Facts

Where did Liam write Charly?

He wrote it in his bedroom in his dad's house (the Charly Says sample was recorded by his step-brother) he moved out of the house just before the single was released.

Who is/are the Prodigy officially?

Officially the Prodigy is only Liam Howlett. According to various sources, Liam was the only one from the band signed to XL Recordings as the Prodigy. And although without him basically nothing would exist of the music (he plays all the instruments on synths), but without the existence of the other three there could never be such a great band – all three are required to create the "Prodigy feeling".

Where did they get the alligator from in the Breathe video?

It was from an undertaking called Amazing Animals, which provides film directors/producers with exotic animals, like crocodiles. It was run by the Chipperfield family, one of whose member was prosecuted for cruelty to animals.

What do they think about Keith imitators?

Keith: "I don't know how to take that. "


Liam: "I laugh. Especially when you see the little kids. They never get the hair quite right. But there was a funny one the other day; people don't recognise me, which is cool, but they recognise Keith, and these people were saying, 'Look at him, he thinks he's the Firestarter! He thinks he's Prodigy Man!'. "

Keith's devil like image was copied for a Lucozade advert. When The Prodigy saw it they blamed lucozade for copying an image that they made for themselves and that lucozade was just doing it to make money.

Where were they first forced to stop a concert?

It was in Scotland, at an airport. Liam was very upset after the gig (the sound of the planes was drowning their bass), and issued the following statement: "Forget the authorities. You can't stop us. We're gonna keep the dance scene strong even if the world isn't. This is your day and no one else can take it away from you. The dance scene is too strong to disappear. "

Where was their first live performance?

It was held at The Labyrinth venue in 1990 (the event was organized by Ziggy, who became their manger later on) The gig was attended by only about 250 people, but it was immensely successful. It's also interesting to note that this was the first time that the band members met Maxim, who also enjoyed the show (despite the fact that he was into reggae instead of rave). They first performed abroad in Italy.

Which famous artists/DJs did they have gigs with?

They played live with the Chemical Brothers, Moby, David Bowie, Rage Against The Machine, Sepultura, Dog Eat Dog, Suede and many more. The most famous DJ they toured with was probably DJ Paul Oakenfold from the UK.

How long does it take them to get ready for a concert?

The makeup and clothes take Liam 2 minutes, Keith 3 minutes and Maxim 1.5 hours!

Cut To Kill?

Cut to Kill was the hip-hop band that Liam Howlett was a member of, in the early 1990s. Some promotional copies like Jus' Coolin' by Cut 2 Kill are easy to find. They sell for approx five Pounds Sterling on the market. This track is not written by Liam Howlett in any way though. There is one record released by Cut 2 Kill on which Liam Howlett worked. This record is Listen To The Basstone. It has been released in two forms: a promotional 12" and the normal 12". The promo copy is easy to recognize since it comes in a Tam Tam promo sleeve and on the 12" itself it says that it is a promotional copy. The complete looks are different then the looks of the retail version. On the promo copy it does not say who wrote which tunes on it, on the retail release it does though. The tracklisting of both the promo copy as the retail one are the same. It features three tracks being Listen To The Basstone twice, once the version with rap (on the A-side of the record) and an instrumental version, plus a tune called Talkin' Facts (these last two tunes are on the B-side). Talkin' Facts is not written by Liam, only Listen To The Basstone is. Listen To The Basstone is the first Cut 2 Kill single ever released. Jus' Coolin' is the second single ever released, but it is not written by Liam at all and he has nothing to do with it either. Normal versions of this record sell for about $4 and the promo copy for maybe $8 or $10. As for the value of a Listen To The Basstone, it varies $ 15 to $ 200

What's their first ever single?

The single is the What Evil Lurks E.P. (not Charly as some fools may tell you, that's just their first CHART single!) with four tracks (What Evil Lurks, We're Gonna Rock, Android and the original (slow hip-hop) mix of Everybody In The Place), released only on 12 inch vinyl and there are only 7,000 genunine copies in existence! I'm lucky enough to own one after three years of searching in second-hand record shops! The value could be anything of up to £200 to collectors.

