| Saint Etienne | |
|---|---|
 Saint Etienne
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Croydon, England |
| Genre(s) | House Alternative rock Indie dance Techno Synthpop Dream pop |
| Years active | 1988 – Present |
| Label(s) | Heavenly Records Creation Records Sub-Pop Mantra Records Sanctuary Records |
| Website | sainetienne.com |
| Members | |
| Sarah Cracknell Bob Stanley Pete Wiggs |
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Saint Etienne is an English indie dance act, fronted by Sarah Cracknell (born April 12, 1967, Chelmsford, Essex). Former music journalists Bob Stanley (born December 25, 1964) and Pete Wiggs (born May 15, 1966) are the other regular members of the band. They are named after the famous French football team, AS Saint-Étienne, European Cup runners-up in the 1970s.
Contents |
History
Saint Etienne were one of the bands that helped define the indie dance genre in the early 1990s, fusing the production values of the dance-pop that emerged in the wake of the Second Summer of Love with the clever lyrics and self-aware production of indie music. A decade after the band's formation, The Times observed that Saint Etienne "deftly fused the grooviness of Swinging Sixties London with a post-acid house backbeat"[1]. During the 1990s the band also recorded two tracks - "7 Ways to Love" and "He Is Cola" - under the name "Cola Boy" with different singers; their explanation is that the tracks were "too cheesy for Saint Etienne. We'd have been finished overnight".[1] Their early recordings were packed with generic house music clichés, such as standard TR-909 drum patterns and Italo house piano riffs, but they soon found a more original sound notable by the use of found dialogue, mainly from classic 60's British realist cinema as featured on their albums Foxbase Alpha and So Tough. Some of these earlier recordings included skits by satirist Chris Morris.[2] During the early 1990s the group enjoyed extensive coverage in UK music weekly papers NME and Melody Maker and gained a reputation as purveyors of "pure pop" in the period immediately prior to the Brit-Pop explosion. They began to shift towards a more atmospheric type of electronica in 2000 with the release of Sound of Water, dividing their fanbase. Their best known songs are the cover of Neil Young's classic "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" (on which Moira Lambert provided vocals), "Nothing Can Stop Us" (which was Sarah Cracknell's first contribution as lead singer), "You're in a Bad Way", and the anthemic "He's on the Phone". The album Finisterre was released in 2002. A follow-up DVD by photographer and film maker Paul Kelly was released July 4, 2005 . In November 2004 , they released their first US compilation of greatest hits, called Travel Edition 1990-2005. June 13, 2005
saw the release of the band's new album, entitled Tales from Turnpike House. It was preceded by a single for the track "Side Streets". A second single, "A Good Thing", was released in the UK on October 31, 2005
. Early editions of the album were accompanied by a six-track sampler CD for a planned album of songs for children entitled Up the Wooden Hills. "A Good Thing" is featured in Pedro Almodóvar's award winning 2006 Spanish movie Volver. "A Good Thing" is also featured in the Grey's Anatomy episode titled "Tell me sweet little lies," the fourteenth episode of season 2 in 2006.
Collaborations
1993's non-album single "Who Do You Think You Are" is a cover of a song by Jigsaw. The song was also covered by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods and by Candlewick Green, a winning act on the UK talent show Opportunity Knocks. Saint Etienne recorded it as a duet with Debsey Wykes, former singer of Dolly Mixture. In 1993, the band collaborated with Kylie Minogue for two songs: a cover of "Nothing Can Stop Us" (intended at the time to be her first single release for her new label) and "When Are You Coming Home" (unreleased). Also in 1993, the Xmas 93 EP featured Tim Burgess from The Charlatans on the lead track "I Was Born on Christmas Day." In 1995, the band co-recorded the Reserection EP with French pop star Étienne Daho; later, they also worked on his album Eden and single "Le Premier Jour." For the band's first greatest hits compilation, Too Young to Die (1995), Eurodance producer Steve Rodway reworked the track "Accident" from the Reserection EP, producing the renamed single "He's on the Phone." The single, co-credited to Daho, gained the singer additional exposure to English-speaking audiences. Rodway's co-producer Brian Higgins produced the band's following single, "Burnt Out Car," released in 1996. In 2000, the band crossed genres by working with trance producer and DJ Paul van Dyk, resulting in the single "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)," with vocals by Cracknell. The 2005 album Tales from Turnpike House features David Essex as a guest vocalist. Several tracks on the album were co-written and co-produced by Brian Higgins' songwriting production team, Xenomania. Sarah Cracknell has collaborated with Marc Almond on his single "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten" for his album Stardom Road.
