Adamski
{{short description|English DJ, musician, and record producer}}
{{other people||Adamski (surname)}}
{{BLP refimprove|date=March 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Adamski
| image = Adamski 1.jpg
| caption = Adamski in 2014
| birth_name = Adam Paul Tinley
| alias = {{flatlist|
- Adam Sky
- Sonny Eriksson
}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1967|12|04}}
| birth_place = Lymington, Hampshire, England
| origin =
| genre = {{flatlist|
}}
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- DJ
- record producer
}}
| years_active = 1979–present
| module = {{Infobox person|child=yes
| spouse = {{marriage|Nana Tinley (born Klimek)
|2017}}
| children = 2
}}
| label = MCA{{cite web|title=Title Unknown |url=http://www.geocities.com//patmil007/7231.jpg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027155429/http://geocities.com/patmil007/7231.jpg |archive-date=27 October 2009 |url-status=dead |df=dmy }}
| website = {{plainlist|
- {{URL|adamskiofficial.com}}
- {{URL|sonnyerikssonlive.com}}
}}
}}
Adam Paul Tinley (born 4 December 1967Jörg Amtage, Matthias Müller: Alle Hits aus Deutschlands Charts 1954-2003, Pro Business, 2003, p. 20.), known professionally as Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer", a collaboration with Seal, which was a No. 1 song in the UK in 1990.Simpson, Dave, "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/mar/11/how-we-made-killer How we made Killer, by Seal and Adamski]". The Guardian. 11 March 2011
Career
Tinley was born in Lymington, Hampshire, England. As a youngster, influenced by punk rock and John Peel, he formed his first band The Stupid Babies when he was 11 and living in New Forest in England. He persuaded his 5-year-old brother Dominic to sing while he strummed a small guitar, and sent a demo tape to the indie label Fast Product, run by The Human League's manager Bob Last. "Everyone thought that was a really precocious and strange thing for an 11 year-old to do," Adamski recalls "but I just thought that's what everybody did". The kiddie-punk tracks were released on a sampler. When alternative BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel started playing their song "Babysitters" the band caused quite a stir, receiving positive write-ups in music magazines like Smash Hits and Melody Maker.{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/adamski-my-favourite-10-albums/|title=Adamski: my favourite 10 albums|first=Scott|last=Adamski|date=22 December 2014|website=Louderthanwar.com|access-date=5 May 2019}}{{Cite web |url=http://a.djmag.com/node/35186 |title=Game Changer | djmag.com |access-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208081041/http://a.djmag.com/node/35186 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} He performed with his brother Mark Tinley, and Johnny Slut of the band Specimen, as Diskord Datkord. They released their only single in 1988, an electroid cover of "Identity" by punk band X-Ray Spex. It was single of the week in NME.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
In March 1989, Adamski was booked for his first solo gig at Le Petit Prince Restaurant in Kentish Town, run by his manager Phil Smith. Lenny D, promoter of nightclub Heaven, happened to be walking past, and was convinced by Smith to book Adamski for an all-dayer at Heaven. He quickly catapulted into the upper echelons of the nascent rave scene. Within a few weeks, Adamski was playing to 8,000 people at Sunrise Festival at Santa Pod Raceway and, after a bidding war, signed to MCA Records, producing the first rave record on MCA called Liveandirect.
He had success with this first release, which was a collection of tracks recorded live at various raves. It contained a short, live version of his first single "N-R-G", as well as "I Dream of You", which appeared on a free 4-track 7" vinyl single given away with the music paper Record Mirror in 1989.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Adamski-NRG/release/959779|title=Adamski - N.R.G.|website=Discogs.com|date=1989 |access-date=5 May 2019}} The cover of the single "N-R-G" featured a mocked up Lucozade bottle with the word "Lucozade" replaced with "N-R-G".
Adamski toured many clubs with his portable keyboard set up, playing long sets, with an MC, Daddy Chester, and later with Seal. In front of his keyboard was a UK car number plate with the word ADAMSKI on it. Early versions of future singles "Killer" and "Future Love Paradise" were played on some of the Seal dates.
