Introduction
The Stereo MC’s are the renowned and globally revered English Hip Hop/ Electronic dance duo Rob Birch (Rob B) and Nick Hallam (The Head).
Stereo MC’s were formed in Nottingham in the mid 80’s with the duo being childhood friends and neighbours, inspired to make music by their combined love of early hip hop and electronic dance music.
The Stereo MC’s initially pressed their first 12” vinyl and started their own independent record label called G Street Records (named after the London flat they once inhabited) in the late eighties.
When G Street attracted the attention of 4th & Broadway in 1989, the duo recorded the debut Stereo MCs’ album – 33-45-78. The album was recorded on a shoestring budget with DJ Cesare, drummer Owen If and backing vocalist Cath Coffey all featuring.
STEREO MCS are probably best known for their international Top 20 hit single ‘Connected’ which was released in 1992. Taken from the ‘Connected’ album of the same year. The album reached #2 in the UK Album Charts and contained the hit singles “Connected”, “Step It Up”, “Creation”, and “Ground Level”, and won the group a BRIT Award for Best Group and Best Album.
“I had to press the sampler button so much, my finger bled” – Stereo MC’s on making Connected
The live outfit of the band includes backing singers plus a live drummer and as such STEREO MCs are still one of the only known dance / hip hop acts to perform comfortably alongside many other genres on stadium main stages.
“We recorded our debut album as Stereo MC’s in 1989 with backing vocalist Cath Coffey and drummer Owen If. When we started getting gigs, we thought it would be fun to have live drums, even if they made the turntables bounce around. But when we went to the States, the US branch of our record company said: “We’re not paying for a drummer to come on tour, because you don’t do that with this type of music.” They assumed we were just a rapper and a DJ, but we insisted – because the drummer was part of the band. – Nick Hallam
The Stereo MCs first found success in the United States In 1990 when their single “Elevate My Mind” made it into the United States R&B Charts. This success was further cemented by them supporting Happy Mondays on a US tour. They also toured with De La Soul, Living Colour and A Certain Ratio. They then headed to New York to record their second album, “Supernatural”.
Whilst in the US and working on ‘Supernatural’, Stereo MC’s worked with the Jungle Brothers resulting in yet more chart success for them.
After these successes, remix works soon followed for them with the likes of U2 and Queen Latifah. Further notable remixes saw them working with Madonna (Frozen) and the Jungle Brothers (Jungle Brother). Madonna went on to use the “Frozen” remix on her 2001 Drowned World Tour.
In 2000, Stereo MCs released a Disc Jockey mix for Studio !K7’s DJ-Kicks series and remixed another song for Madonna (Music). The following year saw the release of the band’s Deep Down & Dirty, followed by a tour including slots opening for Jane’s Addiction.
‘Deep Down & Dirty’ was Stereo MC’s fifth consecutive Top 20 hit single in a row. A trio of acclaimed albums followed: ‘Paradise’(2005), ‘Double Bubble’ (2008) and ‘Emperor’s Nightingale’ (2011).
In 2015, After releasing eight albums for Island Records, K7, Graffiti Recordings, and Pias, the Stereo Mc’s decided to go back to their roots and embark on their own independent label project and thus the ‘Connected’ label was born. At first the label was envisaged as a vehicle solely for themselves to release new music, but soon led to them releasing other artists’ music, encompassing a keen interest in Afro House, Deep House and Techno. With distribution through Kompakt Records in Cologne the label has grown extensively in recent years.
Hallam and Birch also created their own music-publishing firm ‘Spirit Songs’.
2024 sees the Stereo MC’s heading into a new era as they’ve just signed an exciting management deal with Creation RecordsLegend Alan Mcgee and Kevin Fitzgerald of Toura Toura Ltd.
Plans for the duo will include them recording and releasing new original material as well as extensively touring at gigs and festivals across the globe.
