Adamski - Killer (12" Remix)

Adamski - Killer (Remix) / 12 Inch Extended Remix (HQ Audio)

Adam Tinley was born in Hampshire in 1967 and formed his first band, The Stupid Babies, at the age of 11.

He persuaded his 5-year-old brother Dominic to sing and sent a demo tape to indie label Fast Product.

Fast Product included The Stupid Babies track "Babysitters" on a sampler record, which caught the attention of John Peel. Peel played the track, leading to write-ups in Smash Hits and Melody Maker. Adam's career was underway.

A decade later, he was performing live with his new band, Diskord Datkord, alongside his brother Mark and Johnny Slut of the band Specimen. Their cover of X-Ray Spex's Identity was named Single of the Week in NME.

In 1989, Adam played his first solo gig in a Kentish Town restaurant. Lenny D, the promoter of the nightclub Heaven, happened to walk by and was persuaded by Adam's manager to book him for an upcoming all-dayer.

Within a few weeks, Adam - now known as Adamski - was playing to 8,000 people at the Sunrise Festival, part of the early rave scene. Soon after, he signed with MCA Records following a bidding war.

Adamski quickly began playing regular live gigs in clubs with his portable setup, initially alongside the MC Daddy Chester. Later, Seal (Seal Henry Samuel) joined as a vocalist after impressing Adamski with a demo tape he handed over at a rave.

Things were moving fast. Adamski released an album of instrumental tracks recorded at raves, along with the single N-R-G, which reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.

Seal's vocals, however, were becoming an increasingly important part of the live shows.

Adamski had created a new instrumental track, which he titled The Killer because it reminded him of a movie murder scene soundtrack. He invited Seal to provide vocals for it.

Seal came up with the line, "It's the loneliness that's the killer," and developed the rest of the song around it. The pair recorded the track in a single day at Advision Studios in London on 27 January 1990.

As Seal was only a guest vocalist for Adamski at the time, the single was released in March under Adamski's name alone. It climbed the charts over eight weeks before spending four weeks at number one.

Both Adam and Seal recall struggling financially when the record hit number one. Seal was living in a squat, while Adam was still on a government scheme that paid him £40 a week for rent. The success of Killer made them household names almost overnight.

Seal signed as a solo artist with ZTT Records and soon released hits like Crazy and Future Love Paradise, as well as his own version of Killer. His debut album, produced by Trevor Horn - who became a long-time collaborator - went to number one.

Adam now lives in Spain and has started his own record label. While he had one more Top 10 hit after Killer and a Top 10 album, he hasn’t returned to the Top 40 since. However, he continues to produce respected electronic dance records.

Featured here is the remix 12” of Killer, rather than the standard extended 12”. This version includes additional keyboards by Adamski and was mixed by Ben Chapman, best known for his remix of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, the Top of the Pops theme in the 1990s.

The remix 12” also features a version of Bassline Changed My Life and an extended mix of N-R-G titled The N-R-G Symphony in F Minor. It has unique artwork compared to other formats, featuring the slogan KILLEREMIX.

Year: 1990 Label: MCA Cat no: MCAX1400