Bizarre Inc were an English

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

group. Formed in 1989 as a duo between

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 ...

DJs Dean Meredith and Mark "Aaron" Archer (not to be confused with the

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

of the same name), they later re-formed as a trio consisting of Meredith, Andrew Meecham, and Carl Turner in 1990.

Career

The group formed as Meredith and Archer linked to start an acid-house/techno project under 'Blue Chip Records'. A label owned by former Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts. The first releases were (and still are) only available on 12'' vinyl: "It's Time to Get Funky" (BLUE C14R), later shortened to "Time to Get Funky" (BLUE C14RR); and the 6-track debut album ''Technological'', both written and produced by Meredith and Archer. By 1990, Archer left Meredith to work as producer and writer with different house and techno projects, a greater part of which were for Network Records. He was also known as DJ Nex for a long time; later on he released material under names such as Mr. Nex, O.P.D., Xen Mantra, and others (including

Nexus 21 Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic rave music with a heavy bass line. Notable Altern 8 tracks inc ...

and

Altern-8 Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic rave music with a heavy bass line. Notable Altern 8 tracks inc ...

with co-producer Chris Peat). Still in the same year, two other experienced DJs – Andrew Meecham and Carl Turner – joined Bizarre Inc, thus forming a new trio. The first 12'' they released together was "Bizarre Theme" / "X-Static" on the now-defunct

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Vinyl Solution Vinyl Solution was a record label of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the offshoot of an independent London-based record store based at 231 Portobello Road (now known as Intoxica Records). The label signed many unconventional acts in a number of unc ...

. This first track got a moderate acceptance, and their next single, "Such a Feeling", which sampled the

Aurra Aurra was an American 1980s in music, 1980s soul music, soul group, which, at the time of its biggest success on Salsoul Records, featured Curt Jones (guitar/vocals) and Starleana Young (vocals) and included Steve Washington (bass/guitar/drums), ...

club hit "Such a Feeling", peaked at number 13. The next single, "Playing with Knives", peaked at number 4; the song's vinyl (7-inch and 12-inch) releases were issued on a couple of different European labels. On 19 October 1992, Bizarre Inc released the album '' Energique''. shortly after the BPI Silver Certified "I'm Gonna Get You" single featuring

Angie Brown Angie Brown (born 13 June 1963) is a British singer and songwriter from Brixton, South London. She is a co-artist on the hit single " I'm Gonna Get You" (1992) by Bizarre Inc and performed on a number of recordings with them as lead vocalist in ...

was released on 21 September via

on 12-inch vinyl. Bizarre Inc twice went to

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

on the

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Hot Dance Club Play Dance Club Songs is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It is a national look over of club disc jockeys to determine the most popular songs being played in nightclubs across the country. It was launched as t ...

chart 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 tabu ...

. The BPI Silver Certified "I'm Gonna Get You" spent two weeks at number one in January (also hitting number 47 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100) and was followed by "Took My Love", which was number one for two weeks in late April.

is featured as lead vocalist on both releases. A third song, "Love in Motion" (featuring Yvonne Yanney), peaked at number 4 on the U.S. dance chart in late 1993. Three of Bizarre Inc's hit singles appeared on ''Energique'' in 1992. They also released a third album, the more commercial ''Surprise'', in 1996. Meecham and Meredith have continued releasing new music together under the name

Chicken Lips Chicken Lips is a dance music band and production team from Stafford, England, that includes Andy Meecham and Dean Meredith, both formerly of Bizarre Inc, a band they created in the early 1990s. Career Meecham and Meredith began working as Chick ...

. In the UK, their biggest singles remain "Playing with Knives" (number 4) and "I'm Gonna Get You" (number 3), the latter of which was a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

dance-pop hit and was one of the biggest sellers of that year.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{Authority control English techno music groups Hardcore techno music groups Electronic dance music DJs English DJs English record producers Musical groups established in 1989 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups from Staffordshire Remixers Some Bizzare Records artists

Career

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

See also

References