Planet Funk

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  • Years Active: 2000s

Albums

Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia

All Music Guide:

One of the main protagonists of the Italian dance music scene, Planet Funk emerged in 1999 as the fusion of two successful club music outfits, Souled Out (formed by Neapolitan producers Alessandro Sommella, Domenico "GG" Canu, and Sergio Della Monica) and Kamasutra (Florence's keyboard player Marco Baroni and DJ Alex Neri). The name Planet Funk was taken from an old Alex Neri track. English vocalists Auli Kokko and Dan Black were asked to join, and the ensemble mixed the track "Chase the Sun" for the summer of 2000. The song became an unexpected hit in Ibiza, prompting Verve's discoverer David Boyd to sign the group with Virgin Records. The first album, 2002's Non Zero Sumness, went gold and was also crowned at the Italian Music Awards. A remixed version Non Zero Sumness Plus One appeared toward the end of the year, followed by The Illogical Consequence in 2005 and Static in 2006. Other vocalists featured in the albums include Raiss, Sally Doherty, John Graham, and Luke Allen. Planet Funk have been invited to collaborate with Simple Minds, and to remix tracks by New Order and Faithless, among others.

Wikipedia:

Planet Funk is an Italian electronic dance musical ensemble.

Members are Marco Baroni, Domenico "GG" Canu, Sergio Della Monica, Alex Neri and Alex Uhlmann, in addition to a series of guest singers in collaboration like Dan Black, Sally Doherty, Raiz, John Graham and Giuliano Sangiorgi. Alex Uhlmann joined as the band's latest lead singer in November 2010.

Early years

Their first single, "Chase the Sun", reached number five on the UK Singles Chart in 2001. The song has enjoyed a rise in popularity ever since Sky Sports began using it during its coverage of the Professional Darts Corporation's major tournaments. The crowds in the venues are encouraged to chant and sing along to the song during the commercial breaks of matches, and the song has a cult following amongst darts fans. The song is also known to be chanted by supporters at the games of Australian football clubs Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United, as well as being the second half opening theme for the English Football League Championship team, Sheffield Wednesday. English Championship Football team, Watford F.C. also use the song for a goal song after they score a goal. English Super League team Wigan Warriors are known to use the song following a successful drop-kick. The Melbourne spring racing carnival used the song during promotional TV advertisements during the mid to late 2000s.

Their second single, "Inside All the People", reached no. 9 in the Italian singles charts, but did better on the European dance charts. Their third single was "Who Said (Stuck In The UK)" which also gained significant commercial success. Their 2007 single release, "Static", appeared on FIFA 08.

They are also remixers, with their highest-profile work to date being New Order's "Waiting for the Sirens' Call".

In May 2006 they became the first musical group to release a single exclusively as a mobile phone download, with the release of "Stop Me" on the mobile network .

In 2009 they released the single, "Lemonade", which is featured on their album Planet Funk.

During the autumn 2010 the single “Weightless” is due for release in Europe and the US. The song is a cooperation between Planet funk and the swedish artist Emilia de Poret.

Their album The Great Shake, featuring the new lead singer Alex Uhlmann, was released in September 2011. The first single, "Another Sunrise" was released in Italy in May 2011.

Singles

2000 : "Chase the Sun" - #5 UK, #61 GER (2009), #93 SWI, #100 FR2001 : "Inside All the People" - #9 ITA2002 : "Who Said (Stuck in the UK)" - #36 UK2003 : "The Switch" - #19 ITA, #52 UK2003 : "Paraffin" (Promo)2003 : "One Step Closer" (featuring Simple Minds)2004 : "Stop Me" - #16 ITA2005 : "Everyday" (Promo)2005 : "Inhuman Perfection" (Promo)2006 : "It's Your Time"2007 : "Static"2009 : "Lemonade" - #17 ITA, #1 Malta2009 : "Too Much TV" (Promo)2011 : "Another Sunrise"2011 : "You Remain" (Promo)2011 : "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" - #12 ITA

Videography

2000 : "Chase The Sun" - The video to this single featured patients in a psychiatric hospital exhibiting a variety of catatonic symptoms.2001 : "Inside All The People" - The band in a building observing the city below.2002 : "Who Said (Stuck in the UK)" - The music video featured the singer jumping around in a white room with a band playing behind him, and was colourised in black and white.2003 : "The Switch" - The band in the building of a radio station and a man being chased by police.2003 : "Paraffin"2004 : "Stop Me" - This featured a video shot in Guiyu, China (which appears to be a major centre for e-waste recycling), with a robot walking around, appearing to be saddened by the destruction of the electronic goods. The video provided a unique insight into the processing of the large amounts of e-waste created in Europe and the USA2005 : "Everyday" - An astronaut trying to come back to his past, in a futuristic city.2006 : "It's Your Time"2007 : "Static"2009 : "Lemonade" - The video showed two tennis players inside an arena. The video also features members of the group, one of which is spectating the game and lip-synching to Dan Black's vocals.2009 : "Too Much TV" - Planet Funk's most recent addition to their video library, Too Much TV follows four different situations in which television affects the way the personas interact with the people around them. Like 'Lemonade', the music video has a 'dark-room-feel' due to the large use of 'chiaro-scuro'. This particular video provides a little twist to the band's cameo; previous music videos may be seen on the TV screens in the music video itself.2011: "Another Sunrise"2011: "You Remain"2011: "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"
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