Paul Oakenfold

Paul Oakenfold
Paul Oakenfold performs at Nation in Washington DC. Photo by: Utopium
Background information
Birth name	Paul Oakenfold
Born	August 30 1963 (1963-08-30) (age 44) Greenhithe, England
Genre(s)	Trance Progressive Trance
Occupation(s)	Disc jockey, Record producer, Remixer
Instrument(s)	Synthesizer
Years active	1988-present
Website	www.pauloakenfold.com

Paul Oakenfold (born August 30, 1963 in Greenhithe, Kent, England)^[1] is a record producer and one of the best-known Trance DJ's worldwide.

Contents 1 History 2 Dyslexia 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 3.2.1 Electra 3.2.2 Solid Gold Easy Amex 3.2.3 Paul Oakenfold 3.2.4 Paul Oakenfold with Steve Osborne 3.2.5 Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray 3.3 Remixes 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

History

In 1987, Oakenfold spent several months in Ibiza, Spain, where he fell in love with the dance club music (see 1987 in music).^[2] Using influences from Ibiza's sound, Italo disco, soul and house, Oakenfold produced Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches, followed by remixes for U2, Massive Attack, Arrested Development, The Cure, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Deacon Blue, Simply Red, New Order and The Shamen with production partner Steve Osborne under the collaborative name 'Perfecto'. Many of these remixes were released under his label Perfecto Records. He first started playing in clubs as a teenager and soon built up a reputation as a top party DJ. His Acid House nights Phuture, Spectrum, (Theatre of Madness), at London's Heaven, and Manchester's Legends nightclubs, and Land of Oz, were among the events for which he first became widely known, among clubbers and ravers, in the late 1980s. However, it wasn't until the early 1990s when his name was associated with the DJ elite. The reason for this rise in public admiration was his adoption of a new breed of dance music called Goa, something he discovered on the beaches of Goa in India and fused with similar sounding European records to create his own distinct sound. He took this to the mainstream when in 1994 he created a two-hour set for BBC Radio 1's Essential Mix. This set became known as the Goa Mix and to this day is the most requested broadcast on the BBC radio network . His album Perfecto Fluoro became an instant masterpiece in every major club and college campus in Boston, and the #1 essential dance collection of Boston Beat during 1996 with Jamiroquai's Travelling Without Moving. In 1997, Oakenfold mixed one disc of the double album Fantazia House Collection 6, a UK House music compilation series that had been massively successful at the time. He brought his distinctive style to the mix. After a short spell as a member of the band Grace, Oakenfold became Cream's resident DJ from 1997 - 1999. During this time, he began to concentrate on the release of Tranceport in 1998. Oakenfold followed Tranceport with arguably his most successful album Perfecto Presents Another World which introduced millions to his mixing skills. His popularity across the Atlantic is slowly growing thanks to his work on the film soundtracks of Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, Collateral, Herbie Rides Again, Die Another Day, for which he remixed The James Bond Theme. He later worked on the James Bond video game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, contributed to the soundtrack of the Japanese anime film "Appleseed" in 2004 and provided the theme song for the FIFA series of video games since 2005. He also contributes music to Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series of video games, particularly the versions for Microsoft's Xbox console. In 2001, Paul took part in the first Area Festival tour. This tour featured Incubus, Carl Cox, Orb, OutKast, and The Roots. In 2002, Q magazine named Oakenfold in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". In the same year, Oakenfold released his first solo album, called Bunkka featuring artists like Nelly Furtado, Tricky ("The Harder They Come"), the world-renowned Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ("Zoo York"), Ice Cube ("Get Em Up"), and Shifty Shellshock, then the lead singer of Crazy Town ("Starry Eyed Surprise"). His latest effort is 2006's A Lively Mind. In 2004, Oakenfold's song "Ready Steady Go" was reproduced with some Korean lyrics for the movie Collateral, and was included in the film soundtrack. "Ready Steady Go" was also used in Saab commercials, the EA Sports game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003, the pilot for the television program Las Vegas, the film The Bourne Identity (during a car chase scene), NASCAR theme song for 2006, and the Alias episode "Snowman". In an earlier episode, The Imposter, of Radio Free Roscoe, a 2005 series on The-N, a character Travis Strong DJed to the song (obviously acting as if it were his own). This particular song has also been used during the performances of extreme freestyle water ski jumpers. It has more recently been used in the film adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's novel Stormbreaker. He's also tried his hand at acting by playing one of the zombies in the 2007 smash 28 Weeks Later. In 2005, Oakenfold remixed the classic Transformers theme as the theme song for then-new television series, Transformers Cybertron.^[3] 'A Lively Mind' was released on June 6, 2006. The first single 'Faster Kill Pussycat' is a collaboration with the actress Brittany Murphy, and was released on May 2, 2006. Oakenfold's 2006 CD was released by Maverick Records. Oakenfold is a big fan of Chelsea F.C. . His name is also associated with a song called "see it", featured in the second stage of "Frequency", a game for the PS2. The game was released November 20, 2001, though the song itself is very inconspicuous and is rarely, if at all, mentioned of; it also does not seem to be on any of his albums. 2007 saw the publication of the first official biography of Paul Oakenfold, written by Richard Norris of The Grid and Beyond the Wizard's Sleeve fame. Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography was published by Bantam Press on 24 September, 2007. 2006 saw his single Beautiful Goal was used in FIFA 06, a game for the PlayStation 2 and PC market

