The Prodigy's Keith Flint
Photo: Jo Hale/ Getty Images

We couldn't get enough of them. Their songs were our soundtrack, and we laughed, danced, cried and loved along with them. They flashed across our radio and TV burning brightly... but where have they been lately? As you'll find out in this regular feature, sometimes the stories behind your favorite songs are more interesting than the hits themselves.

It was the mid 1990s, grunge was on the wane and the boy-band/girl-singer explosion was still on the horizon. Into the void came an undergreound genre of dance music dubbed "electronica" that had been bubbling up since the late-1980s rave scene in England. It was hyped in the U.S. as the next big thing and suddenly, for a lot of music fans, guys in flannel swinging dented guitars were out and faceless, pasty studio rats wearing flashlight eyeglasses and punching buttons on keyboards and computers were in.

For a few years there, electronica and techno gave a generation of geeky bedroom rock stars a chance to play to thousands of glow-stick waving fans, but the dance didn't last long, as U.S. — and much of the rest of the world's — taste again turned to the good ol' staples of teen pop, guitar rock and hip-hop.

So, whatever became of acts like Leftfield, Autechre, Roni Size, Aphex Twin, Orbital and the Future Sound of London? For the most part, they returned to their roots as club DJs and underground dance acts, releasing mix CDs, playing clubs and remixing other artists. Or, in the case of the Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim, they kept pumping out albums with the occasional crossover hit. We tracked down the latest intel on what became of some of the genre's biggest stars.

Who: The Prodigy

Biggest hit: "Firestarter"

Why do I know that name?: Even more than electronica stars the Chemical Brothers, the Prodigy were touted as the "band" that could possibly break the genre wide open. With provocative Mohawked and nose-ringed maniac Keith Flint as its frontman — a rarity in the anonymous electronica world — the group had a high-energy live show that verged on punk rock with a drum machine. It was all fueled by the massive breakbeat and old-school hip-hop sampling of producer Liam Howlett, who was joined in the group by dancer Leeroy Thornhill and MC Maxim Reality. After scoring a British #1 with its second album, 1995's Music for the Jilted Generation, the group gained international stardom in 1997 with the #1 U.S. and U.K. debut of The Fat of the Land, which featured the signature hits "Firestarter" and the controversial "Smack My Bitch Up." After an extended period of inactivity, Thornhill split in 2002 and Maxim and Flint were largely absent from 2004's attempted comeback album, Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, which featured vocals from Oasis' Liam Gallagher and actress-turned-singer Juliette Lewis.

What now?: A greatest-hits collection, Their Law: The Singles 1990-2005, was released earlier this year and went platinum in the U.K. The band — now Maxim, Liam, Keith, a guitarist and a drummer — have played some sporadic U.S. dates in support of the two-disc set, with a pair of West Coast shows scheduled for November. According to a spokesperson, Prodigy are working on a new album due next year for a yet-undetermined label.

Who: Tricky

Biggest hit: "Christiansands"

Why do I know that name?: A former member of the Wild Bunch (which mutated into Massive Attack), Tricky rapped on MA's genre-defining 1992 Blue Lines album before he broke out with his 1995 debut, Maxinquaye, which is still considered one of the standard-bearers of the trip-hop movement. The murky album of gravely vocals and narcotic R&B had an underlying menace that was hard to pin down and would become Tricky's sonic signature. Featuring the vocals of female singer Martina, who helped reinvent Public Enemy's "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos," the album turned Tricky into an instant electronica star. He went on to release a full album collaboration with the horrorcore U.S. rap group the Gravediggaz later that year and followed in 1996 with Nearly God, on which he worked with artists such as Björk and Neneh Cherry. He released another well-received album, Pre-Millennium Tension, later in 1996, and did remixes for everyone from Garbage to Yoko Ono to Elvis Costello. He recorded an album, Juxtapose, with Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs and Ruff Ryders' Grease in 1999. The guest-heavy BlowBack dropped in 2001 to tepid response, despite cameos from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante and Live's Ed Kowalczyk.

What now?: Tricky released the stripped-down album Vulnerable in 2003 and appeared alongside Nick Nolte in the 2004 film "Clean." According to his Web site, he's finishing work on his directorial film debut, "Brown Punk," due in 2007, and producing new acts on his Brown Punk label.

