Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British

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 ( electro ...

group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

s, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as Apollo 440 and as ambient cinematic alter-ego Stealth Sonic Orchestra, and created music for film, television, advertisements and multimedia. They notched up ten UK top 40

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

with three top-tens, and had a chart presence worldwide. Its name comes from the Apollo program and the frequency of concert pitch — the A note at 440 Hz, often denoted as " A440", and the

Sequential Circuits Sequential is an American synthesizer company founded in 1974 as Sequential Circuits by Dave Smith. In 1978, Sequential released the Prophet-5, the first programmable polyphonic synthesizer; it became a market leader and industry standard, used ...

sampler/sequencer, the Studio 440. They changed the writing of their name from Apollo 440 to Apollo Four Forty in 1996, though they switched back for their latest album. To date, Apollo 440's remixes range from U2,

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

, Jean-Michel Jarre and

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classi ...

. Among their Stealth Sonic Orchestra remixes are a series of

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

singles.

History

Apollo 440 were formed by the brothers Trevor and Howard Gray with fellow Liverpudlians Noko and James Gardner. Trevor, Howard and Noko all attended the same school, Old Hall High School in Maghull, in the mid to late 1970's. Gardner left after the recording of the first album. All members sing and add a profusion of samples, electronics, and computer-based sounds. After relocating to the Camden area of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Apollo 440 recorded in 1994 with their debut album, '' Millennium Fever'', and released it on 30 January 1995 on their own Stealth Sonic Recordings label (distributed by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...

). Their combination of rock,

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and U ...

, and ambient music has been successful on the

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include ...

s as well as on the dance floor. The band had been most known for its remixes until the release of ''Liquid Cool'' in the UK. However, it was not until the success of the singles " Krupa" and " Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub" that their own musical efforts were brought to international attention – particularly the latter single contributed to pushing Apollo 440 into the spotlight. In 2007, the band played a tribute gig to the late

Billy Mackenzie William MacArthur Mackenzie (27 March 1957 – 22 January 1997) was a Scottish singer and songwriter, known for his distinctive high tenor voice. He was the co-founder and lead vocalist of post-punk and new wave band the Associates. He also h ...

. Apollo 440's fifth album, ''The Future's What It Used To Be'', became available for download on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

from 23 March 2012.Album Preview Video
Collaborators over the years have included

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

, Jean Michel Jarre, Billy Mackenzie, Ian McCulloch and

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed a ...

. Currently, the band resides in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

, London, having once again moved its headquarters.

Members

Current members

* Howard Gray - production keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present) * Trevor Gray - production, keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present) * Noko - production, vocals, guitars, keyboards, samples, programming (1990–present)

Former members

* James Gardner - bass, keyboards, programming, samples (1990–1993)

Current touring members

* Cliff Hewitt - drums, programming (1994-present) * Mary Byker (Ian Hoxley) - vocals. raps (1997-present) * Harry K - turntables, samples, keyboards (1997-present) * Michael Cusick - bass, backing vocals (2007-present) * Ewan MacFarlane - vocals (2007-present)

Former touring members

* MC

Stevie Hyper D Stevie Hyper D (born Stephen Austin, 20 September 1966 – 5 July 1998) was a British drum and bass MC. Early life Stephen Austin was born in London, England on 20 September 1966, to a Spanish mother and Barbadian father. Career Austin was ...

- raps (1994) *

Rhoda Dakar Rhoda Dakar (born 1959) is a British singer and musician, best known as the lead singer of The Bodysnatchers, who were signed to the 2 Tone record label. She also worked with The Specials and Special AKA, also 2-Tone artists. Career Dakar, bo ...

- vocals (1994-2004) * Paul Kodish - drums, programming (1997-2000) * Rej - bass (1997-2000) * Jonathan "Stan" White - bass (2004)

Discography

Albums

EPs

*''Rumble EP'' (1993) * ''A Deeper Dub EP'' (2011)

Singles

Media appearances

Over 50 different Apollo tracks have featured in movies, trailers, TV, games and ads worldwide, the latter including globally branded cars, beers, soft drinks, phones, audio and software. They have also written two entire soundtracks for the Sony PlayStation and provided the themes for ITV World Cup '98 and

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

2000 to 2002 coverage as well as

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

's Official 2006 FA Cup song.

Video games

* 1996 ''

Adidas Power Soccer ''Adidas Power Soccer'' is a football simulation video game developed and published by British developer Psygnosis and sponsored by German sportswear company Adidas. Released in 1996, the game launched versions for PlayStation and Windows. G ...

'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

version) - Rumble/Spirit of America *1997 ''

Rapid Racer ''Rapid Racer'', known as ''Turbo Prop Racing'' in North America, is a racing video game developed by SCE Studios Soho and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation. In the game, the player takes control of a motorb ...

