Groove Armada

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Groove Armada

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Background = group_or_band
Origin = flagicon|ENG London, England
Genre = Big beat
Electronica
House
Trip hop
Downtempo
Years_active = 1996 – present
Label = Columbia UK (1996-2008)
Bacardi (2008-present)
URL = [http://www.groovearmada.com/ GrooveArmada.com]
Current_members = Andy Cato
Tom Findlay

Groove Armada are big beat duo Andy Cato and Tom Findlay from England. They are now primarily based in London, and continue to produce and record music as well as hosting semi-regular club nights in London and an annual London festival under the Lovebox banner.

The group has collaborated with a diverse array of artists including Neneh Cherry, DJ Gram’Ma Funk, Sophie Barker, Nappy Roots, Fudge Dog, Sunshine Anderson, Mutya Buena, Jeru The Damaja and Richie Havens. Tom Findlay has described working with Prince as his dream collaboration, although there are no plans for such at the moment. [ [http://www.ilikemusic.com/interviews/Groove_Armada_Tom_Findlay-1469 Tom Findlay interview -] "ilikemusic". Retrieved June 2, 2007.]

Groove Armada is probably best known to the music listening public for producing music that have featured in numerous media including advertising campaigns, movies and computer games (see below).

History

Groove Armada first formed in the mid-1990s after they had been introduced by Cato’s girlfriend and soon started their own club, also called Groove Armada, after a 70’s discotheque. [http://www.tranzfusion.com/profiles/showprofile.asp?id=1248 Groove Armada Biography] , retrieved July 12, 2007]

By 1997 they had released a few singles including "4 Tune Cookie" and the song that first brought them minor fame, "At The River", which sampled "Old Cape Cod" by Patti Page. The song has gone on to be one of Groove Armada’s most well-known tracks and has since been found on numerous chill out compilations.

Their first album "Northern Star" was released in 1998, and was followed by their second album "Vertigo" in 1999, which had a more mainstream and more 'polished' sound, thus making the British chart's upper 20 and being certified silver in the UK. It also included "At The River" which was re-released as a full-fledged single. An album of remixed tracks from "Vertigo" entitled "The Remixes" followed in 2000, along with their contribution to the Back To Mine series.

Their next studio album "Goodbye Country: Hello Nightclub" was released in 2001, and as its title suggests marked a move away from chill out to more upbeat music - as demonstrated by the Grammy nominated single "Superstylin'". Another mix album followed, this time for the Another Late Night series and in 2002, less than a year after "Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub", Groove Armada produced "Lovebox", which included a variety of genres and was noticeably sassy and brought a new type of funk to Groove Armada. Some tracks had a rock element to them such as "Madder", while others were closer to their traditional house, such as the title track "Lovebox", and "Remember", which has vocals made up entirely of samples of Sandy Denny's singing for Fairport Convention. An additional 'bonus' track was later released on their website entitled 'Fairport'.

A Greatest Hits album appeared in 2004, the last of their releases with Pepper Records, before their latest studio album "Soundboy Rock", was released in 2007. The album, marked a notable departure from the multi-genre influenced previous album, featuring tracks such as "Get Down", "Groove Extracts" which follow the current UK trend of electric hard-house with rock elements and "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" featuring the vocals of ex-Sugababes singer Mutya Buena, hailed by online music guide Popjustice as one of the best songs of 2007.

Following the successful "Soundboy Rock" singles, an updated best-of set titled "Greatest Hits" will be released in October 2007. This will be accompanied by a "GA10: 10 Year Story", a 2CD rarities collection released in November 2007 to celebrate their tenth anniversary as a band. The band have talked in-depth about the compilation of the 2 cds, and cited it as an "emotional experience", selecting their personal favourite songs and mixes from their history. [ [http://www.stv.tv/content/out/music/videointerviews/display.html?id=opencms:/out/music/video_interviews/groove_armada_10_year_interview "Groove Armada: 10 Year Story" video interview] with stv.tv]

Groove Armada's next release is a collaboration with The Japanese Popstars, and will be released through Strictly Rhythm via Beatport in April 2008.

