Supergroove

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Supergroove
Also known asLow Down Dirty Blues Band
OriginAuckland, New Zealand
GenresFunk rock, Rap rock[1]
Years active1989 (1989)–1997 (1997), 2007 (2007)–present
LabelsBMG
MembersChe Ness
Joe Lonie
Tim Stewart
Ben Sciascia
Karl Steven
Ian Jones
Nick Atkinson
Past membersPaul Russell

Supergroove is a New Zealand funk rock music group. Their debut album Traction was released in 1994. The group disbanded in 1997 but reformed in 2007.

History[edit]

The band was founded on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, having previously been named the Low-Down Dirty Blues Band.[2]

Supergroove's first release was the single Here Comes the Supergroove, which wasn't added to either of their original albums. Supergroove released two albums of original content – Traction, from which four singles were taken, and Backspacer, which yielded two singles. Between the two they recorded the EP Tractor, and put out an EP of remixes, GreatMixes.

Prior to Supergroove's second album Backspacer, singer Che Fu and trumpeter Tim Stewart were fired from the band.[3][4][5] The band then entirely split up in 1997 over creative differences. Seven years after the group split a 'Best Of' compilation, Postage, was released.

Performance[edit]

Solo careers[edit]

Notable former members include Che Ness, aka Che Fu, now with a successful solo career, Paul Russell, who still studio drums with Che Fu. Two other ex-members, Tim Stewart (trumpet) and Ben Sciascia (guitar) formed a new band in late 2005 called Svelte[6] with Tim on Lead vocals and Bass. Ian Jones joined upcoming Sydney band Lost Valentinos on drums.

Reunion[edit]

Despite what was widely considered to be a less than amicable break up, Supergroove supported Crowded House for the three shows of their October 2007 New Zealand tour. This reunion included Che Fu, Jo Lonie, Tim Stewart, Ben Sciascia, Ian Jones, Nick Atkinson and Karl Steven.

Supergroove continued in 2007 on a summer tour, playing alongside popular New Zealand bands such as Atlas, Elemeno P, The Feelers[7] and were one of the headline Kiwi acts of the Big Day Out 2008 in Auckland.[8] The band featured in the University of Otago's, the University of Canterbury's and the University of Waikato's 2008 orientation weeks.[9][10]

Supergroove played at the Groove in the Park 2010 festival held on New Zealand's Waitangi Day (6 February), at the Western Springs in Auckland. Supergroove also played at the Homegrown Festival in Wellington on 14 March 2009.[11]

In February 2015, Supergroove reunited to play in all shows of The Winery Tour – 12 shows at various vineyards around New Zealand.

Members[edit]

Current

  • Che Ness – vocals (1989–1995, 2007-present)[3]
  • Karl Steven – vocals, keyboards, harmonica (1989–1997, 2007-present)[12]
  • Ben Sciascia – guitar (1989–1997, 2007-present)
  • Joe Lonie – bass (1989–1997, 2007-present)
  • Tim Stewart – trumpet (1989–1995, 2007-present)[13]
  • Nick Atkinson – saxophone (1989–1997, 2007-present), keyboards (1995–1997)[13]
  • Ian Jones – drums (1994-1997, 2007-present)

Former

  • Paul Russell – drums (1989–1994)

Timeline[edit]

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

Year Album Peak chart
positions
Certifications
(sales thresholds)
NZ
[14]
AUS
[15]
1994 Traction
  • Label: BMG
  • Catalogue number: 74321 27954 2
1 46
  • NZ: Platinum
1996 Backspacer 2
  • NZ: Gold
2003 Postage 10

EPs[edit]

Year Album Peak chart
positions
Certifications
(sales thresholds)
NZ
[14]
1994[16] Tractor 2
  • NZ: Platinum
1996 GreatMixes
  • Label: BMG
  • 74321 30851 2
34

Singles[edit]

Year Title Peak chart
positions
Certifications Album
NZ
[14]
AUS
[15]
1992 "Here Comes The Supergroove" 21 Non-album single
1993 "You Gotta Know" 4 57 Traction
"Scorpio Girls" 3
  • NZ: Gold
1994 "Can't Get Enough" 1 32
  • NZ: Platinum
"Sitting Inside My Head" 6
  • NZ: Gold
1996 "If I Had My Way" 7 Backspacer
"5th Wheel"
2003 "For Whatever Remix" Postage

Awards[edit]

New Zealand Music Awards[edit]

Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref
1994 Malcolm Welsford – "You Gotta Know" Best Engineer Nominated [17]
1995 Traction Album of the Year Won [18]
"Can't Get Enough" Single of the Year Nominated
Supergroove Best Group Won
Jo Fischer and Matt Noonan – "Can't Get Enough" Best Video Won
Karl Steven & Malcolm Welsford – Traction Best Producer Won
Malcolm Welsford – Traction Best Engineer Won
1996 Supergroove International Achievement Nominated [19]
Sigi Spath and Jo Fisher – "You Gotta Know" Best Video Won
1997 Sigi Spath and Joe Lonie – "If I Had My Way" Best Video Won [20]
Malcolm Welsford and Karl Steven – Backspacer Best Producer Won
Malcolm Welsford – Backspacer Best Engineer Nominated
2014 Supergroove Legacy Award Awarded [21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ de Graaf, Peter (28 October 2014). "Trio freaked out in the groove". The Northern Advocate. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  2. ^ Chunn, Mike and Chunn, Jeremy. The Mechanics of Popular Music, GP Publications, 1995, ISBN 1-8695-6130-9.
  3. ^ a b "Che Fu fired up and ready to Supergroove". Stuff.co.nz. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  4. ^ Mclennan, Peter (23 May 2013). "Dub dot dash: Che Fu - 2bSpacific revisited". Dubdotdash.blogspot.com. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Supergroove's tooting twosome go it alone". NZ Herald. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  6. ^ [1] [dead link]
  7. ^ [2] [dead link]
  8. ^ "Big Day Out Press Releases". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Orientation 2008". Issuu.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Supergroove events from 2008". Last.FM. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Jim Beam Rock Stage: 2009". Vodafone Homegrown. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Photographic image" (JPG). Sciascia.co.nz. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  13. ^ a b "Supergroove Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
  14. ^ a b c "Supergroove in New Zealand Charts". Charts.nz. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  15. ^ a b Australian (ARIA) chart peaks"
  16. ^ "Tractor". Deezer.com. 11 July 1994.
  17. ^ "1994 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  18. ^ "1995 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  19. ^ "1996 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  20. ^ "1997 Winners". NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  21. ^ "TUI STALWARTS TAKE OUT LEGACY AWARD". NZ Music Awards. Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 26 October 2014.

External links[edit]