Some fake vinyls of What Evil Lurks have been going around. These usually have the word 'Androids' instead of 'Android' in the tracklisting.

Record Collector magazine has recently re-valued original copies at £80.

By the way, just because it's rare, it doesn't mean to say it's good, the What Evil Lurks tracks are pretty low-budget and cheap efforts which sound primitive compared to Liam's current offerings! Android is probably the best track, and has been seen on some CDs (some illegal!).

There are fake albums?

Yes. (Fake album means it's said to contain Prodigy music, but it isn't)

The Ultimate Jilted Experience
Experience Revisited
Inflicted
The Castbreeder

Beware of any website telling you otherwise. The first two albums were set up by a webmaster of an unofficial Prodigy site in order to look credible. The tracks have been identified as obvious hoaxes by many real Prodigy fans. The 'Inflicted' album was a hoax set up by Tobi Wood during the 'countdown' to The Fat Of The Land. Tobi was pissed off with having CD bootleg pirates ripping off his site, so he set about forging an album called Inflicted, which featured mostly real existing tracks, except for 'Salvationed Army', 'In The Beginning' and a fake 'Benny Blanco', composed (very well) by Tobi himself. Even the artwork (a briefcase full of drugs syringes) was fake.

In Romania, after Breathe (video), there was on the black market a fully fake album called "The best, the unreleased, the last.. " containing Prodigy songs with the 'Breathe' cover.

Who sings on the older tracks?

You might have wondered who sing(s) on the older Prodigy tracks – actually none of the Prodigy members. Many of those vocals had been performed by other artists previously, and Liam only used the samples. For example the Charly sample is from a TV program (a campaign for children called Say No To Strangers), the Jilted Intro’s text is from the horror movie The Lawnmower Man, and the vocals of such tracks as Music Reach, No Good, Out Of Space, Their Law had all been sampled.

What is their opinion about bands like the Spice Girls?

Spice Girls: ”They’re pub cabaret singers who’ve been given a Richard & Judy makeover. I’m surprised they’ve done so well as they have because, by and large, little boys aren’t interested in girls.” (Liam)
Take That: ”Take That danced, they sang, they put on a fucking good show and towards the end of they’re career they became a credible pop group.” (Keith)
Boyzone: ”The thing I really hate about Boyzone is that they’re so unnatural.20-year-old kids dressing in tweed suits because that’s what their manager tells ’em to do. And what’s with all thes covers?’ Words’ was crap 20 years ago, so why be crap with it again now?” (Keith)

What is the Strongroom?

It's the studio besides Earthbound in which Liam recorded music (For example, five of the Jilted Generation tracks have been produced and mixed here)
"One of [Jamie] Reid's current projects is the Strongroom Studio, a London recording studio designed by Reid and decorated with silk-screened canvases, marble, etched bronze and slate. Many of England's top musical acts, including the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy and even the Spice Girls, have worked within the acclaimed Strongroom. "It is like turning all my painting ideas into architecture," Reid said of the studio. "Bands such as the Prodigy have been recording in that space for a long time now... They've actually found what I've done there great inspiration to their music... Same as The Orb, The Orbital, The Chemical Brothers.

The Dirtchamber?

The Dirtchamber is Liam's new home studio. If you watch the "Smack My Bitch Up" video you will see that in the video, a CD with "Dirtchamber" written on it is put into a radio. That's the reason that the DJ mix album is named "Dirtchamber Sessions. "

What kind of music inspires Liam to write songs?

Here is a quote from himself: "If people ask me what actually inspires me to make music, it's late-early '70s funk and '80s hip-hop-B.T. Express, the Meters, the roots of hip-hop, the rare grooves the DJs used to spin. I love to spend hours in record stores listening to the original breaks. " But it's important to note that what makes the Prodigy's music so diverse are the lots of music styles they have heard over the years, so funk and hip-hop aren't (obviously) the only styles that inspire them.

How many members did the Prodigy have at the beginning?

