Secret Knowledge

Former pub-rock crusty and journalist supremo Kris Needs weighed in with his thoughts on the acid-house movement by recording for Deconstruction and Sabres of Paradise Records as Secret Knowledge. Perhaps better known to the dance masses as a popular tour DJ (with everyone from the Orb to Primal Scream to the Prodigy), Needs was buying records from an early age. He began writing and DJing in the mid-'70s, and worked as a reviewer at several magazines while serving as resident at several London clubs during the 1980s. Needs had recorded several hip-hop tracks with American vocalist Wonder during the mid-'80s, though the acid-house boom and an allegiance with poster-children Primal Scream sparked Needs' first recordings as Secret Knowledge, the single "Your Worst Nightmare." Introduced to Andrew Weatherall through the Primal Scream affiliation, Needs and Wonder released several singles for Weatherall's Sabres of Paradise label, including "Ooh Baby" and a 1992 club smash "Sugar Daddy." Another popular Needs' anthem, "Anything You Want," was produced the following year for Hard Hands Records as Delta Lady. The hits led to much remixing -- for the Orb, Love and Rockets, Saint Etienne, the Grid, Empirion, the Boo Radleys, Nitzer Ebb and the Prodigy -- and Needs' growing status as an elder statesman of sorts for the electronica movement (though he continued to resemble a roadie for the Stones). The debut Secret Knowledge album So Hard appeared on Deconstruction in 1996, and Needs alternated his time touring with the bigger acts, contributing reviews to magazines and occasionally recording. The duo left Deconstruction at the end of the year, and the tribute compilation Kris Needs Must! was released early the following year. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide