
The Prodigy are an English electronic music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method, as well as other acts they are pioneers of the big beat electronic dance genre which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s, and are known for high-quality live performances. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide which is unequalled in dance music history.
Various styles ranging from rave, hardcore, industrial and breakbeat in the early 1990s to electronic rock with punk vocal elements in later times. The current band members include Liam Howlett (composer/keyboards), Keith Flint (dancer/vocalist) and Maxim Reality (MC/vocalist). Leeroy Thornhill (dancer/very occasional live keyboards) was a member of the band from 1990 to 2000, as was a female dancer/vocalist called Sharky who left the band during their early period. The Prodigy first emerged on the underground rave scene in the early 1990s, and have since then achieved immense popularity and worldwide renown. Some of their most popular songs include \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Charly\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Out of Space\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"No Good (Start the Dance)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Voodoo People\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Poison\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Firestarter\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Breathe\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Smack My Bitch Up\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\", \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Omen\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" & \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Warrior\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Dance.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
The name displayed on album covers changed from \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Prodigy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" to \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Prodigy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" between Music for the Jilted Generation and The Fat of the Land in 1997 and back again with the release of Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned in 2004. However, Howlett has stated that the title has always been \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Prodigy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". The change was made only to fit within the displayed logo, according to Howlett.
Background information
Origin Braintree, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Genres Big beat
Synthpunk
Rave
Hardcore techno
Dance punk
Breakbeat
Drum and bass
Years active 1990–present
Labels Take Me to the Hospital, Ragged Flag, Cooking Vinyl, XL, Beggars Banquet, Mute, Maverick, Warner Bros., Elektra, SHOCK Records
Members
Liam Howlett
Keith Flint
Maxim Reality
Former members
Leeroy Thornhill
Sharky
\\\"Charly\\\" is the first proper single released by the British electronic act The Prodigy, taken from their debut album \\\"Experience\\\" - where it features on as the significantly longer Trip Into Drum & Bass version and not the original version. It was released in the UK on August 12 1991 through XL Recordings on vinyl, CD and cassette tape format . Almost a year later, it was released as a double A-side single with \\\"Everybody in the Place\\\" in the US on June 18, 1992 through Elektra Records on CD, digipak and maxi-single format. On November 22, 2004 the single was released on digital download format. On October 1, 1992, \\\"Charly\\\" had sold over 200,000 copies in the UK which in turn enabled it a Silver BPI certification. The Alley Cat Mix of \\\"Charly\\\" features as track number three on the expanded disc two of the band\\\'s debut album \\\"Experience\\\". \\\"Charly\\\" appears on the band\\\'s compilation album \\\"Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005\\\" as track number nine.