The Prodigy experience

photo by John Ryan

About 100 years ago (May 27, 1995), I attended my first concert ever. I was so excited that I was gonna see Prodigy live, that it didn’t matter to me that I had exams the next day, early in the morning. Contrary to my teachers’ advice to sleep early, eat light, get some rest and avoid tension and excitement, I decided to go to the concert and live one of the most intense nights of my life till then, sleep only for 5 hours and have a bomb-dinner with full-extra suvlaki and fries. The concert may have never been completed because of the rocks thrown on stage by people outside the theatre (just as the band began performing the hit of the time "No good (start the dance)" and everybody was in delirium), but I sure had the time of my life and managed to excel the next day in my exams.

I was thinking about that night recently and I realized it's been exactly 18 years since that day. Although I won't often select Prodigy in my playlist nowadays, I decided to pay a tribute to the band, with my favorite tracks and the samples they used. It doesn’t matter that we may be older now and that we’d rarely choose to listen to Prodigy instead of a sunny nu-disco tune. We’ll always love every piece that made us who we are today and it’s also a good chance to listen to sounds that inspired one of the greatest bands in the history of… rave (If you ‘ve used and experienced this word more than once in your life, join the club of the proud old-timers).

"Wind it up" is one of my favorites (My God, I can't believe how rave I used to be...). It samples Don Carlos & Anthony Johnson - Equal Rights. A roots reggae track that was released 7 years earlier.

The guitar riff from "Voodoo people" comes from Nirvana - Very Ape, although it is said that the Prodigy actually played the riff instead of sampling it. In this track (and in many others) they sample at least 5 tracks - you can see the whole process here worked in Ableton by the Ukranian Dj and producer Jim Pavloff.

The track that was interrupted by the stones thrown at the people and the band during the concert, "No good (start the dance)" -and that made Prodigy known to even our grandmothers- sampled Kelly Charles - You 're no good for me. Prodigy are weird, aren't they? I mean I love the song, but I can't quite picture Liam Howlett being inspired by it.

They sure had a thing for reggae music. "Out of space", one of their also well-known tracks, samples the Max Romeo - Chase the devil track, which was released in 1976, but became widely known after Prodigy sampled it.

If you remember "Fire" with the futuristic clip that brings the "Terminator" back in mind, then maybe you 'll know that the source of inspiration of this track is the homonymous psychedelic rock track of Arthur Brown which was released in 1968.

The adorable line "Charly says always tell your mummy before you go off somewhere" from a 1973 animated cartoon series appears in the "Charly" track (Charley also says "never go anywhere with men or ladies you don't know" but who listens to Charley?). You can even hear the cat meow, but Prodigy apparently got sued for this.

Among my favorite tracks is also "3 kilos" which samples Bernard Purdie's "Good livin' (good lovin')", while another track from the same artist is also sampled in "Poison", which uses the drumbeat from "Heavy soul slinger" and also from the Winston's legendary "Amen Brother" (if you don't know about the "Amen break" you really should).

Last but not least, I'm quite fond of the "Mindfields" track from the "Fat of the land" album, which samples the tune at 0:48 from "Hip's Trip" and the John Barry Orchestra (ost "The man with the golden gun").

To sum up, these dudes (Howlett especially) took samples from funk, soul, reggae, psychedelic rock, cartoon tv series and James Bond soundtracks. Time for our wtf? face.

tracks' info:
Prodigy
-Wind it up (The Prodigy Experience 1992)
-Voodoo people (Music for the jilted generation 1994)
-No good (start the dance) (Music for the jilted generation 1994)
-Out of space (The Prodigy experience 1992)
-Fire (The prodigy experience 1992)
-Charly (The prodigy experience 1992)
-3 kilos (Music for the jilted generation 1994)
-Poison (Music for the jilted generation 1994)
-Mindfields (The Fat of the Land 1997)
 XL Recordings 

others
-Don Carlos & Anthony Johnson - Equal rights
Rasta Brothers
Dancefloor 1985

-Nirvana - Very Ape
In Utero
Geffen Records 1993

-Kelly Charles -You're no good for me 
London Records 1987

-Max Romeo & the Upsetters - Chase the devil 
War ina Babylon
Black Ark Studios 1976

-Arthur Brown - Fire 
The crazy world of Arthur Brown 
Track Record 1968

-Bernard Purdie - Good livin' (good lovin')
Soul is... pretty Purdie
Philips 1972

-Bernard Purdie - Heavy soul slinger
Soul is... pretty Purdie
Philips 1972

-The Winstons - Amen Brother
Color him father
Metromedia Records 1969

-John Barry Orchestra - Hip's Trip
The man with the golden gun ost
EMI 1974