Shaft (British band)

Shaft
Origin	Brighton, England, United Kingdom
Genres	Electronic music, house, dance, Latino
Years active	1999–2001; 2015-present
Labels	Wonderboy Records, Universal Records, Nitelite Records, Jellybean Recordings, Urban,
Website	Discogs.com
Past members	Alex Rizzo, Elliot Ireland

Shaft were a British electronic music production duo, known for their covers and remixes of "(Mucho Mambo) Sway" and "Mambo Italiano". The former entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart in August 1999. The original version featured a vocal sample of Rosemary Clooney but Rizzo and Ireland were unable to clear the sample, so the vocal on the final track was sung by Claire Vaughan from Thurstonland, Huddersfield. They followed this with the release of "Mambo Italiano", which peaked at number twelve on the UK Singles Chart. They went on to tour the world and win a gold disc for best performing group. Since then, they have recorded more songs such as "Kiri Riri Boom" and "Shake Seniora".

Having acquired a home based recording studio, the duo compiled a database of samples and sound clips. Their biggest hit originated there, with a sample of the Perez Prado song "Sway" which became "(Mucho Mambo) Sway" which reached number 2 in the UK. The original version featured a vocal sample of Rosemary Clooney but Rizzo and Ireland were unable to clear the sample, so the vocal on the final track was sung by Claire Vaughan from Thurstonland, Huddersfield. Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5", also based on a Prado song, competed for the top position in the UK Singles Chart in the summer of 1999. "Wassuup!", a collage of the Budweiser advertisement catchphrase and the Rick James' track "Super Freak", used by MC Hammer on "U Can't Touch This", was then released under the Da Muttz moniker.

...
Wikipedia