Urban Dance Squad

Biography

Urban Dance Squad was a Dutch rap rock band formed after what was originally intended as a one-time jam-session at a festival in Utrecht on December 20, 1986. The band consisted of vocalist Rudeboy Remington (Patrick Tilon), guitarist Tres Manos (René van Barneveld), bassist Silly Sil (Silvano Matadin), drummer Magic Stick (Michel Schoots), and turntablist DJ DNA (Arjen de Vreede). Described as pioneers of rap/metal fusion, the band's debut album Mental Floss for the Globe×Mental Floss for the Globe1989 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Fast Lane3:292No Kid3:393Deeper Shade of Soul4:334Prayer for My Demo3:355Big Apple3:306Piece of Rock5:007Brainstorm on the U.D.S.4:038The Devil3:219Famous When You're Dead5:1610Mental Floss for the Globe3:0511Struggle for Jive4:0412Man on the Corner3:4013God Blasts the Queen4:10 (1989) won an Edison Award, and its single "Deeper Shade of Soul×Deeper Shade of Soul1990 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracksA1Deeper Shade of Soul (dance mix)6:16A2Deeper Shade of Soul (radio mix)4:04B1Man on the Corner3:38B2Deeper Shade of Soul (Freak mix)4:23" reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Urban Dance Squad was one of the most successful Dutch bands of the nineties, releasing five studio albums before disbanding in 2000.

Career

Urban Dance Squad first got together in 1986, at a jam session in De Vrije Vloer, a club in Utrecht, a jam which resulted in the first Dutch rock band with a rapper (they borrowed the name from Parliament-Funkadelic's Urban Dancefloor Guerillas); a song, "Struggle for Jive"; and the blending different forms of music in the Netherlands, at the same time that Fishbone, Living Colour, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, and the Beastie Boys were doing the same in the United States. The band recorded its first album, Mental Floss for the Globe×Mental Floss for the Globe1989 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Fast Lane3:292No Kid3:393Deeper Shade of Soul4:334Prayer for My Demo3:355Big Apple3:306Piece of Rock5:007Brainstorm on the U.D.S.4:038The Devil3:219Famous When You're Dead5:1610Mental Floss for the Globe3:0511Struggle for Jive4:0412Man on the Corner3:4013God Blasts the Queen4:10, in Brussels in 1989 (produced by Jean-Marie Aerts, of TC Matic), and came to instant success. It won an Edison Award, and the single "Deeper Shade of Soul×Deeper Shade of Soul1990 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracksA1Deeper Shade of Soul (dance mix)6:16A2Deeper Shade of Soul (radio mix)4:04B1Man on the Corner3:38B2Deeper Shade of Soul (Freak mix)4:23" was a hit in Europe, and in the United States, where it charted at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Two more singles were released from the album, and Urban Dance Squad toured the US in 1991, opening for Living Colour. The UDS had always been a volatile unit with the band members frequently arguing, and this came to a head while touring as the opening act for U2, after the release of Life 'n Perspectives of a Genuine Crossover, when DJ DNA quit abruptly.
In the middle of the band's career, to capitalize on the success of grunge and alternative rock, Urban Dance Squad released Persona Non Grata in January 1994. All of the tracks feature heavy use of distortion and guitar. The singles "No Honestly" and "Candy Strip Exp." were released, the latter single being released as a radio edit that cuts most of the pre-song noise.
Artantica saw release in 1999, and was a return to the band's hip-hop roots, and received critical acclaim. Urban Dance Squad disbanded the following year, though they did perform together again as late as 2006.

Musical style and influence

The Pittsburgh Press described Urban Dance Squad's music as "refried Zeppelin riffs and neo-Hendrix guitar solos complete with sound effects and old soul records to produce an exceedingly loud, densely packed, dissonant garage-rock stew." In 2021, Metal Hammer named UDS as one of "10 funk metal bands that time forgot". AllMusic described UDS as a "sample-heavy, groove-happy rap-rock band"; biographer Heather Phares wrote, "Urban Dance Squad's mix of rock, rap, funk, ska, folk, hip-hop, and soul signaled the trend toward genre-bending that prevailed in '90s music." In the site's review of their album Artantica×Artantica1999 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Step Off5:212Happy Go Fucked Up4:553Letter to Da Better4:454Bank Stock 6 Zeros4:465Hard-Headed Headstrong4:196Craftmatic Adjustable Girl4:167Fearless3:598Ghost Called Loneliness3:449Limousine4:0010Artantica3:4811Chain-Locked to Nowhere5:0212Q & A’s on an O.D., Part 13:5113Q & A’s on an O.D., Part 22:0314Music Entertainment5:08, writer Rick Anderson wrote, "For those who think of rap metal fusion as something invented by bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit, Urban Dance Squad is back to remind you that they've been doing it for ten years now".

Band members

Rudeboy Remington (Patrick Tilon) - vocals
Tres Manos (René van Barneveld) - guitar
Silly Sil (Silvano Matadin) - bass guitar
Magic Stick (Michel Schoots) - drums
DJ DNA (Arjen de Vreede) - turntables (1987-1993, 1997-2000, 2006)
U-Gene - keyboards (1996-1997)

Albums

Mental Floss for the Globe (1989)
Life 'n Perspectives of a Genuine Crossover (1991)
Persona Non Grata (1994)
Planet Ultra (1996)
Beograd Live (1997)
Artantica (1999)
The Singles Collection (2006)

Film

"Fast Lane×Fast Lane1991 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracksA1Fast Lane (Dancetaria version)A2Fast Lane (The Loyal to the Underground mix)B1Fast Lane (Orthodox cut)B2Fast Lane (Stripped to tha Bone mix)" appears in the 1990 film Pump Up the Volume but does not appear on the soundtrack album.
The song "Good Grief" appears on the soundtrack of the 1995 film Hackers, and the band has a cameo appearance in the film with the same song.
The song "Demagogue×Demagogue1994 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Demagogue4:082Alienated (instrumental)5:453Demuffgogue4:344Downer (Bordeaux live)10:35" appears on the soundtrack of the 2001 film Crazy/Beautiful and in 2003 on Gigli.

Documentary

5 jaar wanorde (5 years of disorder) is a two-part documentary about Urban Dance Squad by director Bram van Splunteren for VPRO's Onrust, originally broadcast in 1992.