After Dinner Speakers: The Shamen, Max Hastings, Jenny Pitman

From the ashes of the moderately successful Alone Again Or in 1986, the Shamen had a profound effect upon contemporary pop music over the next half decade. Formed in Aberdeen by Colin Angus (b. 24 August 1961, Aberdeen, Scotland; bass), Peter Stephenson (b. 1 March 1962, Ayrshire, Scotland), Keith McKenzie (b. 30 August 1961, Aberdeen, Scotland) and Derek McKenzie (b. 27 February 1964, Aberdeen, Scotland; guitar), the Shamen's formative stage relied heavily on crushing, psychedelic rock played by a relatively orthodox line-up. Their debut album, Drop, captured a sense of their colourful live shows and sealed the first chapter of the band's career. Soon after, Colin Angus became fascinated by the nascent underground hip-hop movement. Derek McKenzie was rather less enamoured with the hardcore dance music explosion and departed, allowing Will Sinnott (b. William Sinnott, 23 December 1960, Glasgow, Scotland, d. 23 May 1991; bass) to join the ranks and further encourage the Shamen's move towards the dancefloor. In 1988, their hard-edged blend of rhythms, guitars, samples, sexually explicit slide shows and furious rhetoric drew anger from feminists, politicians and - after the scathing "Jesus Loves Amerika" single - religious groups. That same year the band relocated to London, slimmed down to the duo of Angus and Sinnott who concentrated on exploring the areas of altered states with mind-expanding psychedelics. By 1990, the Shamen's influence - albeit unwitting - was vividly realized as the much-touted indie/dance crossover saw bands fuse musical cultures, with artists such as Jesus Jones openly admitting the Shamen's groundbreaking lead. By this time the Shamen themselves had taken to touring with the "Synergy" show, a unique four-hour extravaganza featuring rappers and designed to take the band even further away from their rock roots. After four years of such imaginative adventures into sound, 1991 promised a huge breakthrough for the Shamen and their fluctuating creative entourage. Unfortunately, just as they inexorably toppled towards commercial riches, Will Sinnott drowned off the coast of Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, on the 23 May 1991. With the support of Sinnott's family, the Shamen persevered with a remix of "Move Any Mountain" which climbed into the Top 10 of the UK chart, a fitting farewell to the loss of such a creative force. Mr C (b. Richard West, 2 January 1964, London, England), a cockney rapper, DJ and head of the Plink Plonk record label, had joined the band for a section of "Move Any Mountain". Although many found his patois ill-fitting, his rhymes founded the springboard for UK chart success with "LSI" and the number 1 hit, "Ebeneezer Goode" - which was accused in many quarters for extolling the virtues of the drug Ecstasy ("E's Are Good, E's Are Good, E's Ebeneezer Goode"). The Shamen denied all, and moved on with the release of Boss Drum.. Its title track provided a deeply affecting dance single, complete with lyrics returning the band to their original, shamanic ethos of universal rhythms. Placed next to the teen-pop of "LSI" and "Ebeneezer Goode', such innovative work reinforced the Shamen's position as the wild cards of the UK dance music scene, although later recordings suffered from a lack of fresh ideas or even any further hit singles. The Shamen finally bowed out with 1998"s UV.