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Connected (Stereo MC's song)

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"Connected"
Single by Stereo MC's
from the album Connected
B-side
  • "Disconnected"
  • "Fever"
Released14 September 1992 (1992-09-14)[1]
Genre
Length
  • 5:16 (album version)
  • 3:59 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Stereo MC's
Stereo MC's singles chronology
"Lost in Music"
(1991) 		"Connected"
(1992) 		"Step It Up"
(1992)
Music video
"Connected" on YouTube

"Connected" is a song by British hip hop/electronic music group Stereo MC's. It is the title track of their third studio album, and was released in September 1992 by Gee Street and Island Records as the album's lead single. The song samples "Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)" by Jimmy "Bo" Horne[3] and peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart. Internationally, "Connected" peaked within the top 10 of the charts in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland, and entered the top 20 of the charts in Belgium, Finland and the United States. Its music video was directed by Matthew Amos. NME and Melody Maker ranked "Connected" number 16 and 19 in their list of "Singles of the Year" in December 1992.[4][5] The song later appeared in the 1995 movie Hackers, and it was the theme to the Rob Lowe programme Dr. Vegas (2004).

Background and release

[edit]

Rob Birch and Nick Hallam of Stereo MCs grew up as nextdoor neighbours in Nottingham. They both moved to London and released their debut album as Stereo MC’s in 1989, 33-45-78. "Connected" was made after three years of touring. It was also one of the last tracks they did for the album by same name. Group member Hallam told in a 2023-interview with The Guardian, "We had the chorus, but had hit a cul-de-sac. Rob and me went to the studio, put the track on and thought: "Let's see if we can at least get the vibe we need to nail it." Rob started jamming around the vocal: "Aiii Aiii Aiii." We looped it up and put it through the whole song. Then Rob went back in and did the rest of the vocals – and that was it."[6]

The group used a rudimentary sampler, a Bel Delay Unit, for the "Aiii Aiii Aiii" bits. Vocalist Birch recalled, "It was a godsend: you could get a beat up and running in two minutes flat. I had to push the button to retrigger the sample over and over, until my finger bled on to the machine."[6] The song also uses a bassline sampled from Jimmy "Bo" Horne's song "Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)".[7] Hallam told Billboard in 1993 about the lyrics, "The song "Connected" is about human beings and the lack of connection there is between anything today. It's about the way everyone tries to categorize everything. The way every race is trying to separate from each other."[8]

Critical reception

[edit]

Larry Flick from Billboard described the song as "an instantly insinuating hiphop/funk workout. A shuffling groove supports cool horns and a contagious chorus that is phattened by nifty femme vocal chants. In its current form, "Connected" is a sturdy precursor to an evening or a fine way to wind down into daylight."[9] In January 1993, Flick remarked that this "mid-tempo retro-funk affair" has been making inroads with urban-minded DJs for several weeks now.[8] Per Reinholdt Nielsen from Danish Gaffa praised the song as "a clever lesson in funk. The number is extremely simple. A great sound sampled from half a beat KC and the Sunshine Band pulls back, while Owen If whips the drums forward. Three chorus girls, rapper Rob Birch and various samples decorate the landscape, but it is the sucks of the "two rhythm groups" that lock "Connected" into the memory and body of the defenseless listener."[10] Andrew Smith from Melody Maker complimented its "forbidding funk", "which marries a lazy, Mondays-style swagger with Curtis Mayfield-like melancholy".[11]

The magazine also noted that the song has "more than a hint of an Andrew Weatherall-esque shuffle", and concluded, "Once you've heard the chorus a couple of times, I guarantee you will be humming it until Christmas 1993."[12] A reviewer from Music & Media stated that it's a "sure hit", noting further that the new female vocalists are "shining over expressive rich grooves."[13] Alan Jones from Music Week said in his review of the album, that the introductory single, "with its pulsing bass, and slick femme harmonies is fairly typical of the fare here, with what raps there are well-couched and friendly."[14] Jim Carroll from NME called it a "chock-a-block wit jazzy flutes, chugging organs and Rob B's fine growling rap".[15] Jonathan Bernstein from Spin remarked the song's "maximum uplift", writing, "Imagine a less lush Massive Attack and you're almost there."[16] Victor Haseman from The Stanford Daily found that the Stereo MC's "have made stitching their patchwork quilt of Euro-electro pop, hip-hop and house their top priority, tirelessly pushing it in new directions".[17]

Chart performance

[edit]

"Connected" entered the top 10 in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland and the top 20 in Belgium, Finland and the United Kingdom. In the latter country, the single peaked at number 18 during its second week on the UK Singles Chart, staying there for two weeks.[18] Additionally, "Connected" peaked within the top 30 in France and the top 60 in the Netherlands, while on the Eurochart Hot 100, it was a top-40 hit, reaching number 36 in January 1993. On the European Dance Radio Chart, it peaked at number four in November 1992.

Outside Europe, the song reached number seven on the Canadian RPM Dance chart while peaking at number 32 on the RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart and number seven on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart. In the US, "Connected" reached number 15 on the Cash Box Top 100 while peaking at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also charted on the Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart, the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, the Billboard Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover chart, and the Billboard Top 40/Mainstream chart. In Australia and New Zealand, the song peaked at numbers 24 and 47, respectively.

