THIS PAGE INCLUDES A CHRONOLOGICAL BAND HISTORY OF KARL HYDE & RICK SMITH (ALSO KNOWN AS UNDERWORLD)

THE CURRENT Underworld, LINE UP IS:

KARL HYDE	RICK SMITH
WRITER : LYRICS : VOX: GUITARIST : CONCEPTS	WRITER : MUSIC : PROGRAMMING : KEYBOARDS
(b. 00 / 00 / 1961)	(b. 00 / 00 / 1959)

DARREN EMERSON

(DJ / REMIXER)

(b. 30 / 06 / 1971)

(FOR PICTURES AND MORE DETAILS ON EACH BAND MEMBER CLICK THE RELEVANT NAME)

BAND ORIGINALLY FORMED BY KARL HYDE IN 1981.

RICK SMITH WAS ASKED TO JOIN FORCES WITH KARL AFTER A CHANCE MEETING AT A PARTY - ALTHOUGH IT IS UNLIKELY THAT THIS EVENT HAPPENED.

BOTH WERE STUDYING AT CARDIFF ART COLLEGE AT THE TIME.  A SINGLE 'I DONT LIKE CARS' WAS MADE AND DISTRIBUTED BY FRIENDS OF THE BAND, WITH KARL (THE ARTY ONE) DESIGNING THE COVER. THE BOYS CLAIM THAT THE BAND INFLUENCES INCLUDED KRAFTWERK AND DUB REGGAE!

"THEIR STYLE OF MUSIC, WAS NOT TO DISSIMILAR TO THE UNDERWORLD OF TODAY...BUT BEING STUCK IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES POP ERA, THEY PERHAPS WISELY, CHOOSE NOT TO GO DOWN THE DANCE MUSIC PATH JUST YET... "

THE FOLLOWING IS A RECOUNT OF A FRIEND OF THE BAND (MARK TRUDGEON) WHO FRIEND'S BAND SUPPORTED THE SCREEN GEMZ ON A NUMBER OF COLLEGE GIGS IN A BAND CALLED NON DOCTOR:

"I used to be friends with band called "Non Doctor" in Cardiff University in the late 70's and we knew Karl and the rest of The Screen Gemz. Non Doctor supported The Screen Gemz a number of times. When I left Cardiff I kept involved with entertainment and booked Screen Gems at Bedford College for a gig. Then I went to Manchester and saw Underworld play twice at the University. Karl was good enough to put me and my friends on the guest list both times. I have the 12" version of Doot Doot (although I no longer have a record player), the Freur LP, and the self-issued The Screen Gems single "I don't like Cars". I will have a look at the weekend and see what I have. I also have a bunch of 35 mm slides of Underworld on stage at those gigs. These are of a pretty good standard and may be of use to you. I have some photos of The Screen Gemz, (these aren't very good, but you can see their early interest in plastic clothes!"....

SCREEN GEMZ I DON'T LIKE CARS : TEENAGE TEENAGE (7" FRONT)	SCREEN GEMZ I DON'T LIKE CARS : TEENAGE TEENAGE (7" BACK)

HAVING HEARD BOTH TRACKS THEY WERE PERHAPS MORE INFLUENCED BY ELVIS COSTELLO AND IAN DURY IN MY OPINION....BUT WHAT DO I KNOW?

THE BAND WERE FAMOUSLY KNOWN ONLY FOR BEING A SQUIGGLE AND EMERGED IN 1983.

THE NAME 'FREUR' HOWEVER, EMERGED BECAUSE OF PRESSURE FROM RECORD SHOPS AND THE BAND'S OWN RECORD LABEL, CBS, WHO COMPLAINED THAT NOBODY KNEW HOW TO PRONOUNCE IT. THE BAND (OR WAS IT CARL?) SUGGESTED IT WAS ACTUALLY PRONOUNCED 'FREUR' AND THAT NAME STUCK.

THE BAND STRUCK A RECORDING DEAL WITH A MAJOR LABEL, CBS RECORDS, A COUP FOR RELATIVE UNKNOWNS IN 1983.

THEIR FIRST AND ONLY HIT (NUMBER 59 IN THE UK CHARTS!) 'DOOT DOOT' (1983) WAS TYPICALLY EIGHTIES POP AND DESPITE THE DIZZY HEIGHTS OF THE TOP 75, THE BAND SURVIVED AND WENT ON TO PRODUCED TWO ALBUMS...

