Urban Cookie Collective
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Urban Cookie Collective are a British techno and house band best known for their hit single "The Key The Secret", which was originally released in 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Rohan Heath (born 19 July 1964) was the driving force behind the group. He played keyboards, co-wrote The Key The Secret with Anniffe Akinola of Chapter&The Verse, Backyard Dog and Ironweed fame (Chapter&The Verse produced A Guy Called Gerald's Voodoo Ray). Heath had formerly worked with Yargo and A Guy Called Gerald. Urban Cookie Collective’s original vocalist was Diane Charlemagne, who co-wrote some of their tracks and now works with Moby . The other main members were Simon Bentall (b 17 October 1967) and Peter Samson (bongos) (b 15 May, 1968), Johnny Jay and Mark Hadfield of Lucid and Love Freakz fame and Niel Claxton of Mint Royale. Guest rappers took part from time to time to create an eclectic mix in the studio.
Heath had learned classical piano as a child, and decided on a career in music after abandoning a PhD at Vermont University. After a tour of Japan supporting the Happy Mondays, he left A Guy Called Gerald. He later joined ‘Together‘ a band created by Haçienda regulars Suddi Raval and Jon Donaghy, the latter tragically killed in an accident in Ibiza along with his girlfriend Emma. Together's single Hardcore Uproar made number 12 in the UK singles chart in August 1990. After a brief stint with Eek A Mouse, he created the Urban Cookie Collective, a collective of Manchester's top producers writers and performers.
They achieved a major breakthrough in 1993 with “The Key The Secret”, which peaked at number 2 in the UK, and number 5 in Germany. It was originally a track written at home by Rohan Heath in a soul and hip hop vein. After a subsequent re-mix provoked a massive club response it was picked up by the Pulse 8 record label. The follow-up release was “Feels Like Heaven“ which was also very successful. The band remain actively together and still maintain a busy concert schedule
"The Key The Secret" was more recently covered by Phobos & Deimos.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Singles
- "The Key The Secret" - 1993 - Number 2 UK; Number 15 US Dance/Club play
- "Feels like Heaven" - 1993 - Number 5 UK; Number 12 Germany
- "Sail Away" - 1994 - Number 18 UK; Number 25 Germany
- "High on a Happy Vibe" - 1994 - Number 31 UK;
- "Bring it on Home" - 1994 - Number 56 UK;
- "Spend the Day" - 1995 - Number 59 UK;
- "Rest of my Love" - 1995 - Number 67 UK;
- "So Beautiful" - 1995 - Number 68 UK;
- ”Ain’t it a Shame” - 1995 (featuring the voice of Rachel McFarlane from N-Trance)
- "The Key The Secret (remix)" - 1996 - Number 52 UK;
- "The Key The Secret (second remix)" - 2005 - Number 31 UK
[edit] Album
- High on a Happy Vibe - 1994 - Number 28 UK
- Tales From The Magic Fountain - 1995
- Cookie Monster - 2007
[edit] References
- British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
- British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
