S’Express

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

S’Express · S'Express was a British dance group from the late 1980s and early 1990s, centred on the DJ and producer Mark Moore. The project had one of the first commercial successes in acid house. Moore, who played in clubs a great deal, worked with a changing group of singers and musicians, including Pascal Gabriel, Jocasta, Mark D, Linda Love and Michellé. Later the group consisted only of Moore and the singer and DJ Sonique.

Music and breakthrough

In April 1988 Theme from S'Express spent two weeks at the top of the British charts. The song contains elements of Is It Love You're After by Rose Royce and was among the first records to use the emerging sampling culture. It also made the American dance chart. The debut album Original Soundtrack was released in 1989, also featuring Superfly Guy and a version of Hey Music Lover by Sly and the Family Stone, a remix of whose B-side was made by the composer Philip Glass. The second album, Intercourse, was less successful but still produced club hits, such as Nothing to Lose. Sonique later had a career of her own and made It Feels So Good. Moore subsequently released records and remixes under his own name.

Influence

The music is cheerful and full of winks: a driving house beat, sampled bits of disco and soul, and vocals that sound like a party. The project showed how acid house, with sampling and DJ culture, found its way into British pop, and how such a style went straight into the charts.

Listening

• 
  Theme from S’Express · S’Express, 1988
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1989Original Soundtrack
• 1991Intercourse