Films
The 1998 album The Misadventures of Saint Etienne is the soundtrack to the independent film The Misadventures of Margaret, starring Parker Posey. The film's production company then decided it needed a more 'conventional' soundtrack so most of Saint Etiennes score was replaced. A number of tracks are still in the background. I track called 'Secret Love' was also recorded which was a duet between Sarah Cracknell and the film's star Parker Posey. It has never been released due to legal problems. The band have also produced two films documenting the landscape of the city of London: Finisterre (2003) inspired by the 1967 short film The London Nobody Knows, and What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (2005), which has a more specific focus on the dilapidation of the Lower Lea Valley. The band have produced a new film, This Is Tomorrow, in their new capacity as artists in residence at the newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall in London, telling the story of the Hall's first 50 years. This Is Tomorrow was premiered June 29, 2007
as part of the RFH's opening season, with the band appearing live to perform the soundtrack.
Notes
- ^ The Times Play, 12 October 2002
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
- Foxbase Alpha - 1991, Heavenly Records - #34 (UK)
- So Tough - 1993, Heavenly Records - #7 (UK)
- Tiger Bay - 1994, Heavenly Records - #8 (UK)
- Good Humor - 27 September 1998, Creation Records - #18 (UK)
- Sound of Water - 2000, Mantra Records - #33 (UK)
- Finisterre - 2002, Mantra Records - #55 (UK)
- Tales from Turnpike House - 2005, Sanctuary Records - #72 (UK)
Other albums
- 1995 Reserection EP (with Etienne Daho credited as 'Saint Etienne Daho') #50 UK
- 1998 Fairfax High
- 1999 Places to Visit EP (US Only)
- 1999 The Misadventures of Saint Etienne (Japan Only) [Soundtrack]
- 2005 Up the Wooden Hills EP
- 2006 What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day Soundtrack
Compilation albums
- 1993 You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone [B-Sides]
- 1995 Fairytales from Saint Etienne (Japan Only)
- 1995 Too Young to Die - The Singles #17 UK
- 1996 Casino Classics [Remix album] #34 UK
- 1997 Continental (Japan Only)
- 2001 Interlude (US Only) [B-Sides]
- 2001 Smash the System: Singles and More [Double CD]
- 2005 Travel Edition 1990-2005 [US Only]
- 2005 Smash the System: Singles 1990-99 [Single CD]
Fan club releases
- 1995 I Love to Paint (full CD album)
- 1995 Xmas '95 (3-track CD single)
- 1997 Valentines Day '97 (4-track CD single)
- 1998 Xmas '98 (2-track CD single)
- 1999 Built on Sand (full CD album)
- 2002 Asleep at the Wheels of Steel (full CD album)
- 2003 Xmas 2003 (3-track CD single initially given away free at Xmas '03 gigs then given out free to fanclub members in 2004)
- 2006 Nice Price (full CD album)
- 2006 What Have You Done Today, Mervyn Day? (full CD album later given a very limited full scale release)
- 2006 Merry Xmas 2006 from Saint Etienne (2-track CD single given away free at the Saint Etienne Xmas Party Turntable Cafe on 21 December 2006)
- 2007 Boxette - 4CD box-set comprising the first 3 fanclub albums and other rarities
Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | US Hot Dance | US Modern Rock | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" | 95 | - | - | - | Foxbase Alpha |
