Ready To Go - The Best Of Republica



Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994 in the United Kingdom. The original lineup included Samantha Sprackling (known as Saffron) on vocals, Tim Dorney on keyboards, Johnny Male on guitars, and later Pete Riley on drums, who joined in 1997. Earlier members included Andy Todd on keyboards and David Barbarossa on drums, both of whom were part of the initial 1994 lineup until 1997. Alix Tiernan (percussion) and Mick Pirie (bass) also performed with the band during its early period. Republica’s sound has been described by its members as a blend of techno, pop, punk, and rock. The band was founded by Tim Dorney, formerly of Flowered Up, and Andy Todd. Saffron, born on 3 June 1968 in Ibadan, Nigeria, was previously an actress and performed for two years in the London production of Starlight Express. She appeared in music videos for Chesney Hawkes’s single The One and Only and N-Joi’s Mindflux, and provided lead vocals on N-Joi’s 1990 hit Anthem. Republica released their first single, Out of This World, in 1994, followed by Bloke in early 1995. Their debut album, Republica, was released in July 1996 and reached number four on the UK Albums Chart. The single Ready to Go became a commercial success and is regarded as the band’s signature song, peaking at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. Another single from the album, Drop Dead Gorgeous, reached number seven in the UK. In 1997, Saffron contributed vocals to The Prodigy’s track Fuel My Fire, featured on their album The Fat of the Land. Republica’s second album, Speed Ballads, was released in 1998 and reached number 37 on the UK Albums Chart. Its lead single, From Rush Hour with Love, peaked at number 20 in the UK. Following the collapse of their record label, Deconstruction Records, shortly after the release of Speed Ballads, Republica’s activities declined, and the band went on hiatus in 2001. BMG, which acquired Deconstruction’s catalogue, released a compilation album in 2002. During the hiatus, Saffron collaborated with other artists, including providing vocals for The Cure’s song Just Say Yes and working with Junkie XL on his 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin. Republica reformed in 2008 and performed three songs at a Contra Mundum concert in Windsor. The band continued performing live in 2010 and released a remixed version of their hit single titled Ready to Go 2010, produced by Andy Gray and Alan Moulder. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republica Studio albums Republica (1996) Speed Ballads (1998) Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.