Adamski
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Adamski (born Adam Tinley, 4 December 1967, in the New Forest, England) is an English dance music producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer" (a collaboration with Seal).
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According to Adam Sky's MySpace page, Tinley made his first record aged eleven, in 1979, as part of the kinderpunk group "The Stupid Babies". Their song "Babysitter" was released on Fast Product Records, and played on the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show.
Tinley went on to perform with his brother Mark Tinley, and Johnny Slut of the band Specimen, as Diskord Datkord. The band was signed to SOHO records and released one single. The brothers Tinley continued to work together even after the demise of Diskord Datkord. In the late 1980s, Adam Tinley adopted his stage name after the UFO enthusiast, George Adamski.
Adamski enjoyed modest success with his first release, "Live and Direct" which was a collection of tracks recorded live at a small venue in Kentish Town, London. It contained a short, live version of his first single, "NRG", as well as "I dream of you", which appeared on a free 4 track 7" vinyl single given away with the music paper, Record Mirror in 1989. The cover of the single "NRG" featured a mocked up Lucozade bottle with the 'lucozade' words replaced with 'N-R-G'. This was a nod to the acid house culture where at raves alcohol wasn't consumed and bottled water and soft drinks were preferred.
Commenting on the comparisons between rave culture and the earlier punk rock scene, Adamski said in 1990, "I liked the energy and the visual side of punk, but it was all just saying 'no, no, no, no,' whereas now everybody's saying 'yes, yes, yes.' I much prefer the positivity thing we have now."[1]
Adamski toured many clubs with his portable keyboard set up, playing short sets, with an MC, Daddy Chester, and later with Seal. In front of his keyboard was a yellow car number plate, with the words 'ADAMSKI' on it. Early versions of future singles "Killer" and "Future Love Paradise" were played on some of the Seal dates. One date of particular note was at Cambridge Corn Exchange, in early 1990, when Seal leapt on to a smaller, lower catwalk stage, the coins in his pockets all spilled out, showering some of the front row literally with cash.
Adamski's signature song, "Killer", featured the collaboration of his brother, programmer and sound engineer, Mark Tinley. "Killer" crossed over into the mainstream music charts, becoming a massive worldwide hit. It is featured on the album, Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy, with follow-up hits such "The Space Jungle" (which was Adamski singing Elvis' "All Shook Up" to a dance backing) and "Flashback Jack". Pop music artist George Michael later successfully married "Killer"'s bass line, to the melody of The Temptations' "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", on a live album featuring the surviving members of Queen.
Adamski's second album was Naughty. It featured a collaboration with Nina Hagen on "Get Your Body!" and plenty of club tunes, expanding from the artist's acid house roots into the pop and rock genres. Commercially, however, this album was not a big success.
Adamski's third album was issued in late 1998 on the ZTT Records label, famous for producing acts such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood and Art of Noise. Its title was Adamski's Thing and the style followed the trend started with Naughty, with lots of guitars, strings, raw vocals and introspective lyrics, but maintaining a rhythmic dance sensibility. The album spawned two singles, "Intravenous Venus" and "One Of the People".
In 2000, Tinley released his last single as Adamski, "In the City". The song charted in Italy, but did little business elsewhere. In the early 2000s, Adam Tinley decided to assume a new identity: he is now producing as Adam Sky. [1]
As Adam Sky, his most recent album includes songs by the musician, Danny Williams.
He currently lives in Spain with his daughters, Bluebell Williams Tinley and Ariella Tinley. Adamski has recently set up his own label (Prostitute Records). His single, ApeX, was released on Kitsuné Music in 2006.
Recently, Adamski/Sky has been working very closely with VJ Ladypat, and the London based rapper, Niyi.
- Liveandirect (1989)
- Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (1990)
- Naughty (1992)
- Adamski's Thing (1998)
- ^ Reynolds, Simon. Generation Ecstasy, p. 103
- Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
- Adamski biography at the All Music Guide
- Discography at Discogs.com
- Adam Sky's Homepage (Flash req'd)(defunct)
- Website on archive.
- Adam Sky's MySpace page
- ZTT Online Shop still sells Adamski's Thing