The Beta Band consists of John Maclean (dj), Richard Greentree (bassist), Robin Jones (percussionist, drummer), Stephen Mason (vocalist).
The Beta Band were a British musical group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status, but failed to make much of a commercial impact on the popular music scene. Their style was self-described as being folk hop, a blend of folk, rock, trip hop, and experimental jamming.
The Beta Band formed in 1996 around Edinburgh musicians Steve Mason (vocals, guitar) and Gordon Anderson. The two had plans to call their group The Pigeons but later changed their minds. As they pulled together songs for their debut EP, Champion Versions, they added Robin Jones (drums) and John Maclean (DJ, sampler, keyboards). Not long after they were signed to Regal/ Parlophone, Anderson became ill and decided to quit the band. He would later produce recordings under the name Lone Pigeon. The remaining members added Englishman Richard Greentree (bass) and solidified their lineup.
Champion Versions was released in July 1997 to critical acclaim not only for the music but also for the record's innovative cut-and-paste sleeve design (the work of John Maclean). Two further EPs followed in 1998: The Patty Patty Sound in March and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos in July. The EPs were all subjects of widespread critical praise, and all three appeared on the appropriately titled The Three E.P.'s collection in September 1998.
The band soon commenced work on their ambitious first full-length recording, pulling inspiration from sources as diverse as Jamaican reggae, Disney's movie The Black Hole and Bonnie Tyler's " Total Eclipse of the Heart." The record, simply titled The Beta Band, was released on 21 June 1999. The first track, "The Beta Band Rap," managed to tell the band's back story over alternating bubblegum pop, rap and rockabilly backing tracks. Its eclecticism was representative of the rest of the album, which was widely perceived to be more stylistically diverse than the initial EPs. The mixed press turned decidedly negative when the band announced their own disdain for the record. They claimed that Regal's unreasonable deadline and tight budgets kept them from refining their improvisations into coherent songs. Despite this, several of the songs arguably rank amongst the group's greatest works, namely "Brokenupadingdong" (later used in the film Igby Goes Down), "The Cow's Wrong" and the epic "The Hard One."