THE BAND, INITIALLY WERE: CARL HYDE (VOCALS / GUITAR) (SPELT WITH A 'C' IN THOSE DAYS), RICK SMITH, ALFIE THOMAS (GUITAR), BRYN BURROWS (GUITAR), AND JOHN WARWICKER (SYNTHESIZER) (JOHN LATER BECAME TOMATO VIDEO MAKER AND KARL HYDE COLLABORATOR) SEE THE SCAREY PICTURES BELOW (FROM THE 'RUNAWAY' 12" SLEEVE)

ALFIE THOMAS	CARL HYDE	JOHN WARWICKER	RICK SMITH	BRYN BURROWS

THE LOOK THE BAND PORTRAYED WAS A CROSS BETWEEN GOTH,  ROCK, GLAM AND NEW ROMANTIC - SOMETHING THAT THE EIGHTIES CHART TERRORISTS SIGUE SIGUE SPUTNIK PULLED OFF WITH BETTER EFFECT - MORE PARTICULARLY IN JAPAN - NOT SOON AFTER FREUR HAD FAILED WITH IT.

THE BAND RELEASED 5 FURTHER TRACKS AFTER 'DOOT DOOT', BETWEEN 1983 AND 1985:

'MATTERS OF THE HEART'    'RUNAWAY'    'RIDERS IN THE NIGHT'      'DEVIL AND THE DARKNESS'    'LOOK IN THE BACK FOR ANSWERS'

ALL FAILED TO DENT THE UK CHARTS (FOR MORE DETAILS ON THESE SEE THE 'FREUR' DISCOGRAPHY).

THERE WERE ALSO TWO ALBUMS - 'DOOT DOOT' (1983) AND 'GET US OUT OF HERE' (1985). THE SECOND LP WAS ONLY RELEASED IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND AND IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO GET HOLD OF THESE DAYS. IT BECAME ALMOST A PROPHETIC TITLE FOR THEIR LAST LP WHEN....

JOHN WARWICKER LEFT THE BAND IN 1986 AND BAZ ALLEN JOINED - THE BAND (WITH NO OUTPUT) SPENT ALMOST TWO YEARS CONTEMPLATING THEIR FUTURE AND RE-EMERGED IN 1988, LEAVING CBS AND JOINING SIRE RECORDS UNDER A NEW NAME.

IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT UNDERWORLD (MARK I) WERE FORMED.

AFTER SIGNING TO SIRE, THE BAND RELEASED THEIR FIRST LP AS UNDERWORLD -  'UNDERNEATH THE RADAR' IN 1988, AND THEIR STYLE SWITCHED SLIGHTLY TO A MORE POP-FUNK EDGE. THE LP WAS OVERSEEN BY THE PRODUCER RUPERT HINE AND SPAWNED FOUR SINGLES:

'UNDERNEATH THE RADAR'    'STAND UP'    'SHOW SOME EMOTION'    'CHANGE THE WEATHER'

AGAIN THEY ALL FAILED TO IMPACT IN THE UK CHARTS AND THE BAND WERE NO MORE SUCCESSFUL THAN FREUR HAD EVER BEEN. IT WAS ONLY WITH THE SECOND LP THAT MINOR SUCCESS CAME.

UNDERWORLD MARK I (THE FIRST LINE UP) BAZ : ALFIE : KARL : BRYN : RICK	UNDERWORLD MARK I (THE SECOND LINE UP) ALFIE : KARL : RICK : (BAZ : PASCAL)

THE LP 'CHANGE THE WEATHER' GOT TO NUMBER ONE IN AUSTRALIA OF ALL PLACES, AND THE BAND HIT BIG IN THE U.S. WHEN THEY WERE THE MAIN SUPPORT BAND TO THE EURYTHMICS ON THEIR FAREWELL TOUR.

DESPITE THIS OR PERHAPS BECAUSE OF IT, THE BAND SPLIT. BAZ ALLEN LEFT ALONG WITH PASCAL CONSOLI (EX BOYS WONDER DRUMMER) WHO HAD EARLIER REPLACED BRYN BURROWS ON DRUMS, TO FORM THE DANCE ACT D-INFLUENCE.

