Urban Dance Squad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2007)

Urban Dance Squad
Urban Dance Squad, 2006.
Background information
Origin	Utrecht, Netherlands
Genre(s)	Alternative rock Funk rock Rap rock
Years active	1986–2000 2006
Label(s)	Arista Sony BMG Triple X
Website	www.uds.nl
Members
Rudeboy Remmington (Patrick Tilon) Tres Manos (Renè van Barneveld) Sil (Silvano Matadin) Magic Stick (Michel Schoots) DJ DNA (DoNotAsk) (Arjen de Vreede)

Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch band formed after what was originally intended at a one-time jam-session at a festival in Utrecht on December 20 1986^[1]. Band members were rapper Rudeboy Remmington (Patrick Tilon), guitarist Tres Manos (René van Barneveld), bassist Sil (Silvano Matadin), drummer Magic Stick (Michel Schoots) and DJ DNA (DoNotAsk) (Arjen de Vreede). The band's music is described as a blend of genres, including hard rock, funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, jazz and ska and is often compared to that of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone. They are famous for their hit single "Deeper Shade of Soul", which charted at number 21 in the United States on Billboard Hot 100.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Break up 1.2 Reunion 2 Band Members 3 Discography 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

Before the release of the first album, the band made a name for itself through live performances and radio and television appearances. Performances include Dutch national radio and television VPRO, MTV Europe and the New Music Seminar NY in the summer of 1989.

The band's first album, Mental Floss For The Globe, was recorded in the spring of 1989 and offered to a number of record companies. Eventually, the band signed with Ariola/BMG.

Mental Floss For The Globe was an instant success, followed two years later by Life' N Perspectives Of A Genuine Crossover.

The band's 1993 tour programme included performances in Italy with Primus and support performances for U2’s European tour. While on tour, DJ DNA decided to leave the band, with the remaining band members completing the tour without him.

As a 4-piece band, Urban Dance Squad played the Lowlands festival later that year and signed with Virgin records

Their 1997 Planet Ultra album, includes a guest appearance from Seda (Robin Bezuijen, DJ for the Osdorp Posse) and Wizards of Ooze.

In November 1996, Urban Dance Squad performed two sold out concerts in Belgrada (Serbia), coinciding with the beginning of anti-Milošević protests. Recordings of the first concert, which had been mixed directly to two-track at the recording, were released by the band as the Beograd live album.

On April 6, 1997, a media statement by the band announced the return of DJ DNA. Later that year, the band reacheed an agreement with Peter Heur of LA based record label Triple X for the US release of the band's back catalogue, and a contract was signed in 1998. Triple X would remaster all four studio albums and reissue the albums with new artwork, each including a bonus disc containing a live concert from the original release's corresponding tour.

[edit] Break up

The band's concert at Axion Beach Rock on July 17, 1999 proved to be the its last gig when Tres Manos announced in February 2000 that he was leaving. The band decided to split up. In interviews over the years, band members blamed character incompatibility for the band's break-up.

In the U.S., the band is mostly known with the hit-single Deeper Shade of Soul, which topped at the 21st spot on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1991^[2]. "Deeper Shade of Soul" samples the 1968 Ray Barretto song of the same name.

[edit] Reunion

In June 2006, Urban Dance Squad signed with Sony-BMG, where it released their compilation album The Singles Collection later that year. To support the release of the album, the band reunited for a number of performances in 2006, including the Dutch Lowlands festival^[3] and Pukkelpop in Belgium, as well as the Antwerp music club Petrol.

[edit] Band Members

• Rudeboy Remmington (Patrick Tilon) - vocals
• Tres Manos (Renè van Barneveld) - guitar
• Sil (Silvano Matadin) - bass guitar
• Magic Stick (Michel Schoots) - drums
• DJ DNA (DoNotAsk) (Arjen de Vreede) - DJ

[edit] Discography

• Mental Floss For The Globe (1989)
• Life' N Perspectives Of A Genuine Crossover (1991)
• Persona Non Grata (1994)
• Planet Ultra (1996)
• Beograd live (1997)
• Artantica (1999)
• The Singles Collection (2006)

[edit] Trivia

• "Fast Lane" appears on the soundtrack of the 1990 film Pump Up the Volume^[4].

• The band appears in the movie ^[5] playing at Razor and Blade's nightclub.

• The song "Good Grief" appears on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Hackers. The band has a cameo appearance in the film with the same song^[6].

• The song "Demagogue" appears on the soundtrack of the 2001 film Crazy/Beautiful^[7] and in 2003 on Gigli^[8].

• An Urban Dance Squad track is used in an episode of The Sopranos.

[edit] External links

• Frans Steensma (ed), "OOR's Eerste Nederlandse Pop-encyclopedie" (12th edition, Amsterdam, 2000)
• "5 jaar wanorde", a two-art documentary by director Bram van Splunteren for Dutch national television VPRO's Onrust, originally broadcasted in 1992.
  • part 1.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1VaY1IkXYI
  • part 1.2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHEX-KevqBY
  • part 1.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcmjrPh_4E0
  • part 1.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xso2XrjW8FI
  • part 2.1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKlSjq-K9K4
  • part 2.2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSfQkpkrvP8
  • part 2.3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R-1YRrXnWs
  • part 2.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YeWy8qi1Wk
• another band homepage, though it appears it has not been updated since 1998 http://raft.vmg.co.uk/uds/

[edit] References