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To translate Supergroove into words is no easy task. A volatile concoction of soul, rap, funk combined with a highly extroverted stage performance, Supergroove are a visual and aural explosion that leave all who have seen them ecstatic.
Supergroove revolutionised local modern rock and were one of the first New Zealand bands to fuse Hip-Hop and Rock with a horn section, creating a sound unheard before. Bursting on to the Auckland live scene at the dawn of the 90s after gestating in their high school music room as the 'Low Down Dirty Blues Band', the then-teenagers had energy to burn and musical talent oozing from every drum beat, shiny sax key and funky guitar.
Responsible for a string of what have gone on to become classic kiwi anthems, Supergroove generated a staggering 6 Top 10 hits throughout the 90s. Amongst them the gold singles 'Scorpio Girls' and 'Sitting Inside My Head', platinum-selling 'Can't Get Enough' and 'You Gotta Know', live standouts 'Next Time', 'You Freak Me' and 'Here Comes The Supergroove' and many more.
Their debut album 'Traction', released in 1994, shipped Platinum in New Zealand and debuted at #1 on the National Album Charts, holding on to the top spot for over a month. 'Traction' remained in the Top 15 for over 3 months and has now sold well over 5 times platinum life to date. The album received rave reviews and went on to pick up several prestigious awards, among them the titles of Top Group, Best Video ('Cant Get Enough'), Top Producer and Top engineer at the 31st New Zealand Music Awards in 1995.
The band toured the world in 1995 to support the International release of 'Traction', playing shows in South Africa, England, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia (where 'Traction' went Gold), Singapore, India, Australia, New York and Los Angeles.
The follow up 'Tractor EP' racked up platinum sales, and their second album 'Backspacer', released in 1996, debuted at #2, and spawned the top 10 single 'If I Had My Way' plus follow up '5th Wheel'. 'Backspacer' quickly achieved gold status and won Best Production at the 1996 NZ Music Awards. The group disbanded in 1997, but not before their phenomenal recording career had seen them sell close to 200,000 albums worldwide.
Fast forward to 2003, when 'Postage' was released. Named by the band, following a long-time tradition of christening each tour with a word ending in "age" ('Wreckage', 'Damage' and 'Funkage' to name a few), 'Postage' saw Supergroove selecting their favourite songs as if preparing a setlist for their ultimate live set. Collated from a mix of album tracks, single cuts and b-sides, the tracklisting also features a new addition - 'For Whatever Remix' - a 2003 reworking by the band of previous single 'For Whatever Reason'.
In October 2007 Supergroove reformed to support Crowded House at three concerts, in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, as well as two of their own concerts at the Kings Arms in Auckland.
This reunion included Che Fu, Joe Lonie, Tim Stewart, Ben Sciascia, Ian Jones, Nick Atkinson and Karl Steven. Currently, the band has not stated if this reunion will extend beyond these gigs.
Related Artists
- Che Fu
- Eight (Paul Russell was a previous member of Supergroove)
- Foghorn
- The Roughness
- Svelte
Band Members:
Che Ness (vocals)
Nick Atkinson (saxophone, keyboards, backing vocals)
Karl Steven (vocals, keyboards, harmonica)
Joe Lonie (bass, vocals)
Ian Jones (drums, percussion)
Tim Stewart (trumpet, backing vocals, percussion)
Ben Sciascia (guitar, backing vocals)
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