, two shows took place at the Monto Water Rats (the former venue of the Splash Club) in London, under the alias SCAM (Skin, Cass, Ace, Mark) and sold out in 20 minutes.[9]
The band began their "Greatest Hits" tour on Friday, 9 October 2009 at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, with other dates across Europe.[10] It was their first actual tour in eight years.
A "greatest hits" album, Smashes and Trashes, was released 2 November 2009. It is a 15-track career-embracing album and includes three brand new tracks: "Because of You", "Tear the Place Up" and "Squander". A best-of remixes companion album was also released digitally.
On 3 July 2009, the music video for "Tear the Place Up" was presented exclusively on MySpace, before on 10 August 2009, a new video for "Because of You" was presented exclusively on Kerrang.com. It was released 14 September 2009 in the UK and was the first single to be released from Smashes and Trashes. The single was a top 10 hit in Italy, before its follow-up "Squander" was a top 20 success in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.
Their fourth studio album Wonderlustre was released internationally on 13 September 2010, preceded by the first single "My Ugly Boy", which was released in the UK on 16 August 2010 and in Europe July/August. The video for "My Ugly Boy" was presented exclusively on Kerrang.com on 23 July 2010. Wonderlustre reached number one on the Italian albums chart on 1 October 2010 and placed in the top 10 in charts all over Europe including in Germany, Holland and France.
The second single from Wonderlustre, "Over the Love" was released internationally in November 2010.
In November 2010 the band played on Ídolos, a Portuguese equivalent to the UK's Pop Idol.
"You Saved Me", the third single from Wonderlustre was released internationally in March 2011. The band also covered The Stooges' song "Search and Destroy" specifically for the soundtrack of Zack Snyder's film Sucker Punch, released on March 25, 2011. The soundtrack also includes a Skunk Anansie remix of the song "Army of Me" by Björk.
On June 12, 2011 the band performed at an open air 'Rock over Volga' at Samara, Russia. The performance was exceptionally well accepted.
The band also appeared on Friday 12 August at Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary playing a mixed set of hits and newer material. This was their first appearance at Sziget. Sizget's own website reporting "nobody had any doubts who the Queen of this year's Sziget turned out to be".[11]
Skunk Anansie was on stage when the tragedy occurred at Pukkelpop in Belgium on 18 august 2011.[12]
| Title | Released | Chart Position |
|---|---|---|
| Paranoid and Sunburnt | September, 1995 | UK #8 |
| Stoosh | October, 1996 | UK #9 |
| Post Orgasmic Chill | March, 1999 | UK #16 |
| Smashes and Trashes | November, 2009 | UK #74 |
| Wonderlustre | September, 2010 | UK #58 |
| Title | Released | Chart Position |
|---|---|---|
| "Little Baby Swastikkka"1 | 1995 | Limited release |
| "Selling Jesus" | March, 1995 | UK #46 |
| "I Can Dream" | July, 1995 | UK #41 |
| "Charity" | September, 1995 | UK #40 |
| "Weak" | January, 1996 | UK #20 |
| "Charity (Re-release)" | April, 1996 | UK #20 |
| "All I Want" | September, 1996 | UK #14 |
| "Twisted (Everyday Hurts)" | November, 1996 | UK #26 |
| "Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)" | February, 1997 | UK #13 |
| "Brazen (Weep)" | June, 1997 | UK #11 |
| "Charlie Big Potato" | March, 1999 | UK #17 |
| "Secretly" | May, 1999 | UK #16 |
| "Lately" | August, 1999 | UK #33 |
| "You'll Follow Me Down"2 | October, 1999 | N/A |
| "Tear the Place Up"3 | July, 2009 | |
| "Because of You" | September 13, 2009 | |
| "Squander" | November 9, 2009 | |
| "My Ugly Boy" | August 15, 2010 | |
| "Over the Love" / "Talk Too Much"[13] | November 8, 2010 | |
| "You Saved Me" | February, 2011 | |
| "God Loves Only You" | May, 2011 |
1 "Little Baby Swastikkka" was released as a limited edition vinyl record.
2 "You'll Follow Me Down" was ineligible to chart due to the length and number of songs on the single. Official chart rules limit single releases to 4 tracks totalling no more than 25 minutes if more than 1 song and its remixes are included. See Criteria for inclusion in the UK single's chart
3 "Tear the Place Up" was ineligible to chart as it was released as a free download to the band's mailing list.
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