| 1990 | "Kiss and Make Up" | 80 | - | - | - | - |
| 1991 | "Nothing Can Stop Us" / "Speedwell" | 54 | - | 1 | - | Foxbase Alpha |
| 1991 | "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" Re-release | 39 | 97 | 1 | 11 | Foxbase Alpha |
| 1991 | "7 Ways to Love" As Cola Boy | 8 | - | 9 | - | - |
| 1991 | "He Is Cola" As Cola Boy | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1992 | "Join Our Club" / "People Get Real" | 21 | - | - | - | - |
| 1992 | "I'm Too Sexy" as part of The Fred EP Right Said Fred covers EP, with Flowered Up and Rockingbirds |
26 | - | - | - | - |
| 1992 | "Avenue" | 40 | - | - | - | So Tough |
| 1993 | "You're in a Bad Way" | 12 | - | - | - | So Tough |
| 1993 | "Hobart Paving" / "Who Do You Think You Are" | 23 | - | 5 | - | So Tough |
| 1993 | "Xmas 93" (I Was Born on Christmas Day) featuring Tim Burgess | 39 | - | - | - | - |
| 1994 | "Pale Movie" | 28 | - | - | - | Tiger Bay |
| 1994 | "Like a Motorway" | 47 | - | - | - | Tiger Bay |
| 1994 | "Hug My Soul" | 32 | - | 40 | - | Tiger Bay |
| 1995 | "He's On The Phone" | 11 | - | 33 | - | Too Young to Die |
| 1996 | "Burnt Out Car" / "Angel" limited release | - | - | - | - | Casino Classics |
| 1998 | "Sylvie" | 12 | - | - | - | Good Humor |
| 1998 | "The Bad Photographer" | 27 | - | - | - | Good Humor |
| 1998 | "Lose That Girl" Austria promo only | - | - | - | - | Good Humor |
| 1999 | "Lover Plays the Bass" France limited 7" only | - | - | - | - | n/a |
| 1999 | "52 Pilot" USA limited 7" only | - | - | - | - | Places to Visit |
| 1999 | "Saturday" France limited 7" only | - | - | - | - | The Misadventures of Saint Etienne |
| 2000 | "How We Used to Live" Ineligible for chart | 155 | - | - | - | Sound of Water |
| 2000 | "Tell Me Why (The Riddle)" Paul van Dyk featuring Saint Etienne |
7 | - | - | - | Out There and Back (Paul van Dyk Album) |
| 2000 | "Heart Failed (in the Back of a Taxi)" | 50 | - | - | - | Sound of Water |
| 2001 | "Boy Is Crying" | 34 | - | - | - | Sound of Water |
| 2002 | "Action" | 41 | - | - | - | Finisterre |
| 2002 | "Shower Scene" Spain promo only | - | - | - | - | Finisterre |
| 2003 | "Soft Like Me" | 40 | - | - | - | Finisterre |
| 2005 | "Side Streets" | 36 | - | - | - | Tales from Turnpike House |
| 2005 | "A Good Thing" | 70 | - | - | - | Tales from Turnpike House |
| 2006 | "Stars Above Us" US Only | - | - | 6 | - | Tales from Turnpike House |
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
External links
| Saint Etienne |
|---|
| Sarah Cracknell • Bob Stanley • Pete Wiggs Gerard Johnson • Ian Catt |
| Discography |
| Albums: Foxbase Alpha • So Tough • Tiger Bay • Good Humor • Sound of Water • Finisterre • Tales from Turnpike House |
| Compilations: You Need a Mess of Help to Stand Alone • Fairytales from Saint Etienne • Too Young to Die - The Singles • Casino Classics • Continental • Interlude • Smash the System: Singles and More • Travel Edition 1990-2005 • Smash the System: Singles 1990-99 |
| Other releases: Reserection • Fairfax High • Places to Visit • The Misadventures of Saint Etienne • Up the Wooden Hills • What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day • This Is Tomorrow |
| Related articles |
| AS Saint-Étienne • Heavenly Records • Creation Records • Sub Pop • Mantra Records • Sanctuary Records |
