Mint Royale biography
Mint Royale is an electronic music act from Manchester, England. They were originally founded by the duo Neil Claxton and Chris Baker in 1997; the latter left the band in 2004, but Claxton continues to produce music using the Mint Royale name.
Career
Mint Royale first specialized in remixes, and became known after the release of their mix of "Tequila", by Terrorvision. They were championed by British dance guru Norman Cook aka Fatboy Slim, whose DJ sets regularly included their work. Their sound was similar to his, to the extent that some people mistakenly believed Mint Royale to be a pseudonym for Cook himself. Their first album,
On the Ropes was released in late 1999, and though it was not a big sales hit, some songs from it have achieved recognition. The single "Don't Falter", featuring Lauren Laverne from Kenickie, was a minor hit in the British charts. The song "From Rusholme with Love" has been made recognizable through its extensive use in film and television series soundtracks. Notable examples include the theme tune for the film
Kung Pow! Enter The Fist, as well as being present on the soundtrack of the films
Vanilla Sky,
Get Carter,
Serendipity and the television series
ALIAS (episode
The Prophecy) and
Spaced. The song "Because I'm Worth It" has also been used as the theme tune for the Jamie Theakston and Zoí« Ball chat show 'The Priory'. The song "Show Me", which first appeared on the 2001 US reissue of the album, is played every Friday by John Richards of KEXP and the song has become known as "The Friday Song". "Show Me" was also used in the National Lampoon film Van Wilder
The band released their second album, Dancehall Places, in 2002. The first single from this album, "The Sexiest Man in Jamaica", featuring a sample of a Prince Buster recording, became their second UK Top 20 hit. As the band embarked on a series of live shows and a UK tour in 2003, a new single was released, "Blue Song", the video for which featured comedians Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, of The Mighty Boosh fame, as well as Nick Frost of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead fame and Michael Smiley, also of Spaced. The video was directed by Edgar Wright.
Mint Royale returned to the studio to start writing and recording their third album in April 2004. The next few months were a turbulent time for Mint Royale with founding member Chris Baker parting company with the band. However, Neil and the resident vocalists returned to the studio to complete the recording of the third album in January 2005 and the result was "˜See You In The Morning' with the then unknown Duffy singing on two of the tracks. In 2005 the group released "Waiting in the Rain" on the "Wait for You" EP - a remix of "Singin' in the Rain", which was featured in the January 2005 Volkswagen Golf GTI commercial. It reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart after it was released as a single (remixed and renamed as "Singing In the Rain"). This version also features on the album "See You in the Morning".
Biography from 
, the free encyclopedia.
It may not have been reviewed by a professional editor, and recent changes may not show up straight away. See the latest version of this article. Used under licence. Subject to disclaimers.