'' (Turbo Prop Racing), format: PlayStation CD (Audio CD plus game data track). The soundtrack was also available as an extra CD, as part of the limited edition double CD single release of "Carrera Rapida" * 1999 ''

FIFA 2000 ''FIFA 2000'' (titled ''FIFA 2000: Major League Soccer'' in North America) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It was the seventh game in the main ''FIFA'' series. The game was released f ...

'' - Stop the Rock * 1999 ''

Gran Turismo 2 ''Gran Turismo 2'' is a 1999 racing game developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the sequel to '' Gran Turismo''. It was well-received critically and financially, shipping 1.71& ...

'' (

NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...

version) - Cold Rock the Mic * 2000 ''

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...

'' (2000), featured a remix of " Spider-Man theme song" * 2001 '' ATV Offroad Fury'' - Yo! Future * 2001 '' Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec'' (

version) - Stop the Rock (Mint Royale Mix) * 2002 '' F1 2002'' (

PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

and PC versions) - Blackbeat * 2003 ''

SX Superstar ''SX Superstar'' is a racing video game developed by Climax Solent and published by Acclaim Entertainment for Xbox, GameCube and PlayStation 2. Modes *Arena involves racing through an arena, usually they have large jumps and sharp turns. *Baja ...

'' - Cold Rock the Mic * 2004 '' EyeToy: AntiGrav'' - ??? * 2004 '' EyeToy: Groove'' - Hustler Groove (instrumental) * 2004 ''

Gran Turismo 4 ''Gran Turismo 4'' is a 2004 racing video game for the PlayStation 2, the fourth installment in the main ''Gran Turismo'' series and the sixth for the overall series. It was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entert ...

'' - Start the Car * 2004 ''

'' - Hold the Brakes * 2007 ''

Forza Motorsport 2 ''Forza Motorsport 2'' is a 2007 simulation racing video game developed by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360 console. It is the second title in the ''Forza'' series, and is the sequel to the original ''Forza Motorsport'' (2005) and was followed by ...

'' - SolidRockRazorSteel * 2007 ''

'' - Rollin' Down the Highway * 2007 ''

Cars Mater-National Championship ''Cars Mater-National Championship'' is a 2007 racing game published by THQ for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Wii. The game received mixed reviews from critics. A sequel, ''Ca ...

'' - Stop The Rock * 2012 '' LittleBigPlanet Karting '' - Odessa Dubstep (Instrumental)

Music in film

* ''Spawn'' (1997) the soundtrack : "This Is Not A Dream" (UK Mix), with Mark Sandman of

Morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies ('' Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

on vocals **

Spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: A ...

Bonus Track (#15-16) * ''Club Hits 97/98'' (1997), (soundtrack to music used during Sky Sport's coverage of Premiership football), featured "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub" * '' Species II'' (1998), featured "Carrera Rapido" * ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

'' (1998), featured "Lost In Space (Theme)" * ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by ...

'' (2000), featured a remix of the ''Charlies Angels'' theme song * '' Boys and Girls'' (2000), featured "Stop the Rock" in a club scene * ''Cut'' (2000), featured "Stop the Rock" * '' Gone in 60 Seconds'' (2000), featured "Stop the Rock" * '' Driven'' (2001), features "Stadium Parking Lot" in a montage of several songs during a chase scene * ''

'' (2002), featured "Altamont Super-Highway Revisited" in one of the trailers * ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'' (2002), featured "Wall Of Death" * '' S.W.A.T.'' (2003), featured "Time Is Running Out" * '' Eurotrip'' (2004), featured "Make My Dreams Come True" * ''

Chasing Liberty ''Chasing Liberty'' is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Andy Cadiff and starring Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode. Written by Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman, the film is about the 18-year-old daughter of the President of the United Stat ...

'' (2004) featured "Stop the Rock" * '' Disaster Movie'' (2008), featured "Stop the Rock" in the teaser trailer * ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', in "

Whoever Did This "Whoever Did This" is the 48th episode of the HBO original series ''The Sopranos'' and the ninth of the show's fourth season. Written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on November 10, 2002. S ...

" (2002) "The Man with the Harmonica" played over the end credits * ''

Victoria's Secret Fashion Show The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show was an annual promotional event sponsored by and featuring Victoria's Secret, a brand of lingerie. From 1995 to 2018, Victoria's Secret used the show to market its goods in high-profile settings. Models unde ...

