Essex boys and techno terrorists The Prodigy emerged through the rave scene of 1991 with their What Evil Lurks EP. But utilising the pretexts of punk they pushed back the boundaries of dance further than any dance act before them. With brutal, industrial beats married to nursery rhyme simplicity, in the Prodigy's hands, dayglo sticks would become weapons of torture rather than symbols of hands-in-the-air mass love-ins and a raver's whistle was just as likely to be stuck where the sun don't shine. The brainchild of Essex boy Liam Howlett, the band were formed in 1990 together with dancers and vocalists Keith Flint, Maxim Reality and Leeroy Thornhill. Howlett had spent time in a local hip hop act Cut 2 Kill as a DJ while still at school. But after a few failed attempts at securing a deal Howlett became disillusioned with hip hop and began DJ-ing at raves around Essex. Howlett met up with Flint and Leeroy at The Barn in Essex and the pair asked for a tape of Howlett's mixing and his own tracks. Impressed they asked him to record more and with a female friend, Sharky, named themselves The Prodigy after Howlett's first Moog synthesizer. Maxim joined as MC at their live debut in late 1990 at The Labyrinth, an East London club. Howlett signed them to XL REcordings just before Christmas for their debut, the What Evil Lurks EP in February 1991. The group's next release, Charly was released in August 1991 and epitomised the band's in-yer-face stance. It fused juggernaut breakbeats to sod-you hoovering synths and a sample of a veteran government TV ad warning children of the dangers of playing with fire (a recurring lyrical obsession). The single's success, (it reached No.3 in the charts) proved that clubbers did have a sense of humour. Sadly, it spawned a host of toytown techno imitations including Urban Hype's Trip To Trumpton and Smart E's Sesame Treet. ...more...(taken from and info at: www.tiscali.co.uk/music/biography/the_prodigy_biography.html)