Apollo 440

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Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are an English electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group have written, recorded and produced five studio albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as Apollo 440 and as their ambient cinematic alter ego Stealth Sonic Orchestra, and created music for film, television, advertisements and multimedia. They notched up ten UK top 40 singles with three top tens, and had a chart presence worldwide.

The group's name comes from the Apollo program and the frequency of concert pitch—the A note at 440 Hz, often denoted as "A440"—and the Sequential Circuits sampler/sequencer, the Studio 440. They changed the writing of their name from Apollo 440 to Apollo Four Forty in 1996, though they switched back for their latest album. To date, Apollo 440's remixes have included U2, P. Diddy/Jimmy Page, Jean-Michel Jarre and Ennio Morricone. Among their Stealth Sonic Orchestra remixes are a series of Manic Street Preachers singles.

History

Apollo 440 were formed by the brothers Trevor and Howard Gray, with fellow Liverpudlians Noko and James Gardner. Trevor, Howard and Noko all attended the same school, Old Hall High School in Maghull, in the mid to late 1970s. Gardner left after the recording of the first album. All members sing and contribute a profusion of samples, electronics and computer-based sounds.

After relocating to the Camden area of London, Apollo 440 recorded their debut album, Millennium Fever, in 1994 and released it on 30 January 1995 on their own Stealth Sonic Recordings label (distributed by Epic Records). Their combination of rock, breakbeat and ambient music has been successful on the record charts as well as on the dance floor.

The band had been best known for its remixes until the release of Liquid Cool in the UK. However, it was not until the success of the singles "Krupa" and "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub" that their own musical efforts were brought to international attention – particularly the latter single, which helped propel Apollo 440 into the spotlight.

In 2007, the band played a tribute gig to the late Billy Mackenzie.

Apollo 440's fifth album, The Future's What It Used to Be, became available for download on the iTunes Store from 23 March 2012.

Collaborators over the years have included Jeff Beck, Jean Michel Jarre, Billy Mackenzie, Ian McCulloch and Tomoyasu Hotei.

Currently[when?], the band resides in Islington, London, having once again moved its headquarters.

Members

Current members

  • Howard Gray – production, keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present)
  • Trevor Gray – production, keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present)
  • Noko (Norman Fisher-Jones) – production, vocals, guitars, keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present)

Former members

  • James Gardner – bass, keyboards, programming, samples (1990–1993)

Current touring members

  • Cliff Hewitt – drums, programming (1994–present)
  • Mary Byker (Ian Hoxley) – vocals, raps (1997–present)
  • Harry K (Paul Colbourne) – turntables, samples, vocals (1997–present)
  • Ashley Krajewski – keyboards, samples, backing vocals (2007–present)
  • Michael Cusick – bass, backing vocals (2008–present)

Former touring members

  • MC Stevie Hyper D – raps (1994)
  • Rhoda Dakar – vocals (1994–2004)
  • Paul Kodish – drums, programming (1997–2000)
  • Rej ap Gwynedd – bass (1997–2008)
  • Jonathan "Stan" White – bass (2004)
  • Ewan MacFarlane – vocals (2007–2018)

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

  • Rumble EP (1993)
  • A Deeper Dub EP (2011)

Singles

Media appearances

Over 50 different Apollo tracks have featured in movies, trailers, TV, games and ads worldwide, including globally branded cars, beers, soft drinks, phones, audio and software. They have also written two entire soundtracks for the Sony PlayStation and provided the themes for ITV World Cup '98 and Formula 1 2000 to 2002 coverage, as well as Liverpool F.C.'s Official 2006 FA Cup song.

Video games

Music in Film

Vocalists

Apollo 440 has a history of working with various vocalists. While their debut album, Millennium Fever, was sung almost exclusively by Noko, he has since withdrawn from his vocalist role in the band to make way for various guest appearances, including, but not limited to:

  • Billy Mackenzie on "Pain in Any Language" on Electro Glide in Blue, the last song he recorded.
  • Ewan MacFarlane on "Electro Glide in Blue" on Electro Glide in Blue and numerous tracks on the Dude Descending a Staircase album – performed as live vocalist until 2018.
  • Xan on "Something's Got to Give" on Dude Descending a Staircase
  • Jalal Nuriddin on "Children of the Future" on Dude Descending a Staircase
  • The Beatnuts on the title track of Dude Descending a Staircase
  • Elizabeth Gray on "Christiane" on Dude Descending a Staircase and "Stealth Mass" on Electro Glide in Blue
  • Mary Byker (Ian Hoxley) on "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub", "Raw Power" on Electro Glide in Blue and "Stop the Rock" on Gettin' High on Your Own Supply – performed as live vocalist until 2004.

Tributes

Jean Baudrillard

The album, Millennium Fever, is a tribute to the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard. Since the release of that album, other references to Jean Baudrillard's works have appeared.

  • The track, "Astral America", references Baudrillard's book America, where the term originates.
  • The track, "The Perfect Crime", references Baudrillard's book of the same name.
  • The lyrics of "Stealth Requiem" reference the Baudrillardian concept of hyperreality. At one point, a female voice says, "Ravishing hyperrealism ... Mind blowing", and later quotes directly from America (1988): "The exhilaration of obscenity; the obscenity of obviousness; the obviousness of power; the power of simulation."

Marcel Duchamp

The title and cover art of the album Dude Descending a Staircase are parodies of Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 by Marcel Duchamp.

Alcor

The song "Liquid Cool" (released as a B-side in 1993, as a single in 1994, and featured on the Millennium Fever album) is a tribute to Alcor, a company focused on pursuing research into and the organisation of cryonisation. The topic is also referenced in the title song "Millennium Fever", which includes the line, "I've been dreaming of freezing my mind in California", where Alcor was based until 1994. Contact details for Alcor subsequently appeared on the sleeve of the single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", a cover of the Blue Öyster Cult song.

Omega Point

The song "Omega Point" references the religious concept of the same name, and features a quote from Barrow and Tipler's The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.

Krupa

Their 1996 song is a homage to the Polish-American drummer Gene Krupa and his improvised style of drumming.

Charles Bukowski

On the album Electro Glide in Blue, track 6 called "Tears of the Gods" (6:18) features audio quotes from the 1970s video performance "Bukowski at Bellevue". The quotes are all taken from a piece entitled "Soup, Cosmos, and Tears." (A transcription of the video can be found at the Blithering Savant Archived 12 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine blog.)

Slavoj Žižek

The song "Love is Evil", on the album The Future's What It Used to Be, contains samples from the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek.

References

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