Five. When they formed the Prodigy, Liam, Keith, Leeroy and Maxim had another companion - a female dancer called Sharky. But when they won a record deal, she quit the band.

Why are the Prodigy lyrics like what they are like?

Another quote from Liam: "The thing about Prodigy is there's always scope for something else, and now there's scope for lyrics that actually mean something. We were stuck in a position of coming from the dance scene and not needing lyrics to have too much weight. Now all of a sudden, we can write about stuff that's happened to us. It's somewhere we can go, maybe, with the new album-if there is another album. I've never seen politics as an important part of Prodigy, but personal experience and stuff like that.... Enough's happened to us to write some fucking good lyrics!" (Note: it was said after May 1998)

What does Music For The Jilted Generation mean?

This album is a a protest against an act by the British government which enabled the policemen to take greater measures against partygoers (although originally Liam did not intend the album to be an anti-Criminal Justice Bill record). Jilted here means something like betrayed (the goverment betrayed youth). "How can the government stop young people having a good time. Fight this bollocks" - The Prodigy.

What hardware and software does Liam use?

He uses a Macintosh (not a PC!) and Cubase software for writing music. Here is what he said about Cubase: "The thing with Cubase is, I was scared to go on to it. It wasn't because I was against it, I was just scared. I thought it would change the sound and change the way I write music. <...> When I use Cubase, I turn off Cycle mode and use it as I would have used the W30. Now I've got over the fear. "

Mindfields or Minefields?

You have probably seen Mindfields referred to as Minefields in some articles. So, what's the difference? The album version that The Fat Of The Land contains is called Mindfields. The single that eventually wasn't released commercially (only on promo) was officially called Minefields.

Any musical scores (sheets) available?

There is a book called something like The Fat Of The Land Songbook, and it contains the musical scores of the FOTL tracks (plus incorrect lyrics). It's worth checking out if you want to learn how to play their music.

Which track of his own does Liam hate the most?

In October 1998, Liam confessed his least favourite track is the remix he had done for The Time Frequency (Retribution). He said that he thought it turned out awful - but did it cos one of TTF was a mate... "Liam has confessed that he did the mix for money, as he was a bit skint at the time! He also adds that now he has admitted to it being the worst Prodigy track, people will now try and track it down.

Which soundtracks did Liam take samples from?

He used samples from various films, for example: The Lawnmower Man (Intro), Smokie And The Bandit (Their Law), 2001: A Space Odyssey (Claustrophobic Sting), Carlito's Way (Benny Blanco).

How they got their name?

Officially their name refers to the first synthesizer used by Liam Howlett, as it was called Moog Prodigy. Liam wrote the name of the Keyboard on a tape and gave it to Keith. Keith thought that this was the name of Liam's Dance Act and asked if he could join. But there’s another (possible) explanation for this: in English the word ”Prodigy” means ”wonder”, or somebody (especially a child) of marvelous talents ("child prodigy"). In this case, Prodigy refers to Liam – here’s what he said about it: ”When I first thought of the name, obviously I didn’t consider it could be four people. It was just me, faceless, in my bedroom, writing music: the prodigy.”

What sort of music Prodigy is?

This is a frequent question, and causes much debate. The Prodigy don't really fit into just one category, since they are quite diverse, and have evolved over the course of their existence. There's no word to describe what genres they have been through, or even the musical styles they have either created or fused together! Some might call it techno cause it uses more repetative loops and 4-beat type hooks. Of course coming out of the rave era, Prodigy has added their own breakbeat and tension to their music. It doesn't just contain elements from techno as defined in its explicit terms, which would describe Detroit traxx and such. Prodigy has always been known to take common elements from the present genre (rave in Experience, the renaissance of electronic music usage in Jilted Generation, and hard calculated beats in The Fat Of The Land) and taking it to its critical peak. In songs like Fire, Jericho, Your Love, etc, synth sounds may be heard that have been used before in old school rave, but haven't been used in such melodious context. Some people would call it 'hard dance music'. Let's just say that they started up doing techno/rave anthems with hip-hip drumloops, but progressed from that, so that they now carry elements of ambient, hard-house, hip-hop, industrial, punk, acid-jazz, reggae, electro, gabba, heavy metal/rock, jungle and rap. Liam decision to have guitars in the music back in 1994 may have lost some of his original followers, but only the open-minded fans kept the faith, it also gained the Prodigy a larger alternative/indie following. Anyway there is no real explanation fro the style. We can only say like Liam did once "It's just...Prodigy music!"

