William Orbit's 12 Greatest Recordings: 1986-2022
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- William Orbit began with Torch Song in 1986, recording at London's anarchist hub Centro Iberico (a venue famed for Crass and Throbbing Gristle gigs) and covering the Velvet Underground's 'Venus in Furs.'
- Orbit's 1989 remix of Prince's 'The Future,' made in partnership with Mark Moore of S'Express, dragged the Batman soundtrack track firmly into the center of rave culture.
- Bassomatic — Orbit's project with vocalist Sharon Musgrave and rapper MC Inna Onestep — reached the UK Top 10 in autumn 1990 with breakbeat-fuelled single 'Fascinating Rhythm.'
- Madonna hired Orbit to produce 1998's Ray of Light after being impressed by his remixes of 'Justify My Love' and 'Erotica'; the album sold 16m copies, though Orbit later said the demanding process nearly 'killed' him.
- Damon Albarn likened Orbit's role producing Blur's 13 to that of a 'psychiatrist' as the band fell apart; the resulting track 'Tender' (1999) transformed that exhausted mood into what the piece calls an 'extraordinary song.'
- Danny Boyle would only allow All Saints on The Beach soundtrack if Orbit produced their track; Orbit spent two months on 'Pure Shores' (2000), became convinced it was 'a turd,' then watched it become a hit.
- Orbit co-founded Guerilla Records in 1990, releasing tracks by Spooky, DOP and the Drum Club; after his late-90s pop-producer-for-hire stint in LA, he suffered a drug-induced nervous breakdown that led to his being sectioned, before re-emerging solo in 2021 with final album The Painter.
- Beth Orton and Orbit maintained a musical partnership that outlasted their romantic relationship, collaborating from their 1992 Spill release through 2022's The Painter, 30 years later.
Why it matters: The piece reframes Orbit from a 90s pop hitmaker into a producer whose career arc — including a sectioned nervous breakdown after his LA commercial phase and a 2021 solo comeback — gives the listicle unexpected biographical weight. For pop historians, it documents how Orbit's 'psychiatrist'-style productions shaped landmark records for Madonna, Blur and All Saints within a single decade.
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