Apollo 440

Emerging during the 1990s as a dance collective eager to fuse an expanding range of genres and borrowed audio fragments, Apollo 440 reached the British Top Ten in 1997 by weaving Van Halen elements into the single "Ain't Talkin' Bout Dub" while also drawing upon big-band drummer Gene Krupa for "Krupa." The ensemble took shape in 1991 when Howard Gray, a onetime studio engineer, joined forces with his classically trained pianist brother Trevor and their Liverpool school friend Noko, who had previously played guitar in Howard Devoto's Luxuria. Britain's acid-house surge provided the group's earliest spark, leading them to serve as remixers—occasionally credited as Stealthsonic Orchestra—for U2, EMF, and Shabba Ranks before they shifted focus to original material. Their first release, the single "Astral America," surfaced on the band's own Stealth Sonic Records imprint in 1993, paving the way for subsequent club successes such as "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Krupa," each built around a frequently formulaic hook lifted from well-known musical classics of earlier eras. Apollo 440 unveiled their debut album, Millennium Fever, in 1995, then issued Electro Glide in Blue two years afterward. The group returned to view in early 2000 with Getting High on Your Own Supply.