MusicBox - The Prodigy - Filth Infatuated
Apr, 7 2025
35 years ago something exciting was cooking up in Essex. It was the formation of what was to become one the UK’S most celebrated dance acts – The Prodigy.
It was 1990 and having grown tired of the current wave of baggy indie acts, producer, keyboardist and principal songwriter Liam Howlett comprised a line up which was to take Britain by storm.
Other members included MC vocalist Maxim, dancer and occasional live keyboardist Leeroy Thornhill, dancer Sharky and who could forget dance music’s answer to Johnny Rotten the late gifted frontman Keith Flint.
But it wasn’t an immediate push for Flint to take centre stage as a couple of albums previously were created which introduced fans to their debut album 1992’s ‘Experience.’ A couple of years later the band evolved to a more techno, breakbeat and rock inspired record, 1994’s critically acclaimed ‘Music for the Jilted Generation’.
However, they were yet to reach an unbelievably new status and revolutionised the dance charts with their third studio album 1997’s ‘The Fat of the Land’. This spawned several singles most notably their number one smash ‘Firestarter’. The music video marked the debut of Flint's radically different appearance, sporting his soon-to-be iconic punk look with nose and tongue piercings, tattoos, and dyed hair, and his shift from dancer to frontman.
Let’s remind ourselves what an absolutely explosive song it turned out to be –
The following twenty years the band experienced the following –
- Thornhill left
- Compilation release
- Further hit records
- Live album and concert film
- Death of frontman Keith Flint
The news of Flint rocked the UK and there was even a campaign to get ‘Firestarter’ to number one back in 2019 out of respect for Flint and to raise awareness of suicide among young men.
On 10 February 2021, the band announced their plans to begin production on a documentary film about the band's history, with an as-yet unknown title and release date. It will be directed by long time collaborator Paul Dugdale and produced by Pulse Films.
To get the latest updates on The Prodigy simply visit the following website link – https://theprodigy.com/
If punk had The Sex Pistols then dance music equivalent is The Prodigy. Constantly evolving and developing as a band, they had the enigmatic frontman Keith Flint to carry their big tunes from The Fat of the Land and beyond yet learnt to adapt following his sad untimely death. Despite losing key members they have never lost their initial sound and have always answered the call from their fans to become dance music’s most explosive and iconic bands from the last 35 years. They started the fire but it hasn’t gone out.
^Alex Ashworth CCG UK Blogger
