Mint Royale - Career

Career

Mint Royale first specialized in remixes, and became known after the release of their mix of "Tequila," by Terrorvision. They were championed by British dance guru Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, whose DJ sets regularly included their work. Their sound was similar to his, to the extent that some people mistakenly believed Mint Royale to be a pseudonym for Cook himself. Their first album, On the Ropes, was released in late 1999, and though it was not a big sales hit, some songs from it have achieved recognition. The single "Don't Falter," featuring Lauren Laverne from Kenickie, was a minor hit in the British charts. The song "From Rusholme with Love" has been made recognizable through its extensive use in film and television series soundtracks. Besides its use as the theme tune for the film Kung Pow! Enter The Fist, it appears on the soundtracks of the films Vanilla Sky, Get Carter, and Serendipity, and the television series Alias (episode "The Prophecy") and Spaced. The song "Because I'm Worth It" has also been used as the theme for the Jamie Theakston and Zoë Ball chat show The Priory. The song "Show Me," which first appeared on the 2001 US reissue of the album, is played every Friday by John Richards of KEXP and the song has become known as "The Friday Song." "Show Me" was also used in the National Lampoon film Van Wilder.

The band released its second album, Dancehall Places, in 2002. The first single from this album, "The Sexiest Man in Jamaica," featuring a sample of a Prince Buster recording, became their second UK Top 20 hit. As the band embarked on a series of live shows and a UK tour in 2003, a new single was released, "Blue Song," the video for which featured comedians Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, of The Mighty Boosh fame, as well as Nick Frost of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead fame and Michael Smiley, also of Spaced. The video was directed by Edgar Wright.

Mint Royale returned to the studio to start writing and recording their third album in April 2004. The next few months were a turbulent time for Mint Royale with founding member Chris Baker parting company with the band. However, Neil and the resident vocalists returned to the studio to complete the recording of the third album in January 2005 and the result was See You In The Morning with the then-unknown Duffy singing on two of the tracks. In 2005 the group released "Waiting in the Rain" on the Wait for You EP — a remix of "Singin' in the Rain," which was featured in the January 2005 Volkswagen Golf GTI commercial. It reached #20 on the UK Singles Chart after it was released as a single (remixed and renamed as "Singing In the Rain"). This version also features on the album See You in the Morning.

In 2007, Mint Royale released a compilation CD+DVD named Pop Is..., which contained all their singles and videos, as well as a couple of the remixes they had done for other performers, and a new song, "Wham-Bar," based on the Wham! hit song "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do)." The same year, Mint Royale released a bonus track remix of Frank Sinatra's "This Town" on the Ocean's Thirteen official soundtrack.

On 1 June 2008, "Singin' In The Rain" re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 28 after the success of George Sampson on Britain's Got Talent and Jack Chambers on So You Think You Can Dance Australia. It then became number 1 on the UK Chart announced on 8 June 2008.