Republica

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Republica
Origin England
Genre(s) Alternative dance
Dance-punk
Techno
Alternative rock
Electronica
Years active c 1994-1998
Label(s) Sony BMG/Deconstruction
Associated acts Flowered Up
Website republica.com
Former members
Tim Dorney
Andy Todd
Saffron

Johnny Male
Pete Riley
David Barbarossa

Republica was an English band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1998. The Republica sound was described by the band as "techno-pop punk rock", although Melody Maker took to calling it "electronica", a label which stuck as a genre category.

Contents

[edit] History

Republica was started by former Flowered Up keyboardist Tim Dorney and Andy Todd, and quickly came to popular attention with their debut single "Ready to Go" and its follow-up "Drop Dead Gorgeous". The lead singer, Saffron, was previously a lead vocalist on N-Joi's rave crossover pop hit, "Anthem", in 1990.

The band's self-titled debut album was released in July 1996 and reached #4 in the album charts. However, their follow-up 1998 album Speed Ballads and its lead single From Rush Hour With Love only reached #37 and #20 respectively. The group are rumoured to have dissolved shortly afterwards but have never officially stated this. The last message to fans in late 1999 via their official website stated "Republica are not recording at this time".

The band suffered when their label, Deconstruction Records, folded shortly after the release of Speed Ballads. Deconstruction's back catalogue was swallowed up by BMG, who released a Best Of Album. On finding out about the release of Ready To Go - the best of Republica, Saffron promptly posted a statement on her new band's website that said "To all the fans, don't be fooled by this shoddy release. It's completely unofficial, the band had no dealings whatsoever with its release, we were not even informed. The track listing isn't one we'd have picked, the cover photos are so way out of date, poor in quality and overall it won't contribute to us bringing out a brand new album".[citation needed]

During their lifetime, the group attracted much positive press coverage. Emerging after a wave of female-fronted rock bands (such as Elastica, Lush, Sleeper, Echobelly, and Kenickie), they had, like Garbage, a notably more aggressive and electronic sound.

Saffron was born in Nigeria and claims Portuguese, Chinese and English ancestry. Outside of the band, she was also the featured vocalist on The Prodigy's "Fuel My Fire", from their 1997 album The Fat of the Land.

More recently, Saffron guest vocals on Parka's debut album 'Attack of the Hundred Yard Hardman' in the track 'DJ In The Corner'

[edit] Members

[edit] Former members' later projects

  • Saffron recorded the songs "Crusher", "Spirits", and "Beauty Never Fades" on Junkie XL's 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin.
  • In 2001 Saffron worked with The Cure on two tracks for their Greatest Hits album and features in the video for "Just Say Yes".
  • As of 2005, Saffron is working on a new band called Swarm.
  • Keyboardist Tim Dorney briefly reunited with fellow former Flowered Up band member Liam Maher, but they split up in late 2002, Flowered Up tried to reform in 2007 but Tim refused causing the cancellation of a planned reunion tour. He is currently working as a painter and decorator and working on Contra Mundum with Jonny Male releases in early 2008 on White Label.
  • The Republica website states that Johnny is now part of a band called Cheap Glue, but no more details have emerged. Johnny also co-wrote tracks for Lipslide, the 1997 solo album by Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne and 'Reach' by S Club 7. He has recently moved to Tobago where he continues to write songs.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Title Release date Label U.K. Albums U.S. Albums U.S. Heatseekers German Albums
Republica 5 October 1996 Deconstruction
Records		 4 153 6 47
Republica - Limited Edition 2 Disk Set (Live Versions) 1998 - - - -
Speed Ballads 30 July 1998 37 - - -
Ready To Go: The Best Of 27 May 2002 Camden - - - -
  • Note: A U.S. release date was set for Speed Ballads for Jan. 1999 but Deconstruction records went out of business in late 1998 so this never occurred.[citation needed]

[edit] Singles

Title Release
date		 Album UK singles U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock GER singles
"Out of this World" 1994 - - - - -
"Bloke" Bloke EP 85 - - -
"Ready to Go" 1996 Republica 43 - - -
"Ready to Go (U.S. Mix)" (re-issue) 1997 13 56 7 33
"Drop Dead Gorgeous" 7 93 39 90
"From Rush Hour With Love" 1998 Speed Ballads 20 - - -
"Try Everything" - - - -

[edit] Audio sample

Republica - Drop Dead Gorgeous excerpt

An excerpt from Drop Dead Gorgeous
Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Βio