Who: Goldie

Biggest Hit: "Timeless"

Why do I know that name?: A hybrid of a hip-hop menace with his gold teeth and rave superstar thanks to his magnetic stage persona, former breakdancer Goldie was the first big star of the electronica offshoot of jungle, which was centered on a speedy drum'n' bass sound. His 1995 debut, Timeless, opened with the trippy 20-minute epic of the same name, one of several stretched out, dark jams on the album. His 1998 follow-up SaturnzReturn was an ambitious two-disc set that featured the record-breaking nearly hour-long song "Mother."

What now?: After releasing a few mix CDs, Goldie has remained a fixture on the DJ scene around the world, but has retreated from releasing new albums under his name.

Who: Underworld

Biggest hit: "Born Slippy"

Why do I know that name?: Singer Karl Hyde and guitarist Rick Smith got together in the early 1980s and released two marginally successful albums as Underworld before finally hitting it big in 1993 after recruiting techno DJ Darren Emerson into the fold. The trio's combination of trancey groove and hard-hitting breakbeats layered with jagged guitars and more pop-oriented vocals spawned the classic hit "Born Slippy," which appeared on the soundtrack to "Trainspotting." The group, which also had a graphic-design firm called Tomato that did remix work for Björk and Depeche Mode and commercials for Nike and Pepsi, never again reached the heights of the ubiquitous "Born Slippy," releasing the live album Everything, Everything in 2000, after which Emerson split to return to his life as a DJ. The duo of Smith and Hyde released their first album as a two-piece in more than a decade, A Hundred Days Off, in 2002.

What now?: Hyde and Smith have voluntarily retrenched over the past few years, concentrating on their online "Riverrun Project," which debuted in 2005 as a series of download-only "packages" of music and digital photos, featuring the song suites "A Lovely Broken Thing," "Pizza for Eggs" and June's "I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse." The pair have also collaborated with composer Gabriel Yared on the score for Anthony Minghella's upcoming film "Breaking and Entering," which stars Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Robin Wright Penn. They're also scoring the new film from "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle, "Sunshine." In addition to live broadcasts from their studio, the duo are also working on a new album.

Past Where Ya Been? Artist Profiles:

• "Where Ya Been? Grunge Edition: Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Mudhoney"
• "Marvelous 3 Now Down To One, SWV End 10 Years Of Resting Their Voices"
• "Sammie Graduating To Comeback, Third Eye Blind Can See Clearly Now"
• "Vitamin C Juicing Up A Comeback, Fastball Heading Back To The Mound"
• "Dream Wake Up, 'Sex' Burns Marcy Playground"

• Electronica: Where Ya Been?

• The Prodigy
• Tricky
• Goldie
• Massive Attack

Paul Oakenfold
Photo: Perfecto

Paul Oakenfold, Deep Dish, Gorillaz and more than 100 other electronic music acts from around the world will perform at a massive Miami Beach, Florida, party on March 23.

The fourth annual Ultra festival will kick off the Winter Music Conference, a yearly five-day electronic music gathering that has been transforming Miami Beach into the epicenter of DJ culture for 17 years.

Paul van Dyk, Carl Cox, DJ Skribble, Timo Maas, Goldie and Roni Size with MC Dynamite are among the other artists who will perform on six different stages at a yet-to-be-announced location.

Also on the bill are DJ Craze, DJ Dan, Christropher Lawrence, Rinôçérôse, Tall Paul, Josh Wink, DJ Rap, Dieselboy, DB, George Acosta, DJ Icey and Liquid Todd.

Gorillaz will perform live with Del the Funky Homosapien, the voice behind their massive single "Clint Eastwood."

Tickets will soon be available online at www.coolworld.com and www.ultrafestival.com.

The Winter Music Conference, scheduled from March 23 to March 27, will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

Last year's Ultra festival featured many of the same acts, along with John Digweed, Pete Tong and BT (see "Winter Music Diary: The Beats Go On With Bukem, Bahamadia, Digweed").

• Paul Oakenfold
• Deep Dish
• Gorillaz
• Paul Van Dyk
• Carl Cox

Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method and Orbital will headline America's first Creamfields festivals in Long Island, New York, and Las Vegas in September.

DJs Timo Maas, Tall Paul and John Aquaviva will also perform outside of the Big Apple on September 1, while Basement Jaxx, Sandra Collins and DJ Dan will play Sin City on September 29, organizers announced Monday (May 21).