AT THIS STAGE THE TWO REMAINING MEMBERS OF THE BAND, RICK AND KARL, WENT ON TO FORM TOMATO WITH EX-FREUR MAN JOHN WARWICKER AND FOUR OTHER 'LIKE MINDED SOULS'. THE MUSICAL OUTPUT OF RICK AND KARL CEASED FOR A WHILE...

AFTER SPENDING MUCH OF THE 1988 - 1992 PERIOD SETTING UP AND ESTABLISHING A CLIENT BASE FOR THEIR TOMATO MEDIA PROJECT. RICK AND KARL DECIDED IN 1992 THAT IT WAS TIME TO INVESTIGATE THEIR EARLIER KRAFTWERK TENDENCIES AND PUT THEM DOWN ON RECORD.

RICK WANTED TO ENLIST A CLUB DJ TO HELP ESTABLISH THEIR SOUND AND ASKED HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW IF HE KNEW OF ANY DJS. HE SUGGESTED DARREN EMERSON. FORTUNATELY HE LIVED CLOSE BY IN ESSEX AND HAD BUILT UP A LARGE CLUB FOLLOWING.

DARREN, OF A YOUNGER GENERATION, SOON ADDED HIS OWN INFLUENCE TO THE ESTABLISHED PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES OF THE OTHER TWO. NOT BEFORE COMMENTING THAT HE THOUGHT THERE CURRENT SOUND WAS 'SHIT!'.

THE IDEA OF A BEING IN A PROPER BAND AGAIN WAS NEVER REALLY CONSIDERED AND THE BOYS CLAIM IT JUST HAPPENED. ALL THREE WERE INVOLVED WITH OTHER PROJECTS, REMIXING AS 'STEPPIN' RAZOR' (RICK AND DARREN) AND WORKING WITH VARIOUS RECORDING ARTISTS, WHILST KEEPING A HAND IN WITH THE TOMATO WORK.

WHEN DARREN INTRODUCED THEM AS 'UNDERWORLD' (THERE WAS NO NAME CHANGE) TO STEVE HALL OF JUNIOR BOYS OWN  AT A BOYS OWN PARTY, THE BAND MET THE MAN WHO WAS TO BE THE HEAD OF THEIR NEW LABEL.

AS A TRIO, UNDERWORLD, FIRST HIT UNDERGROUND DANCE MUSIC ACCLAIM AS 'LEMON INTERUPT' WITH TWO RELEASES ON THE INFLUENTIAL JUNIOR BOYS OWN LABEL. THE DOUBLE A SIDER: 'ECLIPSE / BIG MOUTH' AND 'DIRTY'.

BOTH WERE UNSUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALLY BUT WERE BIG TIME POPULAR WITH CLUBBERS AND DANCE MUSIC JOURNALISTS ALIKE.

THEIR RECORDING STUDIO WAS CALLED LEMONWORLD, AND MUCH OF THE EARLY UW RELEASES STATE - 'RECORDED AT LEMONWORLD'

THEIR TALENTS WERE EMPLOYED BY THE POPULAR PROGRESSIVE HOUSERS 'LEFTFIELD' WHEN THEY COMMISSIONED A LEMON INTERUPT MIX OF THE TRANCEY 'SONG OF LIFE' ON HARD HANDS RECORDS.

IT WOULD APPEAR LEMON INTERUPT WAS REALLY A PART OF THE TOMATO COLLECTIVE IN AN EXPERIMENTAL PHASE. IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE TESTING THE WATER...WAS THE WORLD READY FOR THE RETURN OF THE REINVENTED UNDERWORLD?

...THE LAUNCH OF UNDERWORLD - MARK II PROPER, WAS HERALDED BY A VERY LIMITED TOMATO PRESSED 12" IN 1992, FINALLY UNDERWORLD HAD ARRIVED...

THE RELEASE OF "THE HUMP / MOTHER EARTH" IN 1992 MARKED THE START OF SOMETHING BIG, THE LIMITED 'TEST' PRESSING (OF ONLY 500 COPIES) WAS SHIPPED TO THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND ESTABLISHED DJS AND RECORD SHOPS - 200 COPIES BEING HANDED OVER TO TAG RECORDS IN LONDON.

