Opus III was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

and

progressive house Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

who had success on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and on the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

. The group consisted of vocalist

Kirsty Hawkshaw Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969) is an English electronic music vocalist and songwriter. In addition to her work as a solo artist, she is known as the lead vocalist of early 1990s dance group Opus III, and her collaborative work with oth ...

and

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

/musicians Kevin Dodds, Ian Munro and Nigel Walton. The group members promoted a strong

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and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

message through their lyrics, album liner notes and photo and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

imagery. Their biggest hit was "

It's a Fine Day "It's a Fine Day" is a song written by English poet and musician Edward Barton. It was originally recorded in a cappella in 1983 by Jane, and later by Opus III for whom it was a major international hit in 1992. Original recording by Jane Bar ...

", which reached number five in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in February 1992. The song had previously been recorded by the singer Jane in 1983, and its lyrics had been taken from a song by poet Edward Barton.

Career

Prior to the forming of Opus III, Dodds, Munro, and Walton, signed with Capitol Records UK under the name A.S.K. The act released their first single “Kiss and Tell,” in 1988. Afterwards, the trio signed with MCA Records UK, where they released their next single, "Dream," in 1990, peaking at number 85 on the UK singles chart. The group later released a third single, “Freedom We Cry,” in 1991. It was during the autumn of 1990 that they noticed a rave dancer that they would add to the act as their visual dancer and afterwards become their lead singer, Kirsty Hawkshaw. The group would eventually become Opus III in 1992. During their tenure as a group, Hawkshaw was the only member that was visible in the music videos and television performances due to the other three members still being under contract to MCA. Once they were released from the label, the other members remained in the background, with the exception of live concert shows. Their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Mind Fruit'', produced the track "

", a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of a 1983 single by Jane, which topped the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1992 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. The song, now considered a

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

classic, is the basis of Orbital's 1992 track "

Halcyon Halcyon is a name originally derived from Alcyone of Greek mythology. Halcyon or Halcyone may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''Halcyon'' (TV series), a Virtual Reality murder mystery on SyFy * '' The Halcyon'', British period ...

" and its album version "Halcyon + On + On" included in their second eponymous album; the "la la la" section of the "It's a Fine Day" chorus was backmasked and

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

throughout the song. Hawkshaw appeared in the video for "Halcyon" playing a housewife who was "under the influence". The other single release from ''Mind Fruit'' was "

I Talk to the Wind "I Talk to the Wind" is the second track from the British progressive rock band King Crimson's debut album, '' In the Court of the Crimson King''. Starting immediately after the cacophony that ends "21st Century Schizoid Man", the mood of this ...

", a cover of the 1969 song by

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

. This was not a big chart success in the UK, only reaching number 52. Opus III's second album '' Guru Mother'' surfaced in 1994 and produced another U.S. number-one dance song "

When You Made the Mountain "When You Made the Mountain" is an "environmentally themed" electronica/dance song recorded by English electronic music group Opus III with vocals by Kirsty Hawkshaw. It was released in 1994 as the lead single from their second album, '' Guru Mo ...

". A third dance chart entry, " Hand in Hand (Looking for Sweet Inspiration)" hit number 14. The group disbanded after their second album. Hawkshaw was worried the project was becoming too commercial, which is one of the reasons for the band's separation (she has ruled out a reunion as well). Hawkshaw went on to pursue a solo career, lending her vocals to a number of

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

artists and tracks into the opening years of the 21st century, including

Delerium Delerium is a Canadian new-age ambient electronic musical duo that formed in 1987, originally as a side project of the influential industrial music act Front Line Assembly. Throughout the band’s history, their musical style has encompassed a ...

Silent Poets Silent Poets is a Japanese electronic duo (now solo project). They have released six original albums and more than seven remix albums/EPs until now. Gaining international recognition, Silent Poets has been featured in countless music/fashion mag ...

, BT,

DJ Tiësto A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

and again with Orbital.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links