Underworld (band)

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Underworld
Underworld live in New York, 2007. From left: Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, Darren Price.
Underworld live in New York, 2007.
From left: Karl Hyde, Rick Smith, Darren Price.
General information
Genre (s) Electro and Techno
founding 1988
Website http://www.underworldlive.com/
Current occupation
Karl Hyde
Keyboards , programming
 Rick Smith
Keyboards, programming
 Darren Price (from 2005)
former members
Darren Emerson (1992-2000)

Underworld is the main name of the British electronics - duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith. From 1991 the DJ Darren Emerson belonged to the group, which he left again in 2000.

history

After various experiences in school bands, which u. a. also produced the single "Teenage Teenage" in 1979 under the project name Screen Gemz , Karl Hyde and Rick Smith formed the band Freur with Bryn B. Burrows, John Warwicker and Alfie Thomas in the early 80s , which was released on two LPs ("Doot Doot" 1983 and "Get Us Out of Here" 1984), with "Doot Doot" being a small single success . After quarrels with the record company (CBS), which only released the second album in a few countries and which withdrew the originally planned CD release, Freur broke up in 1985. The rudimentary soundtrack "Transmutations Underworld Score" was never finished, but it was probably the eponym for their next project.

The remaining Hyde, Smith, Thomas and Burrows released two albums under the name Underworld ("Underneath the Radar" in 1988 and "Change the Weather" in 1989) with moderate success. The first of the two rock-heavy albums was produced by Rupert Hine , who later advised the musicians to concentrate on what was really important to them, namely progressive dance floor music. Karl and Rick later returned the favor with a progressive sound on the Rupert Hine album "The Deep End", on which they co-wrote and produced. The Underworld group broke up after "Change the Weather". Phase MK1 has ended.

After Hyde and Smith got to know the London DJ Darren Emerson and had started joint projects with him, they initially released two singles under the name Lemon Interupt , the material of which later played a major role in the album Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994). Smith and Emerson produced remixes for various other artists at the same time under the project name Steppin 'Razor .

This was followed by the founding of the design and art project Tomato, which u. a. very successfully produced extravagant and remarkable commercials (e.g. for Nike ). Tomato are still mainly responsible for the artwork on the Underworld albums.

Financially independent of Tomato, the "relaunch" of Underworld (phase MK2) with Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1993) took place. This album combined dance and rock styles and was highly acclaimed by critics and at the same time a considerable commercial success. Underworld produced an exclusive track for the PlayStation game wipEout in 1995 . With the re-release of the single "Born Slippy" (known from the soundtrack to the film Trainspotting - New Heroes ) Underworld became known to a wide audience (UK single charts number 2), which is also reflected in the sales figures for the album Second Toughest in the Infants (1996) precipitated. With the album Beaucoup Fish (1999) they achieved their greatest success to date and landed on the front pages of the international music press.

2001 the title "Doot Doot" was used in the film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise ; however, the title did not appear on the soundtrack . After Darren Emerson left, Underworld's sound also changed, becoming increasingly experimental and complex. This was already indicated in the 2002 album "A Hundred Days Off" and culminated in the hardly commercial or even dancefloor suitable "River Run Series", which were only marketed as MP3 mixes on their own website.

In 2007 the album "Oblivion with Bells" followed. Although there was no real chart success in Europe and the USA, Underworld are extremely popular in Japan and released many CDs exclusively there. Concert recordings of their tour in Japan and Europe in 2007 and 2008 were subsequently sold as CD recordings. A highlight of 2008 was the appearance at the Love Parade on July 19 in Dortmund. For Anthony Minghella's film Breaking and Entering (2006), Underworld composed the film music together with Gabriel Yared .

In 2010 Underworld returned with the album "Barking" and the pre-single "Scribble". The comparatively melodious album was co-produced by acts such as Dubfire , Mark Knight & D. Ramirez , High Contrast and Paul van Dyk . At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London , Underworld were the musical directors of the opening ceremony .

In 2018 Underworld recorded and released a record together with Iggy Pop . In 2019 the new album "Drift" will be released. In this context, the band will publish pieces of music, art and texts on a weekly basis.

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1988 Underneath the radar - - - - US139 (19 weeks)
US
1994 Dubnobasswithmyheadman - - - UK12
gold
gold

(8 weeks)UK 		-
1996 Second Toughest in the Infants - - - UK9
gold
gold

(34 weeks)UK 		-
1999 Beaucoup Fish DE22 (7 weeks)
DE 		AT36 (4 weeks)
AT 		CH46 (1 week)
CH 		UK3
gold
gold

(22 weeks)UK 		US93 (5 weeks)
US
2000 Underworld Live: Everything, Everything DE37 (4 weeks)
DE 		- - UK22 (3 weeks)
UK 		US192 (1 week)
US
2002 A Hundred Days Off DE34 (2 weeks)
DE 		AT57 (1 week)
AT 		CH64 (2 weeks)
CH 		UK16 (4 weeks)
UK 		US122 (1 week)
US
2003 1992-2002 - - - UK43
silver
silver

(2 weeks)UK 		-
2007 Oblivion with Bells DE76 (1 week)
DE 		- - UK45 (2 weeks)
UK 		US169 (1 week)
US
2010 Barking DE73 (2 weeks)
DE 		- CH60 (1 week)
CH 		UK26 (2 weeks)
UK 		US151 (1 week)
US
2016 Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future DE44 (1 week)
DE 		AT50 (1 week)
AT 		CH51 (1 week)
CH 		UK10 (2 weeks)
UK 		US200 (1 week)
US
2018 Teatime Dub Encounters (EP) - - - UK20 (1 week)
UK 		-
2019 Drift Series 1 - - - UK68 (1 week)
UK 		-

more publishments

  • 1984: FREUR - Doot Doot
  • 1985: FREUR - BBC Radio 1 Live (Bootleg)
  • 1985: FREUR - Live at the Marquee (Bootleg)
  • 1986: FREUR - Get Us Out Of Here (vinyl and cassette)
  • 1988: White House Studio Cologne Live (Bootleg)
  • 1989: Change the Weather
  • 1990: Underworld Demo 1 (cassette, in-house production)
  • 1991: Hamburg Live (Bootleg)
  • 1996: European Club Gig (Bootleg)
  • 1997: Diving Through the B-sides Vol. 1
  • 1997: Diving Through the B-sides Vol. 2
  • 1999: Darren Emerson Mix + Interview (Promo)
  • 1999: Wonderful, Wonderful (Bootleg)
  • 2002: A Hundred Days Off
  • 2003: Peel Session 2003
  • 2003: Back to Mine (remix sampler)
  • 2003: Born Slippy Nuxx (DVD)
  • 2006: Web bonus material (only through the website)
  • 2007: Live at the Oblivion Ball (live, only in Japan)
  • 2007: Birmingham Academy October 9, 2007 (live)
  • 2007: Glasgow Academy October 13, 2007 (live)
  • 2007: Manchester Apollo October 16, 2007 (live)
  • 2007: London Roundhouse October 17th 2007 (live)
  • 2007: London Roundhouse October 18, 2007 (live)
  • 2008: Cologne Palladium January 28, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: Rotterdam Maassilo January 29, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall January 30, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: Brussels Ancienne Belgique January 31, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: London Roundhouse February 28, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: London Roundhouse February 29, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: The Bells! The Bells! (only in Japan, incl. DVD)
  • 2008: London Brixton Academy October 31, 2008 (live)
  • 2008: London Brixton Academy November 1st, 2008 (live)
  • 2009: Underworld vs. The Misterons - Athens (sampler, an Underworld + a Karl Hyde song)
  • 2009: FREUR - Get Us Out of Here / Doot Doot

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1988 Underneath the radar - - - - US74 (8 weeks)
US
1989 Stand up - - - - US67 (8 weeks)
US
1993 Spikee / Dogman Go - - - UK63 (1 week)
UK 		-
1994 Dark and Long - - - UK57 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
1995 Born Slippy - - - UK52
gold
gold

