Secret Knowledge

Former pub-rock crusty and journalist supremo <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Kris Needs</a> 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 <a href="spotify:artist:5HAtRoEPUvGSA7ziTGB1cF">Orb</a> to <a href="spotify:artist:3wury2nd8idV4GecUg5xze">Primal Scream</a> to the <a href="spotify:artist:4k1ELeJKT1ISyDv8JivPpB">Prodigy</a>), 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.

<a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs</a> had recorded several hip-hop tracks with American vocalist <a href="spotify:artist:0IqzTL2XoeY7g2wWQ6IhdF">Wonder</a> during the mid-'80s, though the acid-house boom and an allegiance with poster-children <a href="spotify:artist:3wury2nd8idV4GecUg5xze">Primal Scream</a> sparked <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs'</a> first recordings as Secret Knowledge, the single "Your Worst Nightmare." Introduced to <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Andrew Weatherall</a> through the <a href="spotify:artist:3wury2nd8idV4GecUg5xze">Primal Scream</a> affiliation, <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0IqzTL2XoeY7g2wWQ6IhdF">Wonder</a> released several singles for <a href="spotify:artist:5J85JTgIYIUP276hmuIozn">Weatherall's</a> Sabres of Paradise label, including "Ooh Baby" and a 1992 club smash "Sugar Daddy." Another popular <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs'</a> anthem, "Anything You Want," was produced the following year for Hard Hands Records as <a href="spotify:artist:7ED0kOF5PGiOGuFJ7IJEoo">Delta Lady</a>. The hits led to much remixing -- for <a href="spotify:artist:5HAtRoEPUvGSA7ziTGB1cF">the Orb</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:09mvgMBvJkxarNIDGdwPWg">Love and Rockets</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1N2FgBLehaq77UEdJhCt7f">Saint Etienne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1fN3lF5RILxJeG9H8EhEDo">the Grid</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6OY3DiRJRy3Ft6V3dmios7">Empirion</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6UYwzZChuolxsylHcZcBBP">the Boo Radleys</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7EnAgffrVyerTWH628TJ6f">Nitzer Ebb</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4k1ELeJKT1ISyDv8JivPpB">the Prodigy</a> -- and <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs'</a> growing status as an elder statesman of sorts for the electronica movement (though he continued to resemble a roadie for the <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Stones</a>). The debut Secret Knowledge album So Hard appeared on Deconstruction in 1996, and <a href="spotify:artist:4oHDMGLufm0nUeo0ITiWl1">Needs</a> 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, Rovi