DID "CHARLY" KILL RAVE? (Mixmag article part 1)
BS2000
Here you go people... a horrible HORRIBLE article which starts bad and gets
worse! its long so im givin it in several parts.... prodge you're gonna HATE
it!
------------------------------------
From Mixmag magazine August 1995
The Prodigy's "charly" was the moment rave went ridiculously overground.
But the band still believe they're underground. Dom Phillips says, "oh
yeah?"
Will Keith ever shut up? I'm wondering. We're having lunch in a Wandsworth
wine bar, me and The Prodigy, and Keith has ordered lobster "with an
instruction manual on how to eat it." Then he's given a five minuite stand
up demonstration of the regga techno skank. Thankfully he's taken off the
Afghan waistcoat, leaving a second hand fashion collision of long tatty
shorts and backwards baseball cap, but now he's talking about the essex-east
end attitude. The "I come from East london, don't get out of bed for less
than £70," approach. The Prodigy's home town of Braintree is, he says, just
faraway from London not to share that attitude.Essex. Home of Chingford and
"Birds of a Feather", Essex Girl jokes and Essex Man, the crucial
constituency of Basildon and everything thats naff. If Britain has an
equivalent to America's Mid-West of shopping malls and middle thinking, then
it's in Essex. The Prodigy couldn't come from anywhere else.
Because Essex is also the spiritual home of rave in its masssively popular,
totally cheese and all the toppings, 1990s form. In its pop music form.
Home to the frenetic Suburban Base label, to the Sierra and sunstrip D-Zone,
to Shades of Rythm and hordes of baggy clad rave kids.
And to the Prodigy, the ultimate cheesy teen rave act who burst from the
bigt legal raves and to the big legal charts by sampling Charly the cartoon
cat and starting what must be the most inane samlping phase in the history
of dance music. And then followinbg with a track entitled, in the worst
dodgy MC fashion, "Everybody In The Place" - arguably a great pop song for
fourteen year old ravers, and there's nothing wrong with that, but fourteen
year olds had previously had little to do with raving.
Keith, Mr Essex Raver himself onstage and off, is one of two Prodigy
dancers, Leroy (sic) wry and lanky and opting for Steak, is the other.
Sitiing opposite (and also on the steak)m is Keeti the MC, the only member
not from Braintree - which is a peacefull sleepy town in the middle of
nowhere. Which just leaves the real Prodigy, he who writes and produces and
creates all the music from a home studio in self-same Braintree.
Liam Howlett (yes another steak) is just 20 years old and he's already got
two top ten singles stuffed down his trousers. When I meet him he's dressed
down in purple jogging pants, torn jumper and big trainers. He shoves some
fan letters he's just been handed in a pocket and shakes my hand. "Nice
One", he says.
In rave terms The prodigy are massive, their fan base a huge pile of 14-19
yr old ravers who got into the scene just as The Prodigy started making
records. Which for ravers who got into the scene just as the prodigy
started making records. Which for many original ravers is when they got
out. For their fanatic fans, The Prodigy are the essence of rave. Theres
little distinction between the crowd and creator. Liam Howlett doesn't just
look like his audience, those scruffy, spotty masses, he is one. Thats one
reasone why they write fan letters to him, telling him "thanks for the tune,
nice one." and asking questions about equipment he uses. Proof, if further
were needed, of the kind of identification going on here.
the Prodigy, the epitome of rave, overground Essex style, make simple often
obvious and always over the top rave tunes; rave tunes as pop tunes. Made
for rave kids by rave kids. A tight breakbeat, a slightly crass melody, one
keyboard noise, a couple of crowd noises and maybe one good idea. In the
rave world, where one good noise can spawn a hundred records, Liams a
regular trailblazer. And Liam's the one the kids, in the real sense of the
word, identify with, the lad gurning next to you with a computer in the
bedroom and a floppy disc fuill of dreams come true.
Liam is heir to the homemade computer enthusiast tradition that goes back to
Derrick May and to a Guy Called Gerald and even to the bedroom days of punk
rock. But when "charly" turned from wacky hardcore anthem into
chart-busting gold dust, Howlett's silly little novelty tune joined another,
far less honourable heritage.
One that goes back to Johnathon King and Keith Harris and Orville and a
million nightmare novelty records that countless grinning Top Of The Pops
goons have introduced over the years. The great awful British novelty song.
That song, the one everyone hates and still gets up for. "Charly" the
squealing cat, the "birdy song" of rave, the Russ Abbot of house. Like
punk, rave has a rougues gallery all of its own. And if someone like Shut
up and Dance take the place of Sham 69, then the Prodigy are Jilted John.
Nobody told them - that the joke isnt funny anymore.
The Prodigy dont buy into any of this. They came from the rave scene and as
far as they're concerned thats territory they still occupy. "Its so hard to
keep an underground respect when youve got a record in the charts' says Liam
over his steak. " we try our hardest to steer away from losing that buzz,
from being a live act. That's what we are. We dont want to go on Top Of
The Pops so we didnt. We didn't want to go in Smash Hits and all the other
stupid magazines and stuff. Any interviews we did we thought through
carefully and were in well read and respected magazines."
Peter Thomas
"BS2000" <BS2000.don't.want....@dircon.co.uk> wrote:
>Here you go people... a horrible HORRIBLE article which starts bad and gets
>worse! its long so im givin it in several parts.... prodge you're gonna HATE
>it!
Well, I like the fact that you've posted it here. I've never read it
before, just read *about* it, really. I have seen the cover, and that
was pretty low - (anyone who's read Electronic Punks will know how the
photographer slied his way into making the cover picture)
>From Mixmag magazine August 1995
erm, 92, shorely?
>The Prodigy's "charly" was the moment rave went ridiculously overground.
Erm, so Humanoid, Shut Up And Dance and 808 State never got into the
charts before this then? errrrrrrr....
>But the band still believe they're underground. Dom Phillips says, "oh
>yeah?"
Dom Phillips also says how much he loves the Prodigy in that Evolution
video.
Pete says "You fucking half-baked hypocrite working for a shitty
narrow-minded magazine full of adverts".
(I believe Dom Phillips is also the one who wrote some sick comments
(mostly anti-rock) about Kurt Cobain's death when Tinman failed to get
clearance for the Teen Spirit riff for use in their one-hit-wonder
Eighteen Strings. And funny how MixMag refused to print my mate's
complaint about that...hmmm)
<snip>
>up demonstration of the regga techno skank. Thankfully he's taken off the
>Afghan waistcoat, leaving a second hand fashion collision of long tatty
>shorts and backwards baseball cap,
Oh, personal attacks. Okay, so the Prodigy did look like twats back
then (they themselves admitted it recently), but if only Dom would get
to some substance here.
>but now he's talking about the essex-east
>end attitude. The "I come from East london, don't get out of bed for less
>than Ł370," approach. The Prodigy's home town of Braintree is, he says, just
>faraway from London not to share that attitude.Essex. Home of Chingford and
>"Birds of a Feather", Essex Girl jokes and Essex Man, the crucial
>constituency of Basildon and everything thats naff.
Mainly true, but what's that got to do with the Prodigy really?
>If Britain has an equivalent to America's Mid-West of shopping malls and middle thinking, then
>it's in Essex.
Obviously not been to Surrey, then.
>The Prodigy couldn't come from anywhere else.
Like people choose where they come from...hmmm...
>Because Essex is also the spiritual home of rave in its masssively popular,
>totally cheese and all the toppings, 1990s form. In its pop music form.
translation: "We don't like Sunscreem".
Funny for them to take an anti-cheese stance, when they're such a
pro-house magazine.
<snip>
>And to the Prodigy, the ultimate cheesy teen rave act who burst from the
>bigt legal raves and to the big legal charts by sampling Charly the cartoon
>cat and starting what must be the most inane samlping phase in the history
>of dance music.
This is coming from a guy who championed Tinman's Eighteen Strings
novelty single.
From the same magazine that carried such acts as M People and D:Ream
on the cover.
>And then followinbg with a track entitled, in the worst
>dodgy MC fashion, "Everybody In The Place"
I suppose Shamen's Ebenezeer Goode <winces, shudders> was the zenith
of the party scene then?
>- arguably a great pop song for
>fourteen year old ravers, and there's nothing wrong with that, but fourteen
>year olds had previously had little to do with raving.
Nice elitist attitude there. Of course, everyone should have been
raving the minute they were born, otherwise they're not allowed into
it.
<snip>
>Braintree - which is a peacefull sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.
True. But what was that he was saying earlier about "mid-west shopping
malls" tho?
<snip>
>Liam Howlett (yes another steak) is just 20 years old and he's already got
>two top ten singles stuffed down his trousers. When I meet him he's dressed
>down in purple jogging pants, torn jumper and big trainers.
Yes, of course, any respected dance producer would turn up in a
tuxedo. :)
<snip>
>In rave terms The prodigy are massive, their fan base a huge pile of 14-19
>yr old ravers who got into the scene just as The Prodigy started making
>records.
I was into rave before Charly. And so were a whole load of others.
I refer the right honourable gentleman to the aforementioned 808
State.
>Which for ravers who got into the scene just as the prodigy
>started making records. Which for many original ravers is when they got
>out.
I refer the right honourable gentleman to raves that regularly dropped
mixes of Jericho, EITP and Your Love. (Your Love is still played today
at raves)
>little distinction between the crowd and creator. Liam Howlett doesn't just
>look like his audience, those scruffy, spotty masses, he is one.
