Known for their big beats, club favorites
Groove Armada are probably best known to the music listening public for producing music that have featured in numerous media including advertising campaigns, movies and computer games. The group is composed of two Englishmen--Andy Cato (real name Andrew Cocup) and Tom Findlay, who met through Cato’s girlfriend in the mid-1990s. They soon started their own club, also called
Groove Armada, after a 70's discotheque. By 1997 they released a handful of Groove Armada songs, including "4 Tune Cookie" and "At the River"; their debu
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t album, Northern Star, followed the next year. 1999 saw the release of Vertigo, which made the Top 20 of the British charts and silver status in the U.K. The album's singles achieved similar heights, and the group followed with a stint as an opening act for
Elton John, further cementing their popularity. At about this time, the group’s work started to come to the attention of the entertainment industry. Their song “Hands of Time” was featured in the movie Collateral, while another tune—“Edge Hill” was soon used in advertisements by NBC for the hit series Lost and “Madder” was used in the video game Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc.
With 2007’s Soundboy Rock album, the duo continued their emphasis on catchy hooks as the album became the fourth straight Groove Armada effort to reach the British Top Ten. The album, marked a notable departure from the multi-genre influenced previous album, featuring tracks such as "
Get Down", "Groove Extracts" which follow the current UK trend of electric hard-house with rock elements and "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)" featuring the vocals of ex-Sugababes singer
Mutya Buena, hailed by online music guide Popjustice as one of the best songs of 2007. Throughout their history, the group has collaborated with a diverse array of artists including
Neneh Cherry, DJ Gram’Ma Funk,
Sophie Barker, Nappy Roots, Fudge Dog, Sunshine Anderson, Mutya Buena and Richie Havens. Tom Findlay has described working with
Prince as his dream collaboration, although there are no plans for such at the moment. In the meantime, the duo continues to record electronic music with which the clubs and entertainment industry eagerly lap up.
