This is a British group who briefly livened up the chart in the mid-90s. Formed in the early-90s as FRISK, they soon changed their name to Sneaker Pimps, and hired the rather glamorous Kelli as their singer. In August 1996, their debut album “Becoming X” made the chart, and this was an indication of what further success was going to come from them.
In October 1996, they had their debut hit single with “6 Underground”, which reached no. 15. Now this is one that I do remember being rather fond of at the time. Next in March 1997 was “Spin Spin Sugar”, which reached no. 21. This was often described as being in the “Trip-Hop” genre, although nobody has ever seemingly been able to define what this exactly is, or even if it ever existed at all.
Their next move in June 1997 was something of a surprise, when “6 Underground” was re-released, and this time reached no. 9, to become their first and only Top Ten hit single in the UK. The reason for this was because this had been featured on the soundtrack to the film The Saint, and seeing this suddenly reappear and do even better than first time round was very satisfying.
Next in August 1997 was “Post-Modern Sleaze” which reached no. 22. And then in February 1998, “Spin Spin Sugar” was also re-released, this time in remix form. I wonder what non-existent genre this would be classed as being in now. But this reached only no. 46. And it was around this time that Kelli departed to launch a solo career, although I don’t think that she went on to have any further hits.
She was replaced as singer by Chris, and the new-look Sneaker Pimps returned in August 1999 with “Low Five”, which reached no. 39, although this would turn out to be their final Top 40 hit single. It was also said that when they weren’t hard at work in the studio, they liked to play tennis against the guy who used to be in The Mighty Boosh, which is nice.
They made the chart for what turned out to be one final time in October 1999 with “Ten To Twenty”, but this only reached no. 56. Their second album “Splinter” did not do well either, and their days of making the Top Ten turned out to be long behind them by this point. Some of them got back together recently though, and their fourth album was released last year.
ADAM'S NOSTALGIC MEMORIES 