The album, Adamski's Thing, was issued in late 1998 on Trevor Horn's ZTT Records label, recorded at Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound studios. The style followed the trend started with his 1992 album Naughty, with guitars, strings, raw vocals and introspective lyrics, but maintaining a rhythmic dance sensibility.{{Citation needed|date=April 2012}} Adamski's Thing spawned two singles, "Intravenous Venus" and "One of the People" (a record featuring dance vocalist Gerideau, that got to No. 56 in the UK Singles Chart).{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4839/adamskis-thing/|title = ADAMSki's THING | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company|website = Official Charts}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chartsurfer.de/artist/adamski-s-thing-feat-gerideau/one-of-the-people-song_ugpeh.html|title = One of the People von Adamski's Thing feat. Gerideau|website=Chartsurfer.de}}
Throughout the late 1990s, Tinley shifted focus to his DJ career. He soon adopted a new moniker, Adam Sky, touring Europe, and making the odd UK appearance such as playing at the electroclash night Nag Nag Nag in London in 2002 – run by his old friend Jonny Slut. As a producer, his songs at that time also included a collaboration with musician Danny Williams. In 2007, he released a remake of The Pop Group's 1979 single "We Are All Prostitutes" with Mark Stewart, which appeared on a number of compilations. His single "ApeX" was released on Kitsuné Music in 2006. In 2009, he began to release more material on Shir Khan's record label.{{Cite web |url=http://shopbase.finetunes.net/shopserver/ActionServlet?cmd=freesearch&term=adam+sky&fields=artists |title=Exploited singles credited to Adam Sky |access-date=25 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716183931/http://shopbase.finetunes.net/shopserver/ActionServlet?cmd=freesearch&term=adam+sky&fields=artists |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
In 2009, he found his way back to the UK to start his Futurewaltz project, working in the 3/4 time signature. Tinley’s latest alter ego is cyberbilly Sonny Eriksson - a self-styled Teddy Boy fusing rockabilly and psychobilly styles with the hypnotic, strange and electronic sounds of today and beyond.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
In 2020, Adamski released Free to Kill Again,{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/master/1831407-Adamski-Free-To-Kill-Again|title=Adamski - Free To Kill Again|access-date=24 March 2023|website=Discogs.com}} featuring 10 new interpretations of "Killer" with guest features by Boy George, Nina Hagen, Adrian Sherwood, Mykki Blanco, Hannah Hu and others. In 2022, Adamski released "Black Butterfly", featuring Robert Owens. The track is a tribute to Mina Smallman's daughters Nicole and Bibaa, with all proceeds donated to the charity Million Women Rise. Remixes by done by Captain Mustache, Leeroy Thornhil (The Prodigy), Mr. C (Superfreq), and Shadow Child. In October 2022, Adamski released "Black Star Acid" on Boys Noize Records.
Discography
=Albums=
- Liveandirect (1989) – UK No. 47
- Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (1990) – UK No. 8{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles & Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 15}}
- Naughty (1992)
- Adamski vs The Sentinels (1993)
- Adamski's Thing (1998)
- Killer – The Best of Adamski (1999)
- Mutant Pop (1999)
- This is 3-Step EP (2014)
- Revolt (2015)
- The Sound of Sonny Eriksson (2017)
- The Spirit of Sonny Eriksson (EP) (2018)
- Re:nrgise (2019)
- Free to Kill Again (2020)
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2" style="width:28em;"| Single ! colspan="10"| Peak positions ! rowspan="2"| Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="35"| {{small|UK}} ! width="35"| {{small|IRE}} ! width="35"| {{small|NED}} ! width="35"| {{small|BEL ! width="35"| {{small|GER}} ! width="35"| {{small|AUT}} ! width="35"| {{small|SWI}} ! width="35"| {{small|ITA}} ! width="35"| {{small|SWE}} ! width="35"| {{small|NZ}} | |||||||||
| rowspan="4"|1990
! scope="row"| "N-R-G" | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="4"| Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy |
| scope="row"| "Killer" {{small|(featuring Seal)}}
| 1 || 5 || 2 || 1 || 2 || 11 || 15 || – || 5 || 29 | |||||||||
| scope="row"| "The Space Jungle"
| 7 || 13 || 20 || 24 || – || – || 25 || – || – || 21 | |||||||||
| scope="row"| "Flashback Jack"
| 46 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |||||||||
| 1991
! scope="row"| "Never Goin' Down! / Born to Be Alive!" {{small|(featuring Jimi Polo / Soho)}} | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="3"| Naughty |
| rowspan="2"|1992
! scope="row"| "Get Your Body" {{small|(featuring Nina Hagen)}} | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| scope="row"| "Back to Front"
| 63 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |||||||||
| rowspan="2"|1993
! scope="row"| "Sleeping with an Angel" {{small|(with Transformer 2)}} | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="2"| Singles only |
| scope="row"| "Bastardo" {{small|(with Pizarro)}}
| – || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |||||||||
| rowspan="2"|1998
! scope="row"| "One of the People" | 56 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="2"| Adamski's Thing |
| scope="row"| "Intravenous Venus"
| 165 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — | |||||||||
| 1999
! scope="row"| "In the City" {{small|(featuring Gerideau)}} | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="2"| Mutant Pop |
| 2000
! scope="row"| "Take Me Away" | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2002
! scope="row"| "Already Out There" | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" rowspan="2"| Singles only |
| 2012
! scope="row"| "I Like It" | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2012
! scope="row"| "Pawa 2 Da PPL" {{small|(with Gaudi)}} | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| |
| 2015
! scope="row"| "Dazed 'n' Confused" {{small|(featuring Betty Adewole)}} | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
| align="left" |Revolt |
| 2022
! scope="row"| "Black Butterfly" {{small|(Robert Owens)}} | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2022
! scope="row"| "Black Star Acid" {{small|(Boysnoize Records)}} | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| align="center" colspan="13" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. |
=Remixes=
- Miss Kittin and The Hacker – "Stock Exchange" (2003)
- Mignon – "Demons of Love" (2004)
- ESKA – "She's in the Flowers" (2015)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{Official|http://www.adamskiofficial.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamski}}
Category:English house musicians
Category:English record producers
Category:English techno musicians
Category:People from Lymington