Pop & Hiss

The L.A. Times music blog

Category: Underworld

Underworld prepares to rock HARD this weekend

August 7, 2009 |  8:00 am

UWPH

Karl Hyde of Underworld likes to talk — a lot.

“I see interviews as a fun part of the process,” he chuckles over the phone from England as Underworld prepares for a string of shows in America, including a headlining slot at this year’s edition of the HARD Summer festival at the Forum on Saturday night.

Indeed, spend a few moments talking with Hyde, and he will pontificate on various topics including “Doot Doot” -- the lone “hit” single from Freur, the ‘80s outfit he was in with fellow Underworld member Rick Smith -- and the unique way Underworld chooses which songs to play before a show.

“Rick and I get together with the crew," he says. "We have all of the song titles on individual laminated cards, which we deal out on the table. Rick turns to the crew, well, mostly to Haydn Cruickshank, our lighting guy, and asks what he wants to hear that night. And that’s where we start. The rest is up to the crowd.”

Hyde gets candid when asked about 1996, when Underworld’s song “Born Slippy” was famously used in the Danny Boyle film “Trainspotting” and went on to become a worldwide dance-floor smash.

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Licensing to the rescue: Freur’s 'Doot Doot' scores new lease on life

July 10, 2009 |  4:50 pm

Freur+-+Doot-Doot+1

Hearing interesting and innovative new music in TV commercials is more than commonplace now; it’s become something of a cliché.

What’s really creative is to dig deep into the endless catalog of music out in the world and unearth a real gem, one of those perfect sonic moments that for whatever reason never really had the impact it deserved.

Slogging through the endless coverage of the Michael Jackson memorial, I wasn’t facing the TV when the strains of Freur’s 1983 debut single “Doot Doot” stopped me dead in my tracks. Looking up, I saw that it’s being used by Palm in a jarringly bright and colorful new spot to launch the highly anticipated Pre (we didn't spot it online -- feel free to leave a link in the comments).

Aside: The song was also among the '80's new wave nuggets used to soundtrack the special flashback episode of “Gossip Girl” this season.

Freur was an extremely short-lived and heavily art-damaged UK band most famous for featuring Karl Hyde and Rick Smith, who went on to form the famed techno outfit Underworld (who themselves underwent a major transformation before becoming the act we know now -- see the bizarre space-cowboy funk-rock of their debut album, “Underneath the Radar”).

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