Sneaker Pimps are an English electronic music band, formed in Hartlepool in 1994. They are best known for their debut album, Becoming X (1996), and its singles "6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar".
The band's name is derived from an article the Beastie Boys published in their Grand Royal magazine about a man they hired to acquire classic sneakers.
real name: David Westlake, Chris Corner, Kelli Dayton, Liam H
members: Chris Corner, Liam Howe, Simonne Jones
formed in: Hartlepool
labels: One Little Independent Records
genres: trip hop
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Chris Corner and Liam Howe met as teenagers in the 1980s, both taking an interest in recording and studio experimentation. They banded together under the name F.R.I.S.K. and produced the Soul of Indiscretion EP, an early example of what became known as trip hop. The mix of beats and acoustic folk sounds was further explored on two more instrumental EPs: F.R.I.S.K. and World as a Cone. They were signed to Clean Up Records. The duo also worked as DJs and producers under the name Line of Flight.
Are you them, or do you know them? The mail slot is open.
"6 Underground" is a song by the English band Sneaker Pimps from their debut studio album, Becoming X (1996). First released as a single in the United Kingdom in September 1996 by Clean-up Records, the song reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart and had moderate radio airplay in the United States, where it was shipped to modern rock and dance stations in February 1997.
After the song was used in the 1997 American film The Saint, radio stations began playing "6 Underground" more frequently. The single was re-released in May 1997, when it peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart.
The horns and the harp melody at the beginning of the song are both sampled from "Golden Girl", a track from the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger (the song plays during a scene when Bond discovers Jill Masterson covered in gold paint). The "a-one two" heard repeatedly in the Nellee Hooper version is sampled from De La Soul's song "Breakadawn".
In his review of the song, Simon Price from Melody Maker wrote, "Cliche of the year. Post-Portishead, post-Garbage. Girl singer. Polite trip hop and gentle junglism. Lamb. Moloko. Sneaker Pimps. The Stone Temple Pilots of The Bristol Sound, basically." In December 1996, Melody Maker ranked "6 Underground" number 30 in their list of "Singles of the Year", adding, "Smokier than Bill Hicks' bedroom, snakier than a python on a hairpin bend, a prime slice of easy sleaze that proved t**p h*p needn't be two dirty words." In 2017, Billboard ranked it number 48 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Pop Songs of 1997", writing, "Thank God for Nellee Hooper, the script doctor of '90s U.K. electronic pop, who stepped in to take the Sneaker Pimps'...
The music video for "6 Underground" was directed by Toby Tremlett and made its debut on 14 January 1997. It uses the "Nellee Hooper edit" of the song. Throughout the video, which gives off a dark atmosphere, the camera focuses on Kelli Dayton singing in the middle of a dark room sitting in a dentist chair that she spins around. The camera follows Dayton as she slowly walks around the darkened room singing the song. There are also several smaller lit rooms with oval windows within the larger dark room, depicting different scenes such as a man dressed in black practicing various poses, a woman dressed in a nightgown who is vacuuming the floor, a young woman posing around a chair in a red tie shirt and black skirt, a toddler dressed in a...