1983 Duo with Nottingham roots that predate the Stereo MC’s.
Dave Birch and Nick Hallam
They released two singles
What You Say (Extended Version) / What You Say/ Over Me
Vinyl 12″ & 7″, A&M 119, 1983
Pray for me / Far away dreamers
Vinyl 7″, A&M 136, 1983
Dave’s brother, Rob Birch, and Nick Hallam would go on to form the Stereo MC’s.
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From the Guardian
Nick Hallam, DJ/producer
Rob Birch and I have known each other since we were kids, growing up as nextdoor neighbours in Nottingham. I moved to London at 18 to do music and Rob followed to study photography. His brother Dave was a session guitarist who played in punk bands and we all ended up sharing a house in Clapham. I was into electronic acts like Yello and Cabaret Voltaire. I started messing around, making tape loops on an old Revox machine by actually looping the tape over a Biro. This was before samplers.
I was working in a restaurant, doing washing up, and would listen to Mike Allen’s rap show on Capital Radio. He played US artists like Trouble Funk. We used to go to Covent Garden to watch all the breakdancing and breakbeating that was happening on the street, in performances for tourists.
Was Dave Birch once in a line up of The Vibrators?
Was Dave Birch once in a group called Blitz Kidz/s?
From Wikipedia.
Stereo MC’s are an English hip hop/electronic dance group that formed in Nottingham, England, in 1985. They had an international top 20 hit with their single “Connected”. After releasing eight albums for Island Records, K7, Graffiti Recordings, and Pias, they formed the label Connected with Terranova to release their own material and that of other artists within the house/techno/electronic medium.
Vocalist Rob Birch and disc jockey (DJ)/producer Nick Hallam founded their Gee Street recording studio and record label with money they were given to leave their London flat and, dispensing with using a backing band, travelled to early gigs on public transport.
As Birch & Hallam Rob’s brother David Birch along with Nick Hallam, recorded two synth-pop singles in 1983: “What You Say” and “Pray For Me”, both released on the A&M label.