Opus III

Opus III were a techno and house music group from England who had success on the UK Singles Chart and on the U.S. Dance charts. The group consisted of vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw and producers/musicians Kevin 'The Fly' Dodds, Ian Munro and Nigel 'Spider' Walton. The group members promoted a strong environmental message through their lyrics, album liner notes and photo and video imagery. Their debut album, Mind Fruit, produced the track "It's a Fine Day", a cover of a 1983 single by Jane, which topped the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1992 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. The song, now considered a house music classic, is the basis of Orbital's 1992 track "Halcyon" and its album version "Halcyon + On + On" included in their second eponymous album; the "la la la" section of the "It's A Fine Day" chorus was backmasked and sampled throughout the song. Norwegian artist Erlend Øye also covered the song on his album that was part of the DJ-Kicks series. Hawkshaw returned the favour by appearing in the video for "Halcyon" playing a housewife who was 'under the influence'. The other single release from Mind Fruit, was "I Talk To The Wind" a cover of the 1969 song by King Crimson. This was not a big chart success in the UK, only reaching number 52. Opus III's second album Guru Mother surfaced in 1994 and produced another U.S. number-one dance song "When You Made The Mountain". A third dance chart entry, "Hand in Hand (Looking for Sweet Inspiration)" hit number 14. The group disbanded after their second album. Hawkshaw is still a major presence in dance music, lending her vocals to a number of electronic and dance music artists and tracks into the opening years of the 21st century, including Delerium, Silent Poets, DJ Tiësto and again with Orbital.