Space Monkeys

This article is about the rock band. For the remixers of the Gorillaz album, see Spacemonkeyz. For the British band with a similar name, see Space Monkey (band). For the experiments of sending monkeys into space to study the biological effects of space travel, see Monkeys in space. For the cartoon series, see Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys.
The Space Monkeys
Origin Manchester, England
Genres Alternative rock, Madchester
Years active late 1990s
Labels Factory Too, Interscope Records
Past members Richard McNevin-Duff, Tony Pipes, Dom Morrison, Chas Morrison, and Neil Walsh

The Space Monkeys were a four-piece alternative band from Manchester, England, signed to Factory Too and Interscope Records in the US. The band members were Richard McNevin-Duff, Tony Pipes, Dom Morrison and Chas Morrison. After working with the band for a number years, Neil Walsh (guitar and keyboards) later joined the band.

Their musical style was often compared to baggy and acid house music, some would even call their music post-Madchester.

Overview

They released their top 100 album, The Daddy of Them All, on November 4, 1997. The single "Sugar Cane" from this album reached 58 on the Billboard chart. The single edit remix of the song was frequently played on American radio in place of the LP version and is available as a separate CD single. The music video for this single was the second video from famed photographer David LaChapelle and featured hip hop legends Rock Steady Crew. The band toured the US and Europe with Smash Mouth and Third Eye Blind. The song "Drug Soup" was recorded especially for and features in the soundtrack of the Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors.

The band went on to record a second album, Escape from the 20th Century, which included tracks produced by legendary hip hop producer Prince Paul. However, due to the collapse of Factory Records and other problems, this album was never released and resides somewhere in a studio vault. The group disbanded shortly after this; Richard McNevin-Duff, Tony Pipes and Neil Walsh went on to release an EP under the guise of "Munki", and Chas Morrison joined avant-garde drum and bass group RSL.

Escape From The 20th Century was released on Hercules Records in 2013.

Recent Activity

Tony Pipes is now a multi award winning Creative Director, working in Advertising, Broadcasting and Design. He is responsible for designing the current incarnation of the Doctor Who logo with colleague Matt Rhodes. He created the Original British Drama strand for the BBC, was a key member of the Cannes Lion Winning ITV Rebrand and the branding and launch of ITV Encore and ITVBe. He is now Executive Creative Director for ITV Creative.

Richard McNevin-Duff has recently returned to music with his band "Giant Star" which alongside full-time members John Whittaker and James Ritchie also features guest appearances from friends from the Manchester music scene such as Denise Johnson, Robbie Maddix and Barrington Stewart. "Giant Star" release debut album "Year Of The Snake" in 2013. He is also scheduled to appear at FC United of Manchester's much lauded 'club night in the afternoon' Course You Can Malcom on Saturday 25 January 2014, where he will be performing an acoustic Space Monkeys set.

Space Monkeys were in the headlines in 2010 after bassist Dom Morrison was involved in a bare knuckle boxing match with ex-Happy Mondays dancer Bez.

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