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6 Music Celebrates: Chemical Brothers

08/04/2012

BBC Radio 6 Music - 6 Music Celebrates: Chemical Brothers

Sean Rowley charts The Chemical Brothers' rise to fame and introduces live highlights.

15 years on from the release of The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole, Sean Rowley charts their rise to fame and introduces live highlights.

As 6 Music Celebrates: Dance Culture, 15 years after the release of The Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole, Sean Rowley charts the electronic duo's rise to fame and re-visits live highlights.

Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands met while at University together in Manchester and spent their time visiting some of the legendary nightclubs, such as the Hacienda. 

In 1992, they created their first record as The Dust Brothers, a name they eventually had to lose due to the existence of a band with the same name in America. 

Their debut album, Exit Planet Dust, was eventually released in 1995, selling over one million copies worldwide.
And from that moment, the Chemical Brothers began a rise to fame that saw them re-mixing the likes of the Manic Street Preachers, The Prodigy and Primal Scream. 

In late 1996, they reached Number One in the UK charts for the first time with Setting Sun, featuring Noel Gallagher from Oasis. The subsequent album, 1997's Dig Your Own Hole, brought with it another Number One single and international recognition, with Block Rockin' Beats winning a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental.

This half hour programme, originally broadcast on the World Service, is followed by highlights from their 1997 performance on the Other Stage at Glastonbury. Those who favoured Simons and Rowlands over Coldplay on the Pyramid Stage enjoyed a night of field fillers from a duo that helped shape dance culture.

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