TAG RECORDS WAS 'GAT DECORS'. IT WAS THEY WHO RELEASED THE PROGRESSIVE ANTHEM 'PASSION', IN 1992, WHICH WAS MIXED BY DARREN EMERSON AND IS CITED AS BEING HIS FIRST EVER REMIX PROJECT - DARREN ALSO SET UP EFFECTIVE RECORDS WITH SIMON HANSON ON WHICH THE UK RELEASE OF THE TRACK FIRST APPEARED.

UNDERWORLD'S FIRST MAJOR RELEASE, HOWEVER, WAS THE EPIC "‘MMM…SKYSCRAPER I LOVE YOU" ON THE JUNIOR BOYS OWN LABEL IN THE SUMMER OF 1992. THIS FINALLY LAUNCHED THE BOYS INTO THE ETHER OF DANCE MUSIC...IT WAS WELL RECEIVED AND IS MUCH SOUGHT AFTER BY UNDERWORLD FANS WHO MISSED IT FIRST TIME AROUND.

UNDERWORLD MK. II - A MIXMAG PHOTO SHOOT

DURING THE REMAINDER OF 1992 AND EARLY 1993, UNDERWORLD CONFOUNDED THE "FACELESS TECHNO" CRITICS BY JOINING THE MIDI CIRCUS TOUR OF THE UK, BY PLAYING LIVE TO MUCH ACCLAIM. THEIR USE OF REAL INSTRUMENTS MIXED WITH STUDIO SAMPLES, ELECTRONICS, DECK WIZARDRY AND OF COURSE THE MAD VOCAL TALENTS OF KARL HYDE MEANT THAT THE DANCE BAND OF THE 90'S HAD FINALLY LANDED…

THE FIRST UNDERWORLD SINGLE TO OFFICIALLY HIT THE UK TOP 75 CHARTS WAS "SPIKEE / DOGMAN GO WOOF" ON 18TH DECEMBER 1993. THE BAND'S FORMAL ENTRY IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF HIT SINGLES IS DESCRIBED AS: "UK, MALE INSTRUMENTAL / VOCAL GROUP".

UNDERWORLD'S CHART ENTRIES AS DETAILED IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF HIT SINGLES CAN BE FOUND AT CHART ENTRIES

FURTHER CHART SUCCESSES FOLLOWED, INCLUDING THE HIGHLY ACCLAIMED LP 'DUBNOBASSWITHMYHEADMAN'. BUT IT WAS THE IMPACT AND POPULARITY OF A B- SIDE MIX OF THE TECHNO TRACK 'BORN SLIPPY' THAT FINALLY MADE IT REALLY BIG TIME FOR THE BOYS IN JULY 1996.

THE 'NUXX' MIX OF  'BORN SLIPPY', WHICH HAD BEEN RELEASED PREVIOUSLY, IN MAY 1995,  FEATURED ON THE SOUNDTRACK TO THE POPULAR DRUG FUELED FILM 'TRAINSPOTTING' WHICH STARRED AMONGST OTHERS, FUTURE JEDI KNIGHT - EWAN MCGREGOR. THE POPULARITY OF THE TRACK WAS AS MUCH DOWN TO THE PACE AND RHYTHM OF THE MELODY AND LYRICS, AS IT WAS TO THE 'LAGER! LAGER! LAGER!' REFRAIN WHICH THE MOST OF THE UKS CLUBBERS CHANTED EVERY TIME IT WAS PLAYED.

STRANGELY TO MANY, THE BOYS DECIDED NOT TO ACT UPON THE SUCCESS OF THE TRACK (A UK NUMBER 2). (NONE OF UNDERWORLD WANTED TO RE-RELEASE IT ANYWAY, ACCORDING TO THE BAND IT HAD ALREADY MADE A MARK IN '95).

'PEARL'S GIRL' FROM THE LP 'SECOND TOUGHEST IN THE INFANTS' PRECEDED AND FOLLOWED, THE BORN SLIPPY SUCCESS AND WAS THE BAND'S MAIN SINGLE TO LAUNCH THE LP. THE SINGLE WAS RELEASED IN MAY 1996 AND REACHED NUMBER 24 IN THE UK CHARTS AND ON THE BACK OF 'BORN SLIPPY NUXX'S' POPULARITY IT WAS RE-ISSUED AND REACHED NUMBER 22 IN NOVEMBER OF THE SAME YEAR

A THIRD STUDIO ALBUM IN 1998 'BEAUCOUP FISH' - FOLLOWED MUCH TOURING AND CONTEMPLATION - THIS WAS THE ALBUM THAT PUT UNDERWORLD ON THE MAP GLOBALLY - SEEING SALES PEAK IN THE US, JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA - AS WELL AS AT HOME - THE SUCCESS OF THIS WAS FOLLOWED BY A TOUR AND THE RELEASE OF FOUR SINGES, KING OF SNAKE, JUMBO, PUSH UPSTAIRS AND BRUCE LEE.

