Technohead
Biography
Technohead was a British electronic music duo formed by the married couple Michael Wells and Lee Newman.
The group is best known for its hit I Wanna Be a Hippy, which reached the UK top 10 and hit number one in the Netherlands and Germany. The single became an icon of rave culture; the album associated with this success is “Headsex”.
Their music fell within hardcore, gabber, and techno. Michael Wells has a background in visual communication and holds a doctorate in arts (Royal College of Arts). He argues that techno’s origins lie in 1960s German experimental music rather than Detroit.
The duo also released material under many other aliases, including GTO, Greater Than One, Church of Extacy, John + Julie, Tricky Disco, TD5, and Signs ov Chaos. Dissatisfied with British drug policy and the English dance scene, which they felt was overly driven by fashion and trends, they left the country and moved to Amsterdam. They collaborated with various labels and magazines around the world.
The duo’s career was tragically cut short by the death of Lee Newman on 4 August 1995, following a severe form of skin cancer. She did not live to see the number-one success of I Wanna Be a Hippy. Afterwards, Michael Wells released two final singles under the Technohead name, “Happy Birthday” and “Banana-na-na”, before continuing his musical work as S.O.L.O and Signs ov Chaos.