'' 2007, featured "Stop the Rock" in the segment "Sureally Sexy"

Vocalists

Apollo 440 has a history of working with various vocalists. Whilst their debut album, ''Millennium Fever'', was sung almost exclusively by Noko, he has since withdrawn from his vocalist status in the band to make way for various guest appearances, including, but not limited to: *

on "Pain In Any Language" on ''Electro Glide in Blue'', the last song he recorded. * Ewan MacFarlane on "Electro Glide in Blue" on ''Electro Glide In Blue'' and numerous tracks on the ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' album - currently performing live. * Xan on "Something's Got to Give" on ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' * Jalal Nuriddin on "Children of the Future" on ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' * The Beatnuts on the title track of ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' *Elizabeth Gray on "Christiane" on ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' and "Stealth Mass" on ''Electro Glide in Blue'' *

Mary Byker Ian Garfield Hoxley, known by his stage name Mary Byker (a.k.a. Mary Mary) (born 20 December 1963), is an English singer, record producer and DJ known for his work as the lead singer of Gaye Bykers on Acid, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pigface and Apoll ...

(

Ian Hoxley Ian Garfield Hoxley, known by his stage name Mary Byker (a.k.a. Mary Mary) (born 20 December 1963), is an English singer, record producer and DJ known for his work as the lead singer of Gaye Bykers on Acid, Pop Will Eat Itself, Pigface and Apol ...

) on "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Dub", "Raw Power" on ''Electro Glide in Blue'' and "Stop The Rock" on ''Gettin' High On Your Own Supply'' - performed as live vocalist until 2004.

Tributes

Jean Baudrillard

The album, ''Millennium Fever'', is a tribute to the French philosopher

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard ( , , ; 27 July 1929 – 6 March 2007) was a French sociologist, philosopher and poet with interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as ...

. Since the release of that album, other references to Jean Baudrillard's works have popped up. *The track, "Astral America", references Baudrillard's ''America'' essay, where the term originates. *The track, "The Perfect Crime", references Baudrillard's book of the same name. *The lyrics of "Stealth Requiem" reference the Baudrillardian concept of hyperreality. At one point a female voice says, "Ravishing hyperrealism ... Mind blowing", and later quotes directly from ''America'' (1988): "The exhilaration of

obscenity An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be us ...

; the obscenity of obviousness; the obviousness of power; the power of

simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

Marcel Duchamp

The title and cover art of the album ''Dude Descending a Staircase'' are parodies of '' Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2'' by

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

Alcor

The song "Liquid Cool" (released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

in 1993, as a single in 1994, and featured on the ''Millennium Fever'' album) is a tribute to

Alcor ALCOR (ALGOL Converter, acronym) is an early computer language definition created by the ALCOR Group, a consortium of universities, research institutions and manufacturers in Europe and the United States which was founded in 1959 and which had 60 m ...

, a company focused to pursue research into and the organization of cryonization. The topic is also referenced in the title-song "Millennium Fever", which includes the line, '"I've been dreaming of freezing my mind in California'" where Alcor was based until 1994. Contact details for Alcor subsequently appeared on the

sleeve A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to '' slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, ac ...

of the single " (Don't Fear) The Reaper", a cover of the Blue Öyster Cult song.

Omega Point

The song "Omega Point" references the religious concept of the same name, and features a quote from Barrow and Tipler's "''The Anthropic Cosmological Principle''".

Krupa

Their 1996 song is a homage to the Polish-American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973), known as Gene Krupa, was an American jazz drummer, bandleader and composer who performed with energy and showmanship. His drum solo on Benny Goodman's 1937 recording of " Sing, Sing, ...

and his improvised style of drumming.

Charles Bukowski

On the album ''

Electro Glide in Blue ''Electro Glide in Blue'' is the second studio album by English electronic music group Apollo 440. It was first released on 3 March 1997 in the United Kingdom by Stealth Sonic Recordings and Epic Records and on 9 September 1997 in the United St ...

'', track 6 called "Tears of the Gods" (6:18) features audio quotes from the 1970s video performance "Bukowski at Bellevue". The quotes are all taken from a piece entitled "Soup, Cosmos, and Tears." (A transcription of the video can be found at th
Blithering Savant
blog.)

Slavoj Žižek

The song "Love is Evil", on the album ''

The Future's What It Used to Be ''The Future's What It Used to Be'' is the fifth studio album by the British electronic band Apollo 440. It was released in January 2012 by Radikal Records. Track listing Personnel ;Apollo 440 *Ewan MacFarlane - lead vocals * Howard Gray *Nok ...

'', contains samples from the Slovenian philosopher

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek (, ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New ...

References

External links

The Stealthography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollo 440 English electronic rock musical groups English techno music groups British drum and bass music groups Musical groups from Liverpool Remixers Musical groups established in 1990 English alternative rock groups Big beat groups 550 Music artists Epic Records artists