Shanks & Bigfoot

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

Shanks & Bigfoot was a British duo of UK garage producers, Steven Meade and Danny Langsman. They began in the late 1990s under the name Doolally and in 1998 made the pirate radio anthem Straight from the Heart. On its first release the song reached number twenty in the British chart. Because of legal problems they had to choose another name, after which they carried on as Shanks & Bigfoot. Straight from the Heart was re-released in 1999, after the success of their big hit, and then reached number nine.

Music and breakthrough

That hit was Sweet Like Chocolate from 1999, with vocals by Sharon Woolf, who had also sung Straight from the Heart. The song had been played in clubs for months before it was released and went straight to number one in the United Kingdom for two weeks. It became one of the most popular singles of the late 1990s. The computer animation that accompanied the song, about a girl in a world of chocolate, was just as well known at the time and was nominated for a BRIT and a MOBO. At the 1999 MOBO Awards the duo won the prize for best British dance act. A bidding war for the duo followed, and they eventually signed with Zomba Records. In 2000 their only album came out, Swings & Roundabouts, with vocals by Terri Walker, and the single Sing-A-Long.

Influence

The music is 2step, a light, syncopated form of garage with a smooth bass line and a soulful vocal part. The duo belonged to the wave that defined British dance music around 2000 and showed that garage could also reach the pop charts.

Listening

• 
  Sweet Like Chocolate · Shanks & Bigfoot, 1999
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 2000Swings & Roundabouts