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S'Express burst onto the scene in 1988 with the Rose Royce-inspired
'Theme From S'Express. Follow-up singles 'Superfly Guy' and 'Hey
Music Lover' (which sampled cult film Stepford Wives) extended their
credentials as a band capable of astonishingly good dance-pop.
The
band's founder Mark Moore is still working as a respectable (well,
as they can be) DJ and took time out to answer a few of our questions.
'Theme From S'Express' was such an inspired song. How aware were
you at the time that you were doing something new?
Mark: I knew I was doing something very new and unique -
taking from the
underground sound of Chicago House music and Detroit techno but
giving it my very own British slant. I thought it would be big in
the clubs I played and that we'd be a cult band for a while after
which, in perhaps three years time, we would sell out and become
mega famous.
It was the second summer of love. Any hazy
recollections from your first TOTP?
Mark:
I remember being held prisoner in a white room for the whole day!
Did you ever worry that S'Express would be
considered a novelty act?
Mark: I was confident that most people, once they scratched
the surface,
would realise that we were a band with an edge as well as a sense
of humour. Although a couple of the first S'Express interviews did
start with, "Is this a joke?"
By the time of 'Nothing To Lose' your music
had become more song-based. Yet it missed out on big chart success.
This must have been disappointing.
Mark: I was a bit miffed. It was a marvelous ditty and I
felt that Sonique should have been a huge star. Took a while but
she got there. People still come up to me and say what a great song
that was. Usually with an eerie, crazed look in their eyes.
Sonique, Billy Ray Martin... you have a talent
for picking great singers. What's happened to the other members
of the band?
Mark: Linda
Love now runs a modelling agency. Haven't seen her for a while but
I am in contact with all the other girls. Chilo is as wild as
ever making films, music and doing poetry recitals in Vienna. I
tried to get us to do an erotic art video for "Hey Music Lover"...oh
all right then, a soft porn video...but they all refused. It is
our biggest regret!
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