Several other top electronic acts are slated for both shows, including former Underworld DJ Darren Emerson, Stereo MC's, Uberzone, Richie Hawtin, Pete Tong, Josh Wink, Photek, Max Graham, Scott Henry, Scott Hardkiss, Scanty Sandwich and the Dub Pistols.

The Long Island festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and several circus tent arenas hosted by influential clubs from the East Coast and the U.K., will also include DJ Feelgood, Christian Smith, DJ Dara and DJ DB. The event will run from 2 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Dave Ralph, Donald Glaude, Bad Boy Bill, Christopher Lawrence and Adam Freeland will spin at the Las Vegas festival, which will feature an outdoor main stage and six tents. That show will run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

More acts, along with ticket information, will be announced later this month, organizers said.

Leading European dance event promoters Cream staged the first Creamfields in the U.K. in 1998. Held annually since, it has become one of the biggest dance-music festivals in the world, attracting 50,000 fans last year.

This year's U.K. fest will be held August 25 at the Old Liverpool Airfield in Liverpool. Fatboy Slim, Gorillaz, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul van Dyk, Goldie, Seb Fontaine, Judge Jules and Pete Tong are among the artists scheduled to appear.

• Fatboy Slim
• The Crystal Method
• Orbital
• Timo Maas
• DJ Dan

U.K. drum & bass maestro Goldie is slated to make a rare New York City club performance on Wednesday night at the private premiere party for "The Price Of Air," a new film from writer-director Josh Evans.

Goldie composed the original score for "The Price Of Air" and appears in the film, as does rapper Sticky Fingaz. The former Onyx MC also contributed new material to the movie's soundtrack, along with singer-songwriter Seal.

Since the release of his last album, 1998's "SaturnReturnz," Goldie has focused on his big-screen career, snagging parts in such pictures as "Everybody Loves Sunshine," the James Bond flick "The World Is Not Enough," and the upcoming Guy Ritchie gangster film, "Snatch."

In addition to Goldie and Sticky Fingaz, "The Price Of Air" also stars Michael Madsen, Dick Van Patten, Michelle Phillips, Jenna Hoffman, Allison Lange, Alexis Arquette, and Evans himself in an irreverent, suburban crime drama revolving around a drug deal with a substance described as "more addictive than air."

The film is being distributed through Artistic License Films and is scheduled to open on September 29 in New York City, followed by Los Angeles on October 13.

• Goldie

If you're intrigued by recent reports that Goldie may be providing the score for director Stanley Kubrick's next film, "Eyes Wide Shut," you're not the only one.

Goldie himself is rather excited about the news, as he told us recently during a visit to our Times Square studio.

"This is freaking me out, because I've been hearing a lot about this now," the jungle music maven told MTV News of reports that he may get to work with Kubrick, the visionary behind films like "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dr. Strangelove," "A Clockwork Orange," and "The Shining."

"I'm waiting to speak to his people, because I'm trying to get my hands on Stanley," Goldie said.

Reports of the possible union first surfaced last month (see "Goldie A Possibility For 'Eyes Wide Shut' Score"), and Goldie's camp kept mum on the news at the time. However, Goldie seemed optimistic when speaking with MTV News about the chance to score "Eyes Wide Shut," which stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

"He obviously doesn't film out a lot," Goldie said of the notoriously secretive and demanding director. "He doesn't go out a lot to do anything, but they've been doing the film and stuff. Hopefully that'll be a good thing. I mean, I grew up on a lot of those Kubrick films. They were like cult films to me... '2001' and that sh** really freaked me out. The last 15 minutes and sh**, the monolith and stuff... [700k QuickTime] that would be real good because he's very cutting edge, very very cutting edge, and a perfectionist at what he does. I'll just take that in stride. If it happens, it happens, but I'm really into that whole... for him to sit and make a film for as long as he's been making it, man. That's got to be a good project."

There's no word from Goldie's camp if the partnership has come to pass, but we'll keep you posted.

• Goldie

How strong is the bond between friends and creative partners David Bowie and Goldie? Well, they are actually finding work for each other.

After the two worked together on a track for jungle avatar Goldie's "Saturnz Return" album, Goldie was tapped to appear in filmmaker Andrew Goth's next effort, "Everybody Loves The Sunshine," and decided to get his friend in on the action.

