About this event
British dance-rock quintet EMF formed in Cinderford, England in October1989.All five original members were veterans of the local music scene beforefounding EMF, whose name supposedly stood for "Epsom Mad Funkers"(although it was widely speculated that the initials instead represented"Ecstasy Mother Fuckers"). Within two months of formation, the groupplayed its first gig; after unearthing a Casio sampler and sequencer in alocal thrift shop, a light techno element was added to their rock-orientedsound.Their debut album, SCHUBERT DIP, was released in May 1991. It wascerti fied platinum (over a million copies sold) in the US in September1991. It had reached a peak chart position of #3 in the UK and #12 in theUS, as well as finishing the year at #57 overall.By the end of 1991, their infectious debut single "Unbelievable" hadconquered the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, hitting #1 on theBillboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. The single was certi fied gold (over500,000 copies sold) in the US in May 1991. The song was in such heavyrotation for most of the year in America, that it finished as the #6 singleoverall for the year.Further hit singles that succeeded "Unbelievable" included "I Believe,""Children" and "Lies."In 1992, EMF returned with the Unexplained EP and the much darker fulllengtheffort STIGMA; STIGMA peaked at #19 on the UK charts, and theband toured extensively to promote it. It produced hit singles and EMFlive set favourites, "They're Here" and "It's You."The band released their final full-length album of new material in 1995with CHA CHA CHA. After a successful European tour, they teamed upwith comics Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer on a cover of the Monkees'"I'm a Believer," which reached number 2 on the UK charts.The band reunited in the summer of 2001 and released a Greatest Hits CDthat coincided with a mini European festival and UK tour.The Greatest Hits CD, called THE BEST OF EMF: EPSOM MADFUNKERS, featured 2 discs: the first had a collection of singles and fanfavourite album tracks, along with 2 brand new tracks: "Incredible" and"Let's Go." The second disc had popular remixes.The band were primed to write new material and tour more extensively butthe sudden passing of bassist Zac Foley on January 2, 2002 shocked theband into silence. The remaining 4 original members spent several yearsfocusing their time on personal projects and their families.The band reunited in 2007 and have been steadily doing festivals and liveshows in the years since. In 2020, the band released a career-spanningvinyl box set and have spent most of 2020 and 2021 celebrating 30 yearsof EMF.The band surprised fans by telling them that profits from the merchandisesold was being used to record a new album, which will be released in2022. It will be the first album of all new material since 1995.