<thunk>
That was the sound of the journalist hitting a new low.
Like anyone dresses up for a magazine's text interview. (Gizz was
doing the washing up when I was interviewing him)
And since when has someone's skin condition made an effect on the
music they made? That's a funny logic. If true, then all those boy
bands make the best music!
>Thats one reason why they write fan letters to him, telling him "thanks for the tune,
>nice one." and asking questions about equipment he uses.
Can't have that, can we?
>Proof, if further were needed, of the kind of identification going on here.
Prejudiced nonsense, if further was needed...
>Made for rave kids by rave kids.
Yes? And the problem is?
Would this guy like all his house records to be written by a
heavy-metal guitarist? :-/
>one keyboard noise,
Poor journalist. Numeracy failures as well as literacy ones.
>regular trailblazer. And Liam's the one the kids, in the real sense of the
>word, identify with, the lad gurning next to you with a computer in the
>bedroom and a floppy disc fuill of dreams come true.
>Liam is heir to the homemade computer enthusiast tradition that goes back to
>Derrick May and to a Guy Called Gerald and even to the bedroom days of punk
>rock.
Something wrong with the DIY ethic, Mr Phillips? Or do you prefer your
music to be written in huuuge expensive studios with ultra slick
production teams (see Dion, Celine)?
No wonder Dom is considered a laughing stock in the media.
>But when "charly" turned from wacky hardcore anthem into
>chart-busting gold dust, Howlett's silly little novelty tune joined another,
>far less honourable heritage.
Like the record's sound changes as soon as it hits the charts? Am I
missing something here?
>"Charly" the squealing cat, the "birdy song" of rave, the Russ Abbot of house.
I have a copy of Tinman's Eighteen Strings here, Mr Phillips, and I'm
not afraid to use it.
And let's not forget the way you lot ass-licked Shamen. (Now there's a
novelty)
>Like punk, rave has a rougues gallery all of its own. And if someone like Shut
>up and Dance take the place of Sham 69,
Shut Up and Dance being compared to Sham 69?
No, if we're gonna use punk analogies, then Shut Up and Dance are
Billy Idol from Generation X. Semi-credible one minute, completely
cheese the next.
>then the Prodigy are Jilted John.
Considering what they've done now, you can take your pick from Sex
Pistols; Beastie Boys; The Clash; The Damned...
>Nobody told them - that the joke isnt funny anymore.
Dom hates this 'novelty joke single'. Doesn't explain how his magazine
praised Ratpack (they dropped covered melodies in the middle of their
songs) or the dreaded Tinman. Or the Lisa Marie Experience. Or Stretch
and Vern.
>stupid magazines and stuff. Any interviews we did we thought through
>carefully and were in well read and respected magazines."
Um, except this one, Liam!
I'm off to watch that bit in Evolution where Dom Phillips is in his
MixMag office, praising Prodigy all the way through!
Footnote: The Fire video ends with Liam throwing that MixMag onto the
bonfire.
Prodigy since did two further full interviews with the magazine. The
one in 1994 (pre-One Love) had Liam making pot-shots at the "Charly
Killed Rave" article, and the interviewer coming with makeshift
apologies for it.
Did anyone know if MixMag ever reviewed the Prodigy's book Electronic
Punks, which fully exposed Dom and Mixmag's ways in making that
interview? I wouldn't expect it to get such a good review from them.
:)
--
Mixmag = your handy fliers collection for corporate house clubs. :(
Peter Prodge... (see me.html at my site)
pete [at] prodge.demon.co.uk ICQ# 6692412
http://www.prodge.demon.co.uk/janus <-- JANUS STARK
http://earthbound-network.home.ml.org <-- RARE MP3s.
New? READ THE PRODIGY FAQ at www.prodge.demon.co.uk
and also READ NEWBIES GUIDE www.jakeman.demon.co.uk
Tom Knight
Liam burns the cover in the Fire video if you look closely.
http://ww.btinternet.com/~tom.knight/prodigy.htm
Andrej Krpic
Tom Knight wrote in message <357ADFF4...@btinternet.com>...
>Liam burns the cover in the Fire video if you look closely.
>
>http://ww.btinternet.com/~tom.knight/prodigy.htm
>
<CUT>
And why did you quote whoooole message?
cya,Andrej
Lithium
So we could read the whole message
--
Email me - funky...@yahoo.com
or through ICQ - 13156823
....... All is welcome!
> Tom Knight wrote in message <357ADFF4...@btinternet.com>...
> >Liam burns the cover in the Fire video if you look closely.
> >
> >http://ww.btinternet.com/~tom.knight/prodigy.htm
> >