Olive was a British trip hop group from London, England. The founding membership consisted of producer, instrumentalist and songwriter Tim Kellett, producer and keyboard programmer Robin Taylor-Firth, and singer Ruth-Ann Boyle. The band has released two albums, the second without Taylor-Firth. Their 1996 single "You're Not Alone" reached number one on the UK Singles Chart. The two met through a mutual friend who had recently joined Simply Red as bassist and formed a musical collaboration.

Demos to success

By 1994, three demos (which would become "Miracle", "Falling" and "You're Not Alone")

Kellett contacted Boyle about singing for the collaboration; at the time working in a bar, and though disillusioned from past experiences singing in bands, Boyle accepted. After an audition with "Miracle", a ten-date UK tour, BudNubac, Piano Segundo) bringing it down to a duo. He also founded BlancoMusic, a release platform for the aforementioned acts, plus others such as Mil i Maria. Meanwhile, Olive lost the support of RCA's UK branch, which dropped the band; however, they were then picked up by Madonna's Maverick Records, supposedly with Madonna's personal approval after she attended one of their concerts in Germany.

Reception

At the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards (28 May 1998), Kellett and Taylor-Firth received the Best Dance Music award for "You're Not Alone". The song was also covered as a 2002 single by German dance producer ATB.

During the American leg of the Trickle promotional tour, the band suggested that 60–70% of their audience demographic at the time was gay. This was recognised to the extent that the final show of the tour was played at the San Francisco Pride festival.

Today, Olive is generally placed alongside mid-1990s trip hop and electronica artists such as Moloko, Beth Orton, and the Sneaker Pimps.

Their song "Miracle" was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1998 film Sliding Doors.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title

! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Details

! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peak chart positions

|- style=font-size:smaller

! width=30| UK<br />

! width=30| AUS<br />

! width=30| US<br />Heat<br />

|-

! scope="row"| Extra Virgin

|

  • Released: 19 May 1997
  • Label: RCA
  • Format: CD

|

|

|

|-

! scope="row"| Trickle

|

  • Released: 30 May 2000
  • Label: Maverick
  • Format: CD

|

|

|

|-

| colspan="20" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in the region.

|}

Singles

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2"| Title

! rowspan="2"| Year

! colspan="5"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style=font-size:smaller

!width=30| UK<br /> || — || — || — || —

| rowspan="6"| Extra Virgin

|-

! scope="row"| "You're Not Alone"

| 42 || — || — || — || —

|-

! scope="row"| "Miracle" <small>(re-release)</small>

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="4"| 1997

| 41 || — || — || — || —

|-

! scope="row"| "You're Not Alone" <small>(re-release)</small>

| 1 || 40 || 3 || 56 || 5

|-

! scope="row"| "Outlaw"

| 14 || — || — || — || 4

|-

! scope="row"| "Miracle" <small>(2nd re-release)</small>

| 41 || — || — || — || 10

|-

! scope="row"| "I'm Not in Love" <sup>1</sup>

| style="text-align:left;"| 2000

| — || — || — || — || 1

| Trickle

|-

| colspan="20" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in the region.

|}

<sup>1</sup> – Released in the United States only.

Music videos

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

!Title

!Year

!Director

|-

!scope="row"|"You're Not Alone"

|rowspan="2"|1996

|

|-

!scope="row"|"Miracle"

|Karen Lamond

|-

!scope="row"|"You're Not Alone" (version 2)

|rowspan="3"|1997

|Pascal d'Hoeraene

|-

!scope="row"|"Outlaw"

|

|-

!scope="row"|"You're Not Alone" (US version)

|Timothy White

|-

!scope="row"|"I'm Not in Love"

|2000

|Natalie MacGowan Spence

|}

Awards

{| class="wikitable"

!Year

!Nominated work

!Award

!Category

!Result

|-

|1997

|"You're Not Alone"

|Ivor Novello Awards

|Best Dance Music

|

|}

See also

  • List of number-one dance hits (United States)
  • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

  • Official Maverick-era site at the Wayback Machine