“Connected” by Stereo MC's

"Connected" was the title track and first single from the third Stereo MC's album in 1992, out on Gee Street and Island, and it's a groove so slinky it barely touches the floor. Rob Birch and Nick Hallam built it around a sample of Jimmy "Bo" Horne's "Let Me (Let Me Be Your Lover)", and Horne, Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch share the writing credit with them.

Birch's cool, half-spoken vocal rides a loping bass line and a beat that's hip-hop in its bones and disco in its hips. It's club music for people who'd rather nod than jump.

The British weeklies noticed: NME and Melody Maker ranked it 16 and 19 on their singles of the year lists that December. Matthew Amos's video picked up a nomination at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, and the track found a second life on screen, in the 1995 film Hackers and as the theme to Dr. Vegas in 2004.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.