"We have never been a techno band" - Liam Howlett.
"'Electronica' was a phrase invented by some a guy in an office. And when we find out who that guy is... ...we're gonna slap him. " - Liam Howlett, 1997
”It just makes us laugh – electronica” - Leeroy Thornhill

Prodigy music in movies?

Prodigy's music has been featured on to recent movies - A life less ordinary (Full Throttle) and Event Horizon (Funky Shit)... A breif review on each movie - A life less ordinary is a movie based on a kidnapping of a rich girl.. the story line gets hard to follow about half way through the movie.. and you end up understanding less at the end of the movie then you did at the start. Full Throttle is played right after the two angels shoot up and old car (you gotta see the movie to understand) - Event Horizon - This space movie based in 2000 something is a gore filled trip to hell and back.. Featuring that guy who played Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park as the crazy doctor who created a spaceship that can travel at light speed. The ship gets lost for 7 years, and is found orbiting neptune. A rescue crew goes to see if their are any survivors, and they eventually all go crazy and see visions of death and their greatest fears... all but a few die and the crazy dr pokes his own eyes out.. freaky movie... Funky Shit is featured at the end credits after the space doors shut and the words appear "THE END". Other Prodigy songs have been used in films such as Matrix (Mindfields), Jackal (Poison), Hackers 1 + 2 (Voodoo People, One Love + some others), Spawn (One Man Army) Charlie's Angels (Smack My Bitch Up) The Saint (Voodoo People). For more info check soundtracks section!

Who directed their videos?

The first few ones (like Charly and Out Of Space) were directed by Russel Curtis.
Most of the rest were shot by Walter Stern (from No Good to Breathe), who also directed for the Verve, Madonna and Massive Attack. Possibly the most famous video, Smack My Bitch Up was made by Swedish director Jonas Akerlund, who received two MTV Video Music Awards for his work.

Mutant Dog?

Mutant Dog (1996) was a video starred Keith Flint as a psychopathic newsreader, alongside Charlotte Coleman, who starred in Four Weddings And A Funeral. The film was also meant to feature 1996 live footage of the Prodigy from 'Breathe' tour at Brixton Academy. It also featured Boddingtons Bitter ad girl Melanie Sykes and Casualty's Lisa Coleman. The film was edited by Mark Reynolds, a former colleague of the band, who has videotaped many of their on-the-road-exploits and was responsible for the Prodigy long-form video, Electronic Punks, released with the band's approval. This was meant to be the second Prodigy video compilation (just like Electronic Punks). The film never got released; The Prodigy weren't happy with their friend for doing it, so it never happened. They really fell out about it, the guy saying he was quite upset about the Prodigy letting him down. It was a very cheap low-budget affair, with deliberate product-placement 'sponsorship' from the likes of Death Cigarettes, etc... "

Reynolds claimed he originally had permission from Liam to release the film and that two stills of Leeroy and Liam from it even featured on the cover of the band's last LP, 'The Fat Of The Land'.

Mark Reynolds: "If you look in their photo book, The Fat Of The Land, there are five pictures that are credited to the film. I'd worked with them on it for 18 months. We'd had meetings at Liam's house. I used a crew of 12 on the live stuff in Dublin so there's a lot of money at stake. I have a meeting planned with my lawyers."