IN 1999 UNDERWORLD RELEASED A LIVE GREATEST HITS PACKAGE ENTITLED 'EVERYTHING EVERYTHING' - WHICH WAS AVAILABLE ON CD, VIDEO AND THE MOST ADVANCED MUSIC DVD RELEASED AT THE TIME. IT INCLUDED CONTENT THAT WAS ONLY ACCESSIBLE BY USING THE DVD AS A CD-ROM IN ANY COMPUTER, WHICH THEN WOULD LINK UP TO THE UNDERWORLD LIVE WEBSITE - THIS DVD WAS HERALDED A REVOLUTION AND SET THE STANDARD FOR MUSIC DVDS AT THE TIME.

AFTER A BRIEF REST PERIOD - UNDERWORLD RELEASED A PROMO ONLY SINGLE THAT FEATURED ON THE FILM SOUNDTRACK TO THE BEACH - THIS WAS CREDITTED TO JUST RICK & KARL

(2000 - PRESENT) UNDERWORLD - MARK II - THE DUO

SOON AFTER THE RELEASE OF 'EVERYTHING EVERYTHING' ON THE 26TH APRIL 2000 DARREN EMERSON ANNOUNCED HE WAS TO LEAVE THE BAND TO CONCERNTRATE ON HIS SOLO CAREER AS A DJ AND REMIXER....AS WELL AS HAVING MORE TIME TO SPEND WITH HIS FAMILY.....UNDERWORLD WILL CONTINUE AS A TWO PEICE BAND AND INTEND TO CARRY ON AS A FULLY FUNCTIONING GROUP....(SEE DARREN EMERSON'S PAGE FOR MORE DETAILS OF HIS CAREER SINCE LEAVING THE BAND)

UNDERWORLD RETURNED IN THE YEAR 2001 WITH THEIR FIRST GIG WITHOUT THEIR DJ DARREN AND AS KARL COMMENTED THEY WERE 'SHITTING THEMSELVES' - THE GIG TO CELEBRATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR RECORD LABEL JBO WAS HELD AT THE LONDON ASTORIA AND INCLUDED SOM E UP AND COMING JBO ACTS AS WELL AS THE HEADLINERS UNDERWORLD - THERE WAS OF COURSE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT - UNDERWORLD KICKED ASS AND IT WAS LIKE THEY'D NEVER BEEN AWAY

AFTER A LONGER PERIOD IN THE STUDIO UNDERWORLD RETURNED IN 2002 WITH THEIR FOURTH AND MOST DIVERSE ALBUM TO DATE - 'A HUNDRED DAYS OFF' WAS LAUNCHED TO MUCH ACCLAIM FOLLOWING THE PROMOTIONAL SINGLE - 'TWO MONTHS OFF'

THE BAND SET ABOUT PROMOTING THE RECORD BY TOURING THE US AUSTRALIA AND THE UK WITH VARIOUS FESTIVALS AND SMALLISH GIGS

NOW IN 2003 THE SECOND SINGLE FROM THE ALBUM DOING MODERATELY WELL - UNDERWORLD HAVE REACHED A POINT IN WHICH THEY FEEL IT IS TIME TO WRAP UP THE PREVIOUS TEN YEARS AS UNDERWORLD MK. II - WITH THE FORTHCOMING RELEASE OF A NEW REMIX OF BORN SLIPPY AND THE ANTHOLOGY 1992 - 2002 (A REAL GREATEST HITS DOUBLEPACK FEATURING ALMOST EVERY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RELEASE) CHECK THE DISCOGRAPHY FOR MORE DETAILS OF THESE RELEASES

2004 WHOULD SEE THE RELEASE OF ANOTHER ALBUM AND WHAT EVER ELSE THE BOYS COME UP WITH....

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO...

FOR MORE DETAILED AND UP TO DATE INFO CHECK THE darktrain.org WEBSITE