Appearances in media

*"I See You Baby", remixed by Fatboy Slim in the big beat style was used extensively in a 2003 Renault UK television marketing campaign advertising the Renault Mégane.
*"If Everybody Looked The Same" in a 2001 Mercedes-Benz UK television advert.
*"If Everybody Looked The Same" is used in the film Miss Congeniality, during the nightclub scene.*
*"If Everybody Looked The Same" is used in the film Gone in 60 Seconds.
*"At The River" is being used in a 2007 Marks & Spencer Food UK television campaign, a decision which Groove Armada now regret making. [ "Groove Armada Q&A" by Cameron Adams, "Herald Sun", May 10 2007, [http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21705904-5006024,00.html] , retrieved July 12 2007]
*"Hands of Time", starring folksinger Richie Havens, is featured in the movie 2004 "Collateral", and is referred to by Jamie Foxx's character as a "classic song."
*"Hands of Time" was also used at the end of the "Las Vegas" episode "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas" in 2003.
*"Hands of Time" was also used in The French Thriller "Ne le dis à personne"
*"Hands of Time" was also used in the elimination section of Hollands Top Model.
*"Hands of Time" was used just prior to the ending credits in the film "Domino" starring Keira Knightley.
*"Hands of Time" was also used in an episode of Top Gear.
*"Edge Hill" is featured in the 2001 movie "", and was used by Channel 4 (UK) promotional adverts for the hit series "Lost" in 2005.
*"Madder" is featured in the video game "" as the game introduction. It is also featured in the show Keen Eddie.
*They also have an appearance on the soundtrack of the popular TV series, "Sex And The City", remixing the show's theme song into an extended chillout track.
*"But I Feel Good" appeared on the multi-platform cricket game "Brian Lara International Cricket 2007".
*"But I Feel Good" was featured in a mars bar TV advertisement in Australia
*The song "Superstylin'" was featured in the hit film "Bride and Prejudice" starring former Miss World Aishwarya Rai.
*"Superstylin'" was also used in the Xbox videogame "Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3".
*"Purple Haze" appeared in the 2004 film "The Girl Next Door".
*"My Friend" was featured in a Dutch television commercial for "Royal Club" drinks
*The British motoring programme "Top Gear" uses Groove Armada music frequently, for example:
**"Hands of Time" was used in Season 9, episode 3 as they pull into their campsite in the Deep American South; and in Season 6, episode 3 during Richard Hammond's test drive of the Aston Martin DB9 Volante.
**"Your Song" was used in Season 9, episode 6 as they tried to get to the Brit Awards in their self-made limousines.

Discography

Albums

Compilations

*"Groove Armada Presents..."
*"Doin' It After Dark Vol 1"
*"Doin' It After Dark Vol 2"
*"Another Late Night (Groove Armada)"
*"Back to Mine (Groove Armada)"
*"Late Night Tales (Groove Armada) (released 10 March 2008)"

ingles

Other work

From 1995 to 2000, Andy Cato was part of the progressive house music projects Mother's Pride and Qattara, and produced solo efforts under the aliases Caia and Journeyman DJ. In 2002 Cato collaborated with Rachel Foster, producing the album "Pursuit Of Happiness" under the name Weekend Players. He also co-wrote with Sophie Ellis-Bextor on her album "Shoot From the Hip", and released his first solo single under his own name, "La Luna". Cato has also worked with Róisín Murphy on her new album "Overpowered", producing the singles "Let Me Know" and "You Know Me Better".

Tom Findlay makes up one half of Sugardaddy, with Tim Hutton, and has collaborated with Keeling Lee. In 2005 he set up Tunetribe, a music download store.

References

* [http://www.ilikemusic.com/interviews/Groove_Armada_Tom_Findlay_interview_2007-3671 Interview with Tom Findlay on ilikemusic.com]

External links

* [http://www.groovearmada.com/ Official Groove Armada website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/groovearmada Official Groove Armada MySpace]
* [http://myspace.com/blivemiami Groove Armada Live Stream on Myspace]

Audio Links

* [http://www.endclub.com/node/21099 Groove Armada mix from Moog Club Barcelona]