- Propellerheads
Infobox musical artist
Name = Propellerheads
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Origin =Bath, England , UK
Genre =Big Beat Breakbeat Trip-hop
Years_active = 1996 – present
Label = Wall of Sound
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Current_members = Will WhiteAlex Gifford
Past_members =Propellerheads are a British
big beat music band made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term "Propellerhead" is slang for anerd , and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California drop this into conversation, they thought it the perfect name for their band.Their first release was an EP named "Dive!", published in 1996 through independent label Wall of Sound. They gained fame the next year by providing a remix for Bond composer
David Arnold 's Bond tribute album "" covering John Barry's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" the theme song to the sixthJames Bond film, re-orchestrated by Arnold. They also collaborated with Arnold on the track Backseat Driver, for theTomorrow Never Dies soundtrack. The single "History Repeating" followed, a collaboration withjazz divaShirley Bassey , fusing big beat with jazz.The only Propellerheads album to date is "
Decksandrumsandrockandroll ", released in 1998 by Wall of Sound in the UK and Europe and DreamWorks in the US and Japan. The Dreamworks versions include collaborations with hip hop veteransDe La Soul andJungle Brothers , and the Japanese version is a sought-after 2 Disc Special Edition including some of their earlier singles. A track from the album, "Spybreak! ", became widely known after its use in the famous lobby scene in "The Matrix ". They are also noted with providing "Crash" as the theme tune toBBC Radio 1 'sOfficial Chart Show between1998 and2002 , whenMark Goodier was the host. This song was also used in the 1999 hit comedy film "".After touring for their hit album, Will White fell ill. They released "Extended Play EP" in 1998, and in the song "Props' Vote Of Gratitude", Alex Gifford raps for the first time, explaining to the attentive listener that the band would "be back after this short break". Things subsequently went quiet in the Propellerheads camp. Alex moved to
New York and produced theJungle Brothers 1999 Album "V.I.P." in which he raps with TheBlack Eyed Peas among others. Will White provided the drums for the eponymous track. He has also produced a track forRufus Wainwright ("Shadows") on his 2001 album "Poses". White has since released a mix compilation for the "Beatz and Bobz" series, and he has also appeared as a member of the De-Fex music project.In October 2003 Wall of Sound commemorated its 10th birthday, and to celebrate, released a two disc album charting 10 years of its pioneering British music. The first CD featured alumni such as
Röyksopp ,The Wiseguys andMekon , while Gifford provided a mix CD for the second disc. The first track on that disc was a new song by Propellerheads featuring Brooklyn based writer Livingroom Johnston, entitled "10 Years".Gifford and White have reportedly been close to finishing "that difficult second album" for a while now, but have scrapped material they did not believe was fresh or new enough to warrant release. Their next album will apparentlyFact|date=June 2008 feature duets from
Canadians Rufus Wainwright andk.d. lang among othersFact|date=June 2008, but WoS has no projected release date.Their song "Take California" was the first song ever used in an Apple
iPod television ad.Will White is now part of the live incarnation of Long Range, the latest project of
Phil Hartnoll of Orbital fame.Trivia
On the 'On her Majesty's Secret Service' track, there is a continual synthesized beat throughout much of it that spells out "---/..../--/.../..." which is morse code for 'OHMSS'.
Discography
Albums
*"Dive EP" (1996)
*"Propellerheads EP" (1997)
*"Decksandrumsandrockandroll " (1998)
*"Extended Play EP" (1998)Singles
*"Take California" (1997)
*"Spybreak! " (1997)
*"History Repeating" (1997) - featuringDame Shirley Bassey
*"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1997) withDavid Arnold
*"Bang On!" (1998)
*"Crash!" (1998)
*"Velvet Pants" (1998)
*"Take California And Party" (1999)
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