(2 weeks)UK 		-
from the movie Trainspotting - New Heroes
1996 Pearl's Girl - - - UK22 (9 weeks)
UK 		-
Born Slippy Nuxx DE13 (17 weeks)
DE 		AT20 (12 weeks)
AT 		- UK2
gold
gold

(39 weeks)UK 		-
from the movie Trainspotting - New Heroes
1997 Moaner DE69 (3 weeks)
DE 		- - UK79 (1 week)
UK 		-
from the movie Batman & Robin
1999 Push upstairs - - - UK12 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
jumbo - - - UK21 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
King of Snake - - - UK17 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
2000 Cowgirl - - - UK24 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
2002 Two Months Off DE98 (1 week)
DE 		- - UK12 (4 weeks)
UK 		-
2003 Dinosaur Adventure 3D - - - UK34 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
2007 Crocodile - - - UK93 (1 week)
UK 		-
2011 The First Note Is Silent - - - UK48 (1 week)
UK 		-
High Contrast feat. Tiësto & Underworld
2012 Caliban's Dream - - - UK12 (5 weeks)
UK 		-
feat. Dockhead Choir, Dame Evelyn Glennie ,
Only Men Aloud, Elizabeth Roberts, Alex Trimble, from the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony ,

More singles and EPs

  • 1979: Screen Gemz - Teenage Teenage 7 "
  • 1983: FREUR - Doot Doot
  • 1983: FREUR - Matters of the Heart
  • 1983: FREUR - Runaway
  • 1984: FREUR - Doot Doot (re-release)
  • 1984: FREUR - Riders in the Night
  • 1984: FREUR - The Devil and Darkness
  • 1985: FREUR - Look in the Back for Answers
  • 1985: FREUR - The Piano Song (7 ", only in the Netherlands)
  • 1988: Glory! Glory!
  • 1988: Show Some Emotion (only in USA, Canada, Australia)
  • 1988: Pray (Promo)
  • 1992: LEMON INTERRUPT - Dirty
  • 1992: LEMON INTERRUPT - Big Mouth
  • 1992: Rez
  • 1992: Mother Earth
  • 1993: Mmm ... Skyscraper I Love You
  • 1994: Cowgirl
  • 1994: Dirty Epic
  • 1994: Dirty Epic / Cowgirl (USA)
  • 1996: Pearl's Girl (Remix)
  • 1996: Rowla / Juanita
  • 1997: Pearl's Girl EP (USA)
  • 1997: Juanita (Promo Short Edit)
  • 1999: Bruce Lee
  • 1999: 3 Single Box (King of Snake / Push Upstairs / Bruce Lee / Jumbo)
  • 2005: Jal to Tokyo EP (released as MP3 via iTunes Japan / Vinyl)
  • 2005: Play Pig (vinyl)
  • 2005: Vanilla Monkey (vinyl)
  • 2005: Lovely Broken Thing EP (self-distributed MP3)
  • 2005: Pizza for Eggs EP (MP3 self-distributed)
  • 2006: I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse EP (self-distributed MP3)
  • 2006: Riverrun Remix Sampler (Promo)
  • 2006: The Misterons Mix EP (MP3 self-distributed)
  • 2007: Crocodile Remix
  • 2007: Beautiful Burnout (Promo)
  • 2007: Boy, Boy, Boy (only in Japan)
  • 2008: Ring Road (Promo)
  • 2009: Holding the Moth (Promo, CD-R)
  • 2009: Mark Knight & D.Ramirez & Underworld - Downpipe (Promo)
  • 2010: Scribble (Promo)
  • 2010: Always Loved a Film (Promo)
  • 2010: Bird 1 (Beatportal Remix Contest, MP3 online)

Soundtrack contributions

swell

  1. ↑ Underworld: Barking - "We don't like the old sound anymore .
  2. ↑ And the music directors of London 2012 are… Underworld? The Guardian, December 7, 2011, accessed June 27, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Underworld: new album and singles. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  5. ↑ a b Awards for UK sales (BPI, database search)

Web links

Commons : Underworld  - collection of images, videos and audio files