Greater Than One

Greater Than One

Greater Than One (Newman and Wells mid)
Background information
Also known as Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Signs of Chaos, T.D.5, Salami Brothers, Killout Squad, Technohead L.E.D..
Origin London, England
Genres Industrial (early period)
House, techno, hardcore techno, trance
Years active 1985–1995–1996-2000
Labels Kunst = Kapital (1987)
Wax Trax! Records (1988-89)
Go Bang! Records (1990)
Warp Records (1990-91)
Mokum Records (1995)
Past members Michael Wells (1985-2000)
Lee Newman (1985-1995)

Greater Than One is an English electronic music band, founded by husband and wife Michael Wells and Lee Newman in 1985. They released many albums under this name, and also under the names Tricky Disco, GTO, John + Julie, Church of Extacy, Signs of Chaos, T.D.5, Salami Brothers, Killout Squad, Technohead and L.E.D.. Only a few of their singles were commercially successful. Since Newman’s death on 4 August 1995 from cancer, Wells continues to release music under some of these names, and also as The Man and S.O.L.O.

1985: Greater Than One

In 1985, Newman and Wells met at the Royal College of Art in London, formed Greater Than One, and released their first album Kill the Pedagogue on cassette. During the late 1980s they organised art installations and exhibitions accompanied by their own music: "When the whole audience were in, we started a soundtrack ... war sirens and searchlights. This was designed to disorientate the audience, throwing them into an unexpected nightmare. After the shock, Islamic chanting began which then changed to Song For England, during which we came onstage wearing illuminous skull masks...".[1] They formed their own label Kunst=Kapital and released four further albums under this alias between 1987 and 1990.

1990: First hits

Their first hit single was the trance record "Pure" as GTO on Chrysalis Records, a club hit around Europe, closely followed by "Tricky Disco" as Tricky Disco on Warp Records, which peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1990.[2][3]

They used many aliases because, releasing so much material, they feared the press would not write about it all, if they knew it all came from the same band. As Newman said, "if you give them a Tricky Disco one week and then a John and Julie two weeks later and GTO a month later they’ll write about all of it".[4] Their aliases also allowed them to release different types of material on different record labels. The single "Double Happiness" as John and Julie appeared on XL Recordings; the 1993 Tip of the Iceberg album as GTO was released on REACT, and the 1995 album Headsex as Technohead appeared on Mokum Records.

1995: Technohead

Headsex contained their biggest hit, "I Wanna Be a Hippy". The remix by Flamman & Abraxas was accompanied by a video featuring three youths with shaved heads, wearing Mokum T-shirts and carrying inflatable hammers, chasing a hippy on a bicycle around a park in Amsterdam. It reached number 1 in 12 different countries including Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland,[5] and number 6 in the UK in February 1996, which culminated in two performances on Top of the Pops in January and February of the same year.

Two Technohead follow-up singles followed in 1996. "Happy Birthday" fared mildly well in Europe, cracking the top 20 in the UK and Finland in April at #18 and #20, respectively, reached the top 40 in Ireland and the Netherlands with peaks at #23 and #28, respectively, and managed to chart in Germany at #100. The follow-up single, "Banana-na-na", which was released in October, cracked the top 40 in the Netherlands at #38 and peaked at #64 in the UK.[3][6]

Wells has recorded many singles and three more albums since, including two Tricky Disco singles in February 2007 and two Technohead singles in 2010 and 2014, both of which were released on Mokum Records.

Discography

Studio albums

Greater Than One

GTO

Church of Extacy

Technohead

Signs Ov Chaos

The Man

Signs of Chaos

S.O.L.O.

Singles

Technohead

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)		 Album
UK
[7]		 AUS
[8]		 AUT
[8]		 BEL
(Vl)
[8]		 FIN
[8]		 GER
[9]		 IRE
[10]		 NL
[8]		 SWI
[8]
1995 "I Wanna Be a Hippy" 6 20 1 1 12 1 5 1 5 Headsex
"Headsex" — — — 50 — — — — —
1996 "Happy Birthday" 18 — — — 20 100 23 28 — Singles only
"Banana Na Na (Dumb Bi Bumb)" 64 — — — — — — 36 —
2004 "I Wanna Be Hippy (I Wanna Get Stoned 2004 Remix)" — — — — — — — 58 —
2010 "Take Me Away" — — — — — — — — —
2014 "Party Boy" — — — — — — — — —
"Singing in Da Rave" — — — — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References

  1. ↑ Godsend Magazine volume 13, accessed 15 June 2007.
  2. ↑ EveryHit.com UK Top 40 Hit Database Archived 18 July 2007 at WebCite, accessed 15 June 2007.
  3. 1 2 Roberts, David (2005). British Hit Singles & Albums (18th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  4. ↑ Interview with New Hampshire radio station WUNH circa 1990, accessed 15 June 2006.
  5. ↑ Dataflow music website, accessed 15 June 2007.
  6. ↑ The Zobbel website Chart Log UK 1994 – 2006, accessed 15 June 2007.
  7. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 International peaks
  9. ↑ German peaks
  10. ↑ Search for Irish peaks Archived 3 June 2009 at WebCite
  11. ↑ German certification
  12. ↑ UK certification Archived 4 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
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