behindthegrooves:

On this day in music history: November 16, 1993 – “Hand On The Torch”, the debut album by Us3 is released. Produced by Mel Simpson and Geoff Wilkinson, it is recorded at Flame Studios in London from Early 1992 – Mid 1993. Formed in 1992 by producers Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson, their first release under the Us3 name titled  "The Band Played The Boogie" becomes an underground hit in the UK after its picked up by Ninja Tune Records. It receives unexpected widespread exposure when radio station Kiss FM in London begins playing it. The record which samples jazz guitarist Grant Green’s classic “Sookie Sookie” also attracts the attention of Blue Note Records, the label that released Green’s original recording. Having sampled the Green record without authorization, Wilkinson and Simpson are initially fearful that they are going to be sued by Blue Note when they are called to the label’s London office. Instead, they are surprised when the label not only offers to sign them, but also gives them unlimited access to the company’s vast archive of landmark jazz recordings. Recruiting rappers Rahsaan Kelly, Kobie Powell and Tukka Yoot, the group begin recording their first album. Among the songs cut is “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” (#9 Pop, #21 R&B), sampling Herbie Hancock’s  "Cantaloupe Island" and Birdland MC Pee Wee Marquette’s voice from jazz drummer Art Blakey’s “A Night at Birdland Vol. 1” album. The song is released as a single in September of 1993, and becomes a major hit, also going Gold. The success of the song propels “Hand” to Platinum status in the US, becoming the first album in the history of Blue Note Records to achieve sales of that level. It spins off another single with “Tukka Yoot’s Riddim” (two other singles in Europe). “Hand On The Torch” peaks at number thirty one on the Billboard Top 200, number twenty one on the R&B album chart, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.