One Hit Wondering – Stereo MC’s

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

In the fall of 1992 we were all feeling “Connected” to a truly unique song by the British hip-hop group Stereo MC’s.

“Connected” was a mixture of hip-hop, acid jazz, and trip-hop, and it peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the foursome of Rob Birch (vocalist/songwriter), Nick Hallam (DJ/producer), Owen If (drums), and Cath Coffey (backing vocals).

What, you may ask, made everyone connect with this tune?

In a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Birch noted, “It had the hypnotic quality of dance music, the attitude of hip-hop, and its vocals were unplaceable.”

Interestingly, while this was the first time many of us heard Stereo MC’s, the group was on the U.S. charts two years prior with their 1990 song “Elevate My Mind,” which made Billboard chart history … twice!

“Elevate My Mind” was the first British hip-hop single to reach the U.S. Billboard R&B chart, and with it, Stereo MC’s became the first British rap group to make the Billboard Hot 100.

The group had been honing their craft for years before their music made it to America, having formed in Clapham, London, England in 1985. Back then they were a duo – Birch, and Hallam – and at the time they also co-founded both Gee Street Records, and the Gee Street recording studio, thanks to a partnership with Jon Baker, and DJ Richie Rich, and Birch and Hallam's joint receipt of £14,000 from a property developer, on the condition they vacated their adjacent flats. They named the label, and recording studio, after those flats.

Over the course of 15+ years, Gee Street would go on to release albums by Jungle Brothers, P.M. Dawn, Gravediggaz, RZA, Doug E. Fresh, Tragedy Khadafi, and more, before it was shuttered in 2001.

It was also where Stereo MC’s released their debut album, 33-45-78, in 1989, featuring DJ Cesare on drums, and Cath Coffey on backing vocals.

That album was followed a year later by Supernatural – not to be confused with the Carlos Santana album of the same name, although some of the songs could certainly be considered smooth.

Supernatural featured “Elevate My Mind,” and Owen If and Cath Coffey officially becoming members of the group. The resultant success of the album led to a plethora of remix work for Stereo MC’s, including remixing U2’s “Mysterious Ways,” and working with Jungle Brothers, and Queen Latifah.

Then in September of 1992 “Connected” was released, followed in October by the release of the album of the same name, and suddenly Stereo MC’s were on every radio station in America, and receiving a ton of airplay on MTV.

While the U.S. connected with single, the UK connected with the entire album, which rocketed to #2 on the UK Albums Chart, and Stereo MC’s would go on to take home the 1994 Brit Awards for Best Group, and Best Album (I’m guessing the album came out too late in ‘92 for the ’93 awards).

That same year, Hallam and Birch created the music-publishing firm Spirit Songs.

Everything was coming up roses for Stereo MC’s, so why didn’t we hear a follow up album until 2001’s Deep Down & Dirty, nearly a full decade after Connected?

Stereo MC’s may not have been actively recording as a group, but Ultimatum, the name they used for their remix work, was in full swing, doing remixes for Madonna (“Frozen”), Tricky (“Makes Me Wanna Die”), and Jungle Brothers (“Jungle Brother”), among others. Madonna would use their “Frozen” remix on her 2001 Drowned World Tour.

When they resurfaced as Stereo MC’s that same year with Deep Down & Dirty they kept the momentum going. Fast-forward to 2015, and with eight albums to their name they teamed up with the band Terranova to form a label they named Connected. Through Connected they release the work of artists within the house, techno, and electronic music genres.

Stereo MC’s are still together, and actively touring, although without Owen If, who passed away in 2022.

Over the course of their nearly 40 year career they’ve toured with, and opened for, a wide variety of artists, including U2, Jane’s Addiction, De La Soul, Living Colour, Madness, and Happy Mondays.

Getting back to Connected, years after its release it was still being heralded as a memorable album. In June of 2000 Q magazine had Connected at #52 on its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever, and it was also included in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

With that in mind, how could you not want to hear more from it?

I recently picked up a copy of Connected on CD, and I gotta say, it really is a great album, with a sound that’s unbelievably cool. In the same interview with The Guardian mentioned earlier, Hallam explained, “We’d moved away from being seen as a rap band and were embracing acid house. The rap scene in London was violent. You’d go out and there’d be fights everywhere. Then you’d go to a rave and everybody was hugging.”

While I recommend the album as a whole, for this column here are three songs, other than the title track, that you should hear.

“Ground Level” 

 

The third single from the album, “Ground Level” was big in the UK, but for some reason never saw the light of day in the U.S.

A track that features a wonderful groove, the lyrics are about class struggle, and how elites, specifically government elites, have no idea what poor people go through, and quite frankly don’t care.

The genius of “Ground Level” is the groove keeps you listening, so the message gets through.

A politically biting song, sadly, it’s even more relevant today than it was in 1992.

“Step It Up”

 

I have no idea how many people immediately had sex after dancing to “Step It U,” but with a chant of “we want flesh,” and lyrics like, “Curves with destinations / Poetic symmetry / You cause an inflammation / In my anatomy, don’t you see,” I would hope it led to quite a bit of baby making.

“Step It Up” was the follow up to “Connected,” but only made it to #58 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the UK Singles Chart, however, it wound up climbing up to #12, which was even higher than “Connected” at its peak. I guess that means folks were feeling frisky in the UK!

That reminds me, I should make sure my passport is up to date.

“Chicken Shake”

 

“Chicken Shake” is an instrumental track, and the following are what my thoughts were as I listened to it for the first time …

1. GODDAMN that’s a beat! I wish I could her a member of Wu-Tang rap over this.



2. Oh man, this build is spectacular. Now I just want them to let it groove for days!



3. I can understand why these guys were so sought after as producers, and remixed songs for some of the biggest artists of all-time. This is absurdly good, and sounds totally fresh despite being over 30 years old. 

4. Does a chicken actually shake?

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!

(And for the record, yes, the possessive apostrophe in Stereo MC’s drives me nuts)