"Stakker Humanoid" is an 1988 track by

Humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

released in 1988 on the London-based label

Westside Records Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

. It is described by ''

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'' as "the first truly credible UK

acid techno Acid techno, sometimes known generally as "acid", is a genre of techno that was derived from acid house and developed in Europe in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It saw younger artists apply the "squelching" synthesizer sound of Chicago acid hou ...

record to break into the mainstream."

History

The project behind the track started out with Stakker, a collaborative project by the video artists Mark McClean and Colin Scott. They needed music to support their video and contacted

Brian Dougans Brian Dougans (born 1968) is a British musician, and a member of the British electronic duo, the Future Sound of London (FSOL). He is the more technical member of FSOL, doing most of the programming, circuit bending et cetera and creating elec ...

. They sent a demo video tape containing graphics and some music to

Morgan Khan StreetSounds is a British compilation record label, that specialised in urban and electronic club/dance music during the mid-1980s. StreetSounds was an offshoot of producer and promoter Morgan Khan's StreetWave label. The first StreetSounds re ...

who (although he didn't appreciate the video) invited Brian Dougans to record two demos at his Dance Studios in Ealing London. The sample "Humanoid", taken from the video game '' Berzerk'', provided the name of the track. The track was originally called "Humanoid" to be put out by Stakker through Morgan Khan's label

, though Morgan released it as "Stakker Humanoid" by 'Humanoid' to avoid copyright issues. A dispute had arisen between Brian Dougans and Colin Scott / Mark McClean and before the record was in the shops, Stakker and

split, ending their working relationship which had lasted just over a year. However, McClean and Dougans were to continue working together on

the Future Sound of London The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient, house music, trip ho ...

project. Halter * Net: The Future Sound of London: Discography The track was a hit not just at influential clubs like

Shoom Shoom was a weekly all-nighter dance music event held at four nightclubs in London, England, between September 1987 and early 1990. It is widely credited with initiating the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was founded by Danny Rampling, wh ...

in London, but was championed by mainstream stalwarts like radio DJ

Bruno Brookes Trevor Neil "Bruno" Brookes (born 1959 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former radio presenter who became prominent on British radio in the 1980s. He was CEO of in-store radio company Immedia from 2000–2020. Early life and care ...

and producer

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

. It went on to reach number 17 on the UK charts in November 1988, leading to Dougans' appearance on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' on 1 December 1988. In 2011,

Noel Gallagher Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the chief songwriter, lead guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed ...

said of the track:

Mixes

The soundtrack for the 1989 release ''

Eurotechno ''Eurotechno'' refers to the musical soundtrack by English group Stakker for their 1989 experimental short film of the same name. The original film was an avant-garde experiment and features rapidly shifting colourful computer graphics, reflec ...

'' (originally written by Dougans) was remixed and overdubbed with new sections added by Colin Scott and

Simon Monday Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

in the digital studio that Scott and McClean had set up in the Goldcrest building in Great Pultney Street in Soho. This soundtrack is on the ''Eurotechno'' video and on the CD later released by

Rephlex Records Rephlex Records was a record label launched in 1991 in Cornwall by electronic musician Richard D. James (aka Aphex Twin) and Grant Wilson-Claridge. The label coined the term ''braindance'' to describe the output of Aphex Twin and fellow artists ...

Track listings

Original 12" and CD release

#A1 - "Stakker Humanoid" (4:59) #A2 - "Stakker Humanoid" (Radio Edit) (3:40) #B - "Stakker Humanoid" (The Omen Mix) (7:50)

Original 7" release

#A - "Stakker Humanoid" (3:40) #B - "Stakker Humanoid" (Part 2) (4:40)

Stakker Humanoid '92

# "Stakker Humanoid" (7" Original) (3:40) # "Stakker Humanoid" (Smart Systems Remix) (4:52) #* Remix - Smart Systems # "Stakker Humanoid" (Gary Cobain '94 Mix) (5:41) #* Remix - Garry Cobain # "Stakker Humanoid" (Omen Mix) (7:36) # "Stakker Humanoid" (303 Tribe) (5:31) #* Remix - The Future Sound of London # "Stakker Humanoid" (Outer Limits) (4:51) #* Remix - The Future Sound of London # "Stakker Humanoid" (12" Original) (4:55) # "Stakker Humanoid" (Dub Drums) (2:43) #* Remix - The Future Sound of London

Chart positions

Personnel

* Composed by

* Engineered by

John Laker John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

* Produced and mixed by Brian Dougans, John Laker * Uses vocal samples from the videogame ' Berzerk'.

References

Sources

* Cavanagh, David. ''The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes Are Hungry for the Prize''. London: Virgin Books, 2000.

External links

Footage at the Hitman and Her
* {{Authority control 1988 debut singles British house music songs Rephlex Records singles 1988 songs Acid house songs