Dyslexia

Oakenfold is known to have struggled with dyslexia as a child and has stated his intention to help dyslexic children.^[4][5]

Discography

Albums

Year	Title
1994	Journeys By DJ Volume 5: Journey Through The Spectrum
1995	A Voyage Into Trance
1996	Perfecto Fluoro
1997	Global Underground 004
1998	Tranceport
	Global Underground 007
1999	Essential Millennium with Pete Tong & Fatboy Slim
	Resident: Two Years of Oakenfold at Cream
2000	Perfecto Presents: Travelling
	Perfecto Presents: Another World
2001	Swordfish: The Album
	Perfecto Presents Ibiza
2002	Bunkka
2003	Perfecto Presents: Great Wall
2004	Creamfields
2005	Perfecto Presents: The Club
2006	A Lively Mind
2007	Greatest Hits & Remixes, Vol. 1

Singles

Electra

as part of the 'Balearic House' group 'Electra'

• "Jibaro" (FFRR Records - 1988) # 54 UK
• "It's Your Destiny" / "Autumn Love" (FFRR Records - 1989) # 51 UK

Solid Gold Easy Amex

remix of former Red Box b-side

• "Enjoy" (EastWest Records - 1990)

Paul Oakenfold

as Paul Oakenfold presents Afrika Bambaataa and the Soulsonic Force:

• "Planet Rock" (Tommy Boy Records - 2001) # 47 UK, #21 US Hot Dance Music/Club Play

as Oakenfold:

• "Southern Sun" / "Ready Steady Go" (Perfecto Records - 2002) # 16 UK, #9 US Hot Dance Music/Club Play

as Oakenfold with vocals by Shifty Shellshock Of Crazy Town

• "Starry Eyed Surprise" (Perfecto Records - 2002) # 6 UK, US: #10 Hot Dance Music/Club Play, #41 Billboard Hot 100, #13 Top 40 Mainstream

as Oakenfold with vocals by Nelly Furtado and Tricky

• "The Harder They Come" (Perfecto Records - 2003) # 38 UK

as Oakenfold:

• "Hypnotised" (Perfecto Records - 2003) # 57 UK, #16 US Hot Dance Music/Club Play

as Oakenfold ft Brittany Murphy

• "Faster Kill Pussycat" (Perfecto Records - 2006) #7 UK, #44 AUS, #4 US Hot Dance Music/Club Play

as Oakenfold with vocals by Justin Timberlake

• "Spunk City" (Perfecto Records - 2007) #23 Greece, #12 US [[Hot Dance Music/Club Play]

as Oakenfold ft Pharrell

• "Sex 'N' Money" # 1 Turkey,Currently #10 on the Hot Dance Airplay chart.

Paul Oakenfold with Steve Osborne

as Rise:

• "The Single" (Perfecto / EastWest Records - 1994) # 70 UK

as Perfecto Allstarz:

• "Reach Up" (Perfecto - 1995) # 6 UK

as Virus:

• "Sun" (Perfecto - 1995) # 62 UK
• "Moon" (Perfecto - 1997) # 36 UK

as Grace:

• "Not Over Yet" (Perfecto - 1995) # 6 UK, #4 IE
• "I Want To Live" (Perfecto - 1995) # 30 UK
• "Skin on Skin" (Perfecto - 1996) #21 UK
• "Down to Earth" (Perfecto - 1996) #20 UK
• "If I Could Fly" (Perfecto - 1996) #29 UK
• "Hand in Hand" (Perfecto - 1997) #38 UK
• "Down To Earth Remix" (Perfecto - 1997) #29 UK

Paul Oakenfold and Andy Gray

as Element 4

• "Big Brother UK TV Theme" (Channel 4 Music - 2000) #4 UK

Remixes

See also

• Movement 98

References

External links

• Official Website
• Paul Oakenfold discography at MusicBrainz
• Paul Oakenfold interview from Real Detroit Weekly
• Paul Oakenfold interview at musicOMH.com
• Paul Oakenfold Music Videos
• Paul Oakenfold's Official My Space Page

This box:  •  • edit Paul Oakenfold
Discography
Mix Albums: Journeys by Stadium DJ · A Voyage into Trance · Perfecto Fluoro · Global Underground 004: Oslo · Global Underground 007: New York · Tranceport · Resident. Two Years of Oakenfold at Cream · Essential Millennium with Pete Tong & Fatboy Slim · Perfecto Presents: Another World · Perfecto Presents: Travelling · Perfecto Presents: Ibiza · Perfecto Presents: Great Wall · Creamfields · Perfecto Presents: The Club
Studio Albums: Bunkka · A Lively Mind
Soundtracks: Swordfish Original Soundtrack · Matrix Reloaded Original Soundtrack
Singles: Starry Eyed Surprise · Ready Steady Go · The Harder They Come · Hypnotised · Southern Sun · Faster Kill Pussycat · Sex 'N' Money
Related content
Movement 98