Reminiscing

Biography

Madison Avenue was an Australian dance music and pop duo best known for the song Don't Call Me Baby, which went to the top of the Australian singles charts in 1999 and to the top of the UK singles and Billboard dance charts in 2000. It consisted of singer Cheyne Coates and DJ Andy Van. Cheyne met producer and writer Andy Van in a dance club. Van was the founder of the Vicious Vinyl record label and had remix credits for Tina Arena and CDB. Van had also won an ARIA award for his production work...

Madison Avenue was an Australian dance music and pop duo best known for the song Don't Call Me Baby, which went to the top of the Australian singles charts in 1999 and to the top of the UK singles and Billboard dance charts in 2000. It consisted of singer Cheyne Coates and DJ Andy Van.

Cheyne met producer and writer Andy Van in a dance club. Van was the founder of the Vicious Vinyl record label and had remix credits for Tina Arena and CDB. Van had also won an ARIA award for his production work on "Coma" by Pendulum.

The duo started working together mainly as writers and producers in 1988. Their first single "Fly" featured Kellie Wolfgram as the vocalist. However, Cheyne sang on the group's breakthrough single "Don't Call Me Baby" because Andy Van liked her version initially used as the guide track for the intended singer. Van took the song to the MIDEM Conference leading to the band being signed by Virgin Records in the UK and Sony Music for the rest of the world.

"Don't Call Me Baby" proved to be a breakthrough record for Madison Avenue topping the Australian charts in 1999. It sold 200,000 singles in Australia, the best singles sales achieved by any Australian act in that country for 1999 and Madison Avenue were the first Australian dance act to top the Australian singles charts. The single was released internationally in 2000. In the UK, the song sold 400,00 copies and topped the singles chart, and was a hit throughout Europe. "Don't Call Me Baby" also topped the Billboard dance charts in the US. By this stage, Cheyne was widely established as the public face of the band, although Madison Avenue was originally intended to be a collective dance group like C&C Music Factory or Soul II Soul.

The single's accompanying album, Polyester Embassy, was released in 2000 and reached #4 on the Australian album charts. It spawned three further singles:

* "Who The Hell Are You" - a #1 hit in Australia and on the Billboard Dance Charts, it also reached #10 in the UK.

* "Everything You Need" - went to #6 and was certified gold in Australia, as well as breaking into the UK's Top 40.

* "Reminiscing" - a cover version of the 1978 hit by Australian rock band Little River Band, it was the 9th most popular single by an Australian artist in Australia in 2001 (reaching #9 in the Australian singles charts that year).

In 2001, Madison Avenue won the Best Dance Artist at the International Dance Awards in Miami. Destiny's Child, Madonna, *NSYNC and Britney Spears were also nominated for the award.

The group officially disbanded in 2003, with Cheyne going on to pursue a solo career. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.