Electribe 101 (stylized as electribe 101 on most record sleeves, Electribe – 1.0.1. on early releases) was an England based group active from 1988 to 1992, playing dark, psychedelic, bluesy, electronic soulful

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, and fronted by

Billie Ray Martin Birgit Dieckmann, known professionally as Billie Ray Martin, is a German singer and songwriter, known for her single "Your Loving Arms", which reached the top 10 of both the UK Singles Chart (#6) and the Irish Singles Chart (#8) in 1995, and re ...

.Smith, Robin. ''1.0.1 Dancesations!''.

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

, 4 Feb 1989.

Musical career

Electribe 101 was formed in 1988 when four

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

based musicians and club owners (Joe Stevens, Les Fleming, Rob Cimarosti and Brian Nordhoff) who were searching for a singer to bring alive the music they'd been creating in their studio answered an ad in ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'': "Soul rebel seeks musicians – genius only". The ad had been placed by the Hamburg born Billie Ray Martin, who had moved first to Berlin and then to London, in search of new collaborators.Stubbs, David. ''Electribe 101''.

, 21 Oct 1989.Gittins, Ian. ''House to House Enquiries''.

, 17 Feb 1990. The five soon created "Talking with Myself", based on Julian Jonah's "Jealousy and Lies"McCann, Ian. ''Take it to the Fridge''.

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

, 24 Feb 1990. and an original song by Martin.Barron, Jack. ''Tribal funk''.

, 11 Nov 1989. The group released "Talking with Myself" first as a white label on their own Hip-notic label, but it was soon picked up by Phonogram who released the single commercially in November 1988 on their 'Club' imprint. The name of the group is a combination of various vague references. The first part refers to 'electric' and 'tribe', but is also inspired by a comic called Technotribe, and allegedly also based on a Soviet refrigerator named "Elektri 101", while the latter part can be connected to the Roland SH-101 synthesizer and Room 101 in George Orwell's

Nineteen-Eighty Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...

.Heath, Chris. ''I Eat Smash Hits!''.

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

, 7-20 March 1990. Meanwhile, Martin had also sought out Mark Moore, who had had a massive hit with "

Theme from S-Express "Theme from S-Express" is an acid house song by British electronic dance music group S'Express, from their debut studio album, ''Original Soundtrack'' (1989), written and produced by Mark Moore and Pascal Gabriel. One of the landmarks of early ...

" in mid-1988 and was busy putting together an album for S'Express. Billie recorded vocals for three tracks on the album. "Hey Music Lover", a loose interpretation of the Sly & The Family Stone track " I Want to Take You Higher" from 1971, was released as the third and final single from the album (Feb 1989). Based on its success and the buzz "Talking with Myself" had created, Electribe 101 caught the attention of the legendary manager Tom Watkins who got the group signed to

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

label, also owned by Phonogram. The group were now busy recording an album. The next single was intended to be "Lipstick on My Lover" (promo only, May 89), but plans changed when "Tell Me When the Fever Ended" emerged. "Fever" reached number 32 in the UK Singles Chart (Oct 1989). "Talking with Myself" was then reissued on Mercury, reaching #23 on the UK Singles Chart (Feb 1990) and #8 on the US Dance Chart, becoming the group's biggest hit. The album ''

Electribal Memories ''Electribal Memories'' is the first album by house-music group Electribe 101. It was originally released in 1990 and reached number 26 in the UK Albums Chart. The album includes the singles "Tell Me When the Fever Ended" (#32 in the UK Single ...

'' was released in October 1990 and reached a respectable #26 on the UK Chart. Reviews were mainly positive.Duerden, Nick.

, 13 Oct 1990.Smith, Andrew.

, 13 Oct 1990.George, Iestyn.

Q (magazine) ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. '' ...

, Nov 1990.Brown, Russell.

Select (magazine) ''Select'' was a United Kingdom music magazine of the 1990s. It was known for covering indie rock, but featured a wide array of music. Launched in July 1990, its first cover star was Prince. After EMAP Metro bought ''Select'', they revamped it ...

The last two singles released from the album, "You're Walking" (Sept 1990) and "

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" (

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cover, Nov 1990), also charted in the UK, #50 and #77. Journalist David Stubbs summed up the group's sound aptly, calling it "lush and sobely entrancing, the very shadow of soul." Success was in the cards for the group when they got to support

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

on their '

World Violation Tour The World Violation Tour was a 1990 concert tour by English electronic group Depeche Mode in support of the act's seventh studio album, '' Violator'', which was released in March 1990. It was estimated that by the end of the tour, Depeche Mod ...

' in 1990, but it wasn't meant to be. Mode fans didn't always welcome the group, and occasionally the group was even booed off stage. Watkins found himself unable to manage a group that didn't follow his orders to the letter, and Mercury/Phonogram never figured out how to promote the group. Despite all the adversities, Electribe 101 recorded a follow-up album in 1991, but it was left unfinished when group was dropped by Phonogram, in the company's end-of-the-year 'cull' in 1991. The group tried to continue for a while, even recording more new tracks - but the group soon split. The men in the group continued as The Groove Corporation (which had already been used as their remix moniker on some Electribe singles), signing with the Network Records subsidiary label Six6, while Martin continued as a solo artist.

Legacy

Belatedly it has become apparent that the music of Electribe 101 was ahead of its time.''Meltdown Music'' feature.

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

, 31 Dec/06 Jan 2000. "Talking with Myself" became a balearic 'ambient' anthem in the late 1990s. On the strength of new remixes made in 1998 "Talking with Myself '98" charted again (UK #39). The album ''Electribal Memories'' has also been reissued a couple of times. The tracks on the unreleased album also found new life. Many were re-recorded by Billie Ray Martin for her 1995/96 solo debut album ''

Deadline for My Memories ''Deadline for My Memories'' is the debut solo album by Billie Ray Martin, former lead singer of the band Electribe 101. It was originally released in October 1995, including Martin's biggest hit single, "Your Loving Arms" and the notable follow- ...

'', while two songs ("Persuasion" and "Wishing You Well") had already been released on her 1993 singles. "Insatiable Love" was recycled by The Groove Corporation, as the title track on their 1993 album ''Co-operation''. In recent years, Martin has released exclusive Electribe 101 material. The group's promo videos were included on the 2008 DVD ''The Videos 89–98'', along with two TV appearances. ''The John Peel Session'' CD released in 2011 includes the three tracks the group recorded live in October 1989 (broadcast the following month on Peel's Radio 1 show in the UK). In 2016 Martin released the original 8-track demo of "Talking with Myself" as a free download (currently unavailable) on her Bandcamp page. In 2021-22 Martin released physical Electribe 101 releases, first the

Frankie Knuckles Francis Warren Nicholls, Jr. (January 18, 1955 – March 31, 2014), better known as Frankie Knuckles, was an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He played an important role in developing and popularizing house music in Chicago during the 1 ...

remixes of Electribe 101's "Heading for the Night", an unreleased single from late 1990 / early 1991, followed by ''Electribal Soul'', the unreleased 1991/92 album.Earls, John. ''Q+A Billie Ray Martin''.

Classic Pop Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

presents 90s Dance, p. 58, June 2021.

Group members

* Joe Stevens * Les Fleming * Roberto Cimarosti * Brian Nordhoff

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{Authority control English dance music groups English house music groups English techno music groups Mercury Records artists Phonogram Inc. artists Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands