The Go! Team

Although marketed as a full band, the Go! Team's 2005 debut album was recorded by Ian Parton (b. Wales) and his brother on samplers and a four-track. According to Parton, "About 5 years ago I got an old eighties sampler and a four-track (tape recorder), and (along with brother and engineer Gareth) just started welding ideas from songs with samples I'd heard in random places and live instruments." Based in Brighton, East Sussex, the Go! Team made their debut in 2001 with Get It Together EP on the tiny UK independent label Pickled Egg. It soon got the attention of Memphis Industries in the USA, home to acts as diverse as Dungen and El Perro Del Mar, and they signed to the label in mid-2002. The singles "Junior Kickstart", "The Power Is On", "Ladyflash" and "Bottle Rocket" followed. All were cut-and-paste hip-hop, northern soul, and indie pop hi-breds, real dancefloor friendly jams. In 2004 Memphis Industries told Parton he was to support Franz Ferdinand on the Swedish leg of their tour, which is when the live band and face of the Go Team! was put together. Parton recruited fellow Brighton residents Sam Dook (guitar, drums, banjo), Jamie Bell (bass), Chi "Ky" Fukami Taylor (b. Japan; drums), Silke Steidinger (b. Germany; recorder, melodica, guitar, keyboards, drums), and Ninja (vocals). The live shows were met with rapturous reviews and set the scene for the release of their debut album, Thunder, Lightning, Strike, which was nominated for the Mercury Music Award in 2005. The album was re-released by Columbia Records in a slightly altered version, brought about by sample clearance problems. Kaori Tsuchida replaced Steidinger later in the year. A reissue of "Ladyflash" reached the UK Top 30 at the start of 2006.