Most people don’t believe it when you tell them that Manchester indie band The Doves were once dance music legends Sub Sub.
Unfortunately most people remember Sub Sub for their only chart hit ‘”Ain’t No Love” with Melanie Williams, which was a bit cheesy. But, prior to this Sub Sub made some classic dance records the most well known of which is the legendary rave classic “Space Face” from 1991, their first ever record, which features the famous sample of the last line from 2001 Space Oddessy “my god it is full of stars”, said by the lead character as he drifts helplessly through space. Here’s “Space Face” in its full glory:
Here is something a bit more mellow that Sub Sub did called “Past”, which was the B-Side of their 1992 single “Inside Out”. It featured on Faithless’s ‘Back to Mine’ compilation.
And just to prove The Doves really were Sub Sub here they are finishing one of their sets with “Space Face”, which is incorrectly entitled ‘Spacefaces’. They finished their Glastonbury set with it this year too.
So why did they change? They had the unfortunate incidence that every musician must dread, which is that their studio burnt down and they lost everything. So, they wiped the slate clean and started again as The Doves. There’s a lesson in their for us all somewhere.