"Where Bowie got involved is that, I was going to Brazil," Goldie recently explained to MTV News. "He did some work with me in the album and stuff, and he phoned me up the day before I was going to Brazil, and he said, 'Look out for yourself on the tour, it's going to be hard work, blah blah blah.' And I just said, 'Well, I've got this script by the way, man. There's this character Bernie in the script and I think you should have a look at the script.' And he says, 'Fine, send it over man.' And being an independent movie, you never know what anyone's going to do about it, because independent movies can be good or bad. So I sent the script over to him, and Andrew flew out to New York to meet with him and stuff, and he said, 'Yeah, I want to do it.' It was really fat, man." [1.1MB QuickTime]

The film, in which Goldie plays a homosexual gangster in the midst of a conflict with Chinese mobsters set against the Manchester club scene, recently wrapped shooting.

"I spent 12 weeks on the Isle of Mann, Manchester, and Liverpool doing that," Goldie said of the shoot. "It's just an extension of what I do though. I just enjoyed doing it so much. It was good fun. Very grueling though, because it's 5 in the morning 'til 10 at night every day, and I'm not really used to that sh**, you know."

Goldie hopes to team with Bowie yet again on tracks for the veteran rocker's next album. He also said that things are moving ahead on a film project that he has been discussing with Val Kilmer called "The Blessed" (see ).

• David Bowie
• Goldie

Goldie, the drum-n-bass maestro who has recently branched out into acting, reportedly met with director Stanley Kubrick last month to discuss the possibility of working on the soundtrack score for the director's new film, "Eyes Wide Shut."

Representatives for Goldie's U.K. management would not confirm that he was working on the project and had no comment as to whether the meeting took place.

"Shut," which stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, has been a production shrouded in secrecy since it started shooting in 1996. The film is believed to be a modern adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's "Rhapsody: A Dream Novel."

The highly secretive Kubrick has helmed such pics as "Lolita," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dr. Strangelove," "A Clockwork Orange," "The Shining" and "Full Metal Jacket." The year-plus shooting schedule for "Eyes Wide Shut" makes it the second longest film production in modern cinema -- behind "Lawrence of Arabia."

As we previously reported (see "Goldie's Film Career Taking Off?"), Goldie is currently starring with David Bowie in a film entitled "Everybody Loves The Sunshine," and has two other movie prospects -- one with Val Kilmer, one with Sean Connery -- in the works.

• Goldie

Puffy Combs, who has just two dates of the latest leg of his "No Way Out" tour under his belt, will continue to flaunt his penchant for odd-ball parings with the arrival of his next single.

The rapper has teamed with Danny DeVito and Dennis Hopper to shoot his next video, which will be for the song "Victory." You might recall that Puffy and DeVito presented a Grammy together at last month's ceremony.

Meanwhile, Trent Reznor and Goldie will release remixes of "Victory" later in April. As we reported last month (see "Puffy Remixed By Reznor, Deftones, Mascis"), Anthrax, the Deftones and Dinosaur Jr. mastermind J Mascis have also remixed the track, but it's not yet known if they will be released.

Puffy's "No Way Out" tour plays New York's Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

• Diddy
• Goldie
• Nine Inch Nails

British jungle star Goldie is up for yet another movie role, this time one that would put him next to screen legend Sean Connery.

Goldie is being considered for a part in "Entrapment" which is set to star Connery. There's no word yet on what kind of role Goldie might land, but we'll keep you posted.

As we reported earlier this week (see "Goldie's Film Career Taking Off?"), Goldie is currently shooting the gangster movie "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" in England with David Bowie.

The techno wiz has also been talking with Val Kilmer about acting in another film, called "Blessed."

• Goldie

British jungle music man Goldie just started filming his first starring role as a gay gangster in the action thriller "Everybody Loves The Sunshine."

As we previously reported (see "Goldie Makes Movie, New Album"), Goldie co-stars with writer/director Andrew Goth and David Bowie.

Goldie has also met with actor Val Kilmer while he was touring the U.S. last year. The two of them discussed collaborating on a film with screenwriter, Josh Evans, son of producer Robert Evans. Hopefully that project will launch by the end of this year.

Goldie also plans to work on David Bowie's next album in the near future. And the industrious musician is also in early discussions to launch his own clothing line.

• Goldie