Bang! are a British
happy hardcoreHappy Hardcore is a form of dance music typified by a very fast tempo , often coupled with solo vocals, and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of breakbeat hardcore, which tend to be "darker"...
group from the late 1990s originally consisting of producer Nick Arnold, Tom Orton and female vocalist Donna Grassie. Nick Arnold and Tom Orton had previously been a members of the band Smart-Es, who reached 2 in the UK in 1992 with their cover of the theme tune to
Sesame StreetSesame Street is an American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and...
entitled
Sesame's Treat. After the release of "Cloudy Daze" which featured Donna, Tom Orton brought Jo James to the attention of Nick after a contact of Tom's, Jo's husband, presented to him a demo of his wife singing.
After "Cloudy Daze", Tom left Bang! to work with other artists including Jack Speed and Kriminal, and Nick and Jo went on to have enormous success with "Shooting Star", and then a whole catalogue of vocal hardcore anthems almost all of which written entirely by Nick.
Bang! are a British
happy hardcoreHappy Hardcore is a form of dance music typified by a very fast tempo , often coupled with solo vocals, and sentimental lyrics. Its characteristically 4/4 beat "happy" sound distinguishes it from most other forms of breakbeat hardcore, which tend to be "darker"...
group from the late 1990s originally consisting of producer Nick Arnold, Tom Orton and female vocalist Donna Grassie. Nick Arnold and Tom Orton had previously been a members of the band Smart-Es, who reached 2 in the UK in 1992 with their cover of the theme tune to
Sesame StreetSesame Street is an American educational children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and...
entitled
Sesame's Treat. After the release of "Cloudy Daze" which featured Donna, Tom Orton brought Jo James to the attention of Nick after a contact of Tom's, Jo's husband, presented to him a demo of his wife singing.
After "Cloudy Daze", Tom left Bang! to work with other artists including Jack Speed and Kriminal, and Nick and Jo went on to have enormous success with "Shooting Star", and then a whole catalogue of vocal hardcore anthems almost all of which written entirely by Nick. Their underground bouncy singles were regularly featured on the
BonkersThe Bonkers series is the leading happy hardcore compilation series in the UK. The first release was in 1996 on record label React , it was available on 2xCD or 2xTC formats. DJs DJ Sharkey and Hixxy were signed by React and the pair released "Bonkers", the first in a series of albums which has...
compilation series. "Shooting Star" also featured on the Konami "Dance Dance Revolution 4th Mix" computer game, which subsequently went to the Sony PlayStation.
Nick and Jo were so prolific with their output, that they released under a number of different acts including "Stealth", "Oblivvion" and "Blaze!". Finally, in February 2005, with a whole collection of new remixes, Bang! released their debut album, not surprisingly entitled "Shooting Star".
Their single Shooting Star was covered by trance act
Flip & FillFlip & Fill are a Manchester, England based electronic dance music duo, consisting of the producers/remixers, DJs Graham Turner and Mark Hall...
in 2002, who took it to number 3 in the UK charts.
Jo James eventually quit the band but worked with the aforementioned Flip & Fill on their 2003 single
I Wanna Dance With Somebody; a cover version of the old
Whitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American recording artist, actress, and former fashion model. A relative to several prominent soul singers, including her mother Cissy Houston, cousins Dee Dee and Dionne Warwick, and godmother Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing at her New Jersey church as a...
track.
Bang! continues to release under the Warped Science label owned by DJ Storm and Euphony.
External links