Orbital are two brothers, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, who have been making music together for over ten years. Phil Hartnoll was born in January 1964; his brother, Paul, was born in May, 1968. They started playing the piano in 1974, and in 1977 Paul was "absolutely blown away" when he saw Star Wars. Meanwhile, Phil was doing home-made tattoos of the Anti-Nazi League (onto his hand), seeing the Clash, and teaching members of his youth club to play punk songs on the piano.
Know Where To Run - Is off their newest album, The Middle of Nowhere, FFRR Records.
During this, a "rather crazy adolescence", not helped by their mother being on the (later withdrawn) prescription tranquilizer Halcyon (hence the song of the same name), the seeds of the band must have been sown. In 1984, Phil bought a Korg Latin Percussion D10, and the band started making music together. Paul went to art school; Phil went to America to find hip hop (and failed). By then the acid house revolution had started, with its parties around London's M25 Orbital Motorway (from which the band took their name).
The Tranquilizer - Is from a special B-side included with some copies of the hit album, In Sides, FFRR Records.
In 1989, Chime was released on a small label run by one of their friends. Subsequently, realizing its potential, the label tried to license it to London, who went straight to the artists themselves. Orbital have remained with their dance subsidiaries, ffrr and later Internal, ever since.
The Box and Adnan's - Two more tracks from the the hit Orbital Album, In Sides, FFRR Records.
Chime reached number 17 in the charts in early 1990, and has since been proclaimed one of the best dance records ever. The brothers played Top Of The Pops, wearing anti-Poll Tax T-shirts. They have since contributed tracks to CDs raising money for Bosnian aid relief and opposing the CJB; however, they've not appeared on TOTP in person since then.
Halcyon+on+on - A classic Orbital song from their album, Orbital 2, FFRR Records.
A string of releases followed, resulting in an increasingly mainstream, crossover following and the success of their last two albums, which reached the higher end of the UK album chart. Both albums were also a huge critical successes, with many excellent reviews, and their reputation for excellent live shows increases every time they tour. They look set to keep innovating towards the millennium.*
*Excerpted from iMusic.
Original images from Here.
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Know Where To Run