By the early nineties, everyone knew EMF (Epsom Mad Funkers), a name taken from a New Order fan club) that was the official version. But there was a song on the album called, precisely, EMF, in which the phrase "E! Ecstasy!, M! Motherfuckers motherfuckers" is repeated insistently, and in fact, that sounded much cooler than Epsom... we'll never know the real one, and also for their enduring and addictive hit "Unbelievable" and a promising career that placed them at the forefront of British alternative dance music. Schubert Dip was a huge success in England, his native country, as well as in the United States.
EMF consisted of James Atkin on vocals, Ian Dench on guitar, Derry Brownson on keyboards and samplers, Zach Foley on bass, and Mark Decloedt on drums. "Unbelievable" was part of their excellent debut album, Schubert Dip (1991). Upon entering the album, we found a blend of rock driven by Dench's excellent guitar riffs and techno, with samples featured in many of the tracks, in a way taking the banner of the most important movement to emerge years earlier in the British Isles, known as Madchester.
"Unbelievable" was released as a single in Great Britain in December 1990, well before the release of Schubert Dip, and achieved considerable success, although it would gain even more popularity in the United States, reaching number one in sales in July 1991. The excellence of this "one-hit wonder" clearly overshadows the rest of the album, and it is certainly disappointing how a band capable of creating such an infectious melody were unable to maintain that level of success for the remainder of their career.
It would be unfair to dismiss the album by saying it's "Unbelievable and 10 other tracks." Clearly, that song was the best, but there were others that are also very noteworthy. "I Believe," believe it or not, it was also a hit in the UK. Released after Unbelievable, it reached number three on the charts. Other remarkable favourites were"Travelling Not Running," and like many other tracks on the album, it started with vocal samples, although in this case, I can't place where they're from. Other outstanding track was the controversial "Lies", it was controversial because the first CD edition included a sample of Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's killer) reciting the first two lines of John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels," and Yoko Ono pressured for its removal, so all subsequent editions omit it. But putting aside the poor taste of including that fragment, the song is one of the best on the album, with simple yet direct lyrics: "You said too much, and what you said was a lie..." A short but clear message, isn't it?
