Skunk Anansie biography
Skunk Anansie are an English rock band whose members include Skin (born Deborah Dyer, 3 August 1967, Brixton), Cass (born Richard Keith Lewis, 1 September 1960, London), Ace (born Martin Ivor Kent, 30 March 1967, Cheltenham) and Mark Richardson (born 28 May 1970, Leeds).
Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009. The name "Skunk Anansie" is taken from the West African folk tales of Anansi the spider-man, with "Skunk" added to "make the name nastier". They are often grouped as part of a Britrock movement, running alongside Britpop. The band, in 2004, was named as one of the most successful UK chart acts between 1952 and 2003 by the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums, with a total of 141 weeks on both the singles and album charts ranking them at #491. When the book first published this annual top 500 list in 2000, it only involved weeks spent on the singles chart until 2004's 17th edition, meaning the band's highest ranking has not been notified in any of the past editions. Their longest running release is 1996's Stoosh album with 55 weeks and a peak of #9. The band released their fifth studio album Wonderlustre (their first studio album after their reformation) internationally on 13 September 2010, preceded in August by its first single "My Ugly Boy".
History
1994-2001
The group played its first gig at London's Splash club in March 1994 so an audition was set up and the band was reformed. Soon after that, two of their songs, "Feed" and "Selling Jesus", appeared on the soundtrack of the film
Strange Days in 1995. "Selling Jesus" became Skunk Anansie's controversial second song to receive radio play, following their first radio release "Little Baby Swastikkka". After hearing this song, radio personality Howard Stern claimed that the band would become a huge hit. Success continued for the band and they were also voted
Kerrang!'s Best British Live Act in 1996. In 1997 they were nominated for Best Live Act and Best Group at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Their first two albums, Paranoid and Sunburnt and Stoosh, were released under One Little Indian Records in 1995 and 1996 respectively. After switching to the Virgin label in 1998, their third and final album, Post Orgasmic Chill, was released in 1999.
Skin has described Skunk Anansie as a "clit-rock" group, which Allmusic clarifies as "an amalgam of heavy metal and black feminist rage".
Throughout the 1990s, the group toured globally with such bands as U2, Aerosmith, Feeder, Lenny Kravitz, Bad Religion, Rollins Band, Therapy?, Rammstein, Killing Joke, Soulfly, Sevendust, Oomph!, Muse, Staind, Powerman 5000, Veruca Salt, Marion and A Perfect Circle.
After their split in 2001, Skin embarked on a solo career. Her debut solo album Fleshwounds, was released in September 2003 and Fake Chemical State was released in March 2006. She has also provided vocals for a number of other acts' songs.
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