"I had problems with XL over Electronic Punks," he said. "They just wanted a straight promo package and I gave them something more unusual. I don't know why they're trying to stop it now but they won't succeed. If it takes six months or six years, it will come out. " 

Liam Howlett: "During 1994 and 1995, Mark Reynolds spent a good deal of time with the band shooting footage which eventually formed part of the 1995 video, Electronic Punks. Out of interest, we tentatively agreed to get involved with another of his projects but when we did the filming two years ago we felt uncomfortable and when we saw the results we didn't like them. "As we understand it, Mark Reynolds has now incorporated that footage into a larger project which he's calling Mutant Dogs. The band feel that it is unfair to sell this to Prodigy fans on the basis of some sketchy footage. It doesn't come up to an acceptable standard."

Reynolds believed that it was the band's label XL, rather than the Prodigy themselves, behind the blocking

No Souvenirs?

Liam Howlett has recorded a track with Massize Attack's 3D. The pair met and hit it off at the Mount Fuji Rock festival in Japan two years ago. The track was set to appear on the soundtrack to Thailand travellers' tale The Beach, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but when Liam saw the movie he changed his mind and thought that the track is too good for that shitty movie. Now it has been ruled out as a future single. The Beach is based on Alex Garland's best selling novel of the same name.

Want to know Keith's only joke?

You've just been to Glastonbury, so you say to your mate "my word, I was trying to get in to Glastonbury, the police stopped us getting in. Apparently they caught a little boy around the backstage area and he was breaking up fireworks and sniffing them up his nose. There was another young kid there, he's got a battery from a car, and he's drinking the acid from the battery, right. And so the police come along, charged one, let the other one off. "

Keith vs. Goldie?

In 1996 Keith made nasty comments about Goldie's fianceé, Björk. This led to Goldie wearing a T-shirt with Keith's face and text "CUNT FACE". After that Muzik magazine featured a quote from an official letter where Keith apologises to Goldie. Keith comments on the situation: "It was a very sad moment for me, and probably the worst moment in the six years I've been doing this that I haven't enjoyed myself, when I read that article and saw Goldie and Björk getting dissed. But I'll get the oppurtunity to speak to them both and hopefully we can chill out, and they'll definately realise that I'm not out to diss them. " Goldie was satisfied with the official apology and members from both camps have since spoken. Goldie presented The Prodigy with the Best Dance Award at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards.

Tricky had a peace plan. Of sorts.

"Goldie and Keith should have a boxing match for charity. Sort it out fair and square. Or I tell you what - Keith could get that big bloke Leeroy to fight for him! I've seen him fight, and I'd definitely back him to have Goldie.
"Thing is with Keith, he's a really lovely bloke - he's a pussycat really. I went training with him once, and we did a bit of kung fu. I punched him in the lace twice and it was all over!"
So you haven't quite renounced violence yet, then?
"No, er, yeah, well I just think musicians shouldn't pretend to be bad boys on the weekend, y'know? Me and Goldie should sort it out between us, using music. You should put him in one corner, and me in the other, both with our equipment, and get us both to write a tune, with independent adjudicators. I'd wipe the floor with him!"

What animal is in the Prodigy logo

It’s an ant, not a spider! There may be spiders of this form, but they definitely have eight legs (this could only be a crippled spider :) And the animal on the FOTL cover isn’t a spider either, it’s a crab. It’s probably a fiddler crab

Misc facts

The Prodigy has three albums out: The Prodigy Experience, Music For the Jilted Generation, and their most recent release, The Fat of The Land (there is also fourth album: Prodigy Present The Dirtcamber Sessions Volume 1, but it's more Liam's solo album than Prodigy one).

The Prodigy performed at the V97 festival , It was so packed that they had to stop for 15 minutes to rescue the people at the front from getting crushed.

Prodigy is one of only seven British acts to enter the US charts at number 1.

Maxim is also signed onto XL Recordings and he has already released some own tracks. Read more from the solo section!

The original artwork for Smack My Bitch Up was changed due to the death of Princess Diana. It was to feature a VW Beatle wrapped around a lamp post.

Before Liam was in The Prodigy he was a graphic artist and he also worked on a building site.

Keith is exactly 1 foot smaller than Leeroy. Leeroy is 6 foot 6 and Keith is 5 foot 6.

Keith's tattoo on his stomach says "Inflicted".

Maxim got contact lenses... and they aren't exactly for bad eyesight!