Impact and legacy

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Melody Maker ranked "Connected" number 19 in their list of "Singles of the Year" in December 1992, naming it "the grooviest single of the year."[5] Same month, NME ranked it number 16 in their list of "Singles of the Year".[4] Paste ranked it number eight in their list of "25 Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s" in 2011.[19] In 2014, the track was ranked number 322 in the German magazine Musikexpress list of the "700 Best Songs of All-Time".[20] The Daily Telegraph ranked it number 34 in their "Top 50 Dance Songs" list in 2015.[21] American entertainment company BuzzFeed ranked "Connected" number 82 in their list of "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s" in 2017.[22] ThoughtCo ranked it number 65 in their list of "The Best 100 Songs from the 1990s" list in 2018.[23] An editor, Bill Lamb, remarked that the song "is propelled by a catchy but downbeat atmospheric brand of hip-hop."[23]

Use in other media

[edit]

The song appears in the movie Saving Silverman as well as Hackers. It has also been used in commercials promoting the USA Network's program Burn Notice, and by The Carphone Warehouse.[24]

"Connected" was used in the reveal trailer of the 2023 video game Crime Boss: Rockay City.[25]

The song was used by Android as music for the #GetTheMessage campaign, which was used to encourage Apple to adopt Rich Communication Services to their IPhones, and drop SMS messaging, to improve messaging across Android and iOS, and remove the infamous "Blue Bubble".[26]

Music video

[edit]

The accompanying music video for "Connected" was directed by Matthew Amos.[27]

The video was nominated for Best Dance Video at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards.

Track listings

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1992–1993) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[28] 47
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[29] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[30] 19
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[31] 32
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[32] 7
Canada Dance/Urban (RPM)[33] 7
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[34] 36
Europe (European Dance Radio)[35] 4
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[36] 14
France (SNEP)[37] 27
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[38] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[39] 54
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[40] 24
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[41] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[42] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[18] 18
UK Dance (Music Week)[43] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[44] 20
US Maxi-Singles Sales (Billboard)[44] 26
US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[44] 5
US Top 40/Mainstream (Billboard)[44] 11
US Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover (Billboard)[44] 38
US Cash Box Top 100[45] 15

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 12 September 1992. p. 19.
  2. ^ "Stereo MC's - Deep Down & Dirty - la recensione". rockol.it (in Italian). Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  3. ^ Cromelin, Richard (13 May 1993). "Stereo MC's: Rapping to the Top With an English Beat : Pop music: One of the few U.K. rap acts to gain a foothold in the United States, the band's 'Connected' is moving up the singles charts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "NME Singles of the Year". NME. 19 December 1992. p. 21. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Singles of the Year". Melody Maker. 19 December 1992. p. 68. Retrieved 29 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b Pelley, Rich (31 July 2023). "'I had to press the sampler button so much, my finger bled' – Stereo MC's on making Connected". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  7. ^ Dimery, Robert, ed. (2011) [2010]. "Connected – Stereo MC's (1992)". 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus Publishing Group. p. [page needed]. ISBN 978-1-84403-684-4.
  8. ^ a b Flick, Larry (23 January 1993). "Dance Trax: Plugging In to Stereo MC's; Bobby in the Mix" (PDF). Billboard. p. 27. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  9. ^ Flick, Larry (12 December 1992). "Dance Trax: Roc & Kato Shaking Up The Deep-House Sound" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 104, no. 51. p. 26. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  10. ^ Reinholdt Nielsen, Per (1 September 1993). "Kød, blod og teknologi". Gaffa (in Danish). p. 8. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  11. ^ Smith, Andrew (10 October 1992). "Duophone Home". Melody Maker. p. 37.
  12. ^ "Singles". Melody Maker. 12 September 1992. p. 41. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  13. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 41. 10 October 1992. p. 8. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  14. ^ Jones, Alan (3 October 1992). "Mainstream > Albums" (PDF). Music Week. p. 22. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  15. ^ Carroll, Jim (3 October 1992). "The Deadly Duophonic". NME. p. 37.
  16. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (June 1993). "Britain's Stereo MC's Connect With Success". Spin. p. 24. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  17. ^ Haseman, Victor (7 October 1993). "Rap That Is Something Different". The Stanford Daily. p. 7. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  19. ^ Barrett, John (28 September 2011). "25 Awesome One-Hit Wonders of the 1990s". Paste. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  20. ^ "Die 700 besten Songs aller Zeiten". Musikexpress (in German). 21 March 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  21. ^ "Top 50 dance songs". The Daily Telegraph. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  22. ^ Stopera, Matt; Galindo, Brian (11 March 2017). "The 101 Greatest Dance Songs of the '90s". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  23. ^ a b Lamb, Bill (23 September 2018). "The Best 100 Songs from the 1990s". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 7 May 2019.
  24. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (25 July 2008). "Pop review: Stereo MCs, Double Bubble". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  25. ^ 505 Games. "Crime Boss: Rockay City - Reveal Trailer". YouTube. Retrieved 13 December 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Android (21 September 2023). Meet iPager - Help Apple #GetTheMessage. Retrieved 25 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ "Connected (1992) by Stereo MCs". IMVDb.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  28. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  29. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  30. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  31. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0986." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  32. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 1787." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  33. ^ "Top RPM Dance/Urban: Issue 1787." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  34. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 10, no. 2. 9 January 1993. p. 11. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  35. ^ "European Dance Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 45. 7 November 1992. p. 48. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  36. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  37. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  38. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  39. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  40. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  41. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  42. ^ "Stereo MC's – Connected". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  43. ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 26 September 1992. p. 26. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  44. ^ a b c d e "Stereo MC's – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  45. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Pop Singles – Week ending MAY 29, 1993". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012.
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