Categories:
Cart 0

Your cart is empty

Electribe 101

British dance group Electribe 101 created a slick, dramatic blend of deep house and synth pop, spotlighting the soulful vocals and reflective lyrics of German-born diva Billie Ray Martin. They only released one album, 1990's Electribal Memories, before fracturing, and Martin launched a successful solo career while her ex-bandmates formed the dubby downtempo group Groove Corporation. Electribal Soul, the previously unreleased second album by Electribe 101, finally surfaced in 2022, and a deluxe edition of Electribal Memories appeared in 2024. Born in Hamburg, Billie Ray Martin moved to Berlin in the early '80s and fronted an 11-piece soul revival group called Billie and the Deep. She then moved to London and placed an ad in Melody Maker looking for collaborators. This resulted in Martin meeting four musicians from Birmingham: Brian Nordhoff, Joe Stevens, Les Fleming, and Roberto Cimarosti. They released the stirring single "Talking with Myself" in 1988, while Martin made appearances on S'Express' debut album Original Soundtrack, which was issued in 1989. Manager Tom Watkins signed Electribe 101 to Mercury, and a promo 12" for "Lipstick on My Lover" appeared, but "Tell Me When the Fever Ended" was officially released as the band's second single, and it reached the Top 40 in the U.K. "Talking with Myself" was then re-released by Mercury in early 1990; it reached number 23 in the U.K. and became a Top Ten dance hit in the United States. The full-length Electribal Memories arrived and peaked at number 26 in the U.K., and the group opened for Depeche Mode on their World Violation Tour. Electribe worked on their second album, but they were dropped by their label in 1991. They attempted to create further material but decided to break up in 1992. Most of the group formed the dub-influenced Groove Corporation and released singles featuring Bim Sherman and Original Rockers before signing with 6 x 6 Records and releasing their debut album, Co-Operation, in 1995. Meanwhile, Martin went solo, recording a cover of Throbbing Gristle's "Persuasion" with progressive house duo Spooky, and releasing the EP 4 Ambient Tales, on R&S sublabel Apollo and featuring pedal steel guitarist B.J. Cole and producer the Grid in late 1993. Both Martin and Groove Corporation re-recorded tracks intended for the second Electribe album on their respective debut full-lengths. Martin scored a worldwide hit with the energetic "Your Loving Arms." Deadline for My Memories, featuring production by the Grid and BT, was released in Europe in late 1995, eventually appearing worldwide the following year. "Talking with Myself" endured as a Balearic dance staple, and remixes appeared in 1998, along with a reissue of Electribal Memories. Electribe 101 eventually began releasing their previously unissued material. The three-song EP The John Peel Session, recorded for the famed DJ's BBC radio program in 1989, was issued in 2011. "Heading for the Night," a single with numerous remixes by Chicago house pioneer Frankie Knuckles, appeared in 2021. Electribal Soul, a full-length recorded in 1991 and 1992 prior to the group's breakup, arrived in 2022. Electribal Memories was given a vinyl reissue and a four-CD deluxe edition treatment by Edsel Records in 2024.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo

Discography

13 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

My favorites

This item has been successfully <span>added / removed</span> from your favorites.

Sort and filter releases