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THE PRODIGY stuff starts with a 12" EP called What Evil Lurks, the 4 tracks of which were taken from the youthful Liam Howlett's first demo tape. The EP was enthusistically received on the then-massive rave scene, and it remains a hardcore club anthem to this day, as well as being one of the most sought after pieces of dance vinyl of all time. On the back of the EP's underground success, The Prodigy gigged extensively throughout the UK, and were able to make their first trips [what sort?] abroad. In Italy they were hailed as pop royalty and mobbed by ecstatic ravers.

On August 12 1991, The Prodigy released their second single - the legendary Charly. There was a huge buzz around the track months before its release, and that excitement was justified when Charly shot to Number 1 in the National Dance Charts and to Number 3 in the Gallup Top 40. "Charly" inspired a string of copycat records, and triggered the notoriously heated "Is Rave Dead?" debate. Amid all the furore it was easy to miss the facty that Charly was one of the most successful dance records of the time, and far better than any of the opportunist tunes that came in its wake.

22 year-old Liam Howlett is the musical force beyond The Prodigy sound, although there are three other members who contribute to the live performance - Maxim Reality, Leeroy Thornhill and Keith Flint. Liam was once the DJ for the London rap act Cut To Kill, but he became disillusioned with the rap scene's aggressive attitude after experiencing the "Love, Peace and Happiness" vibe that dominated the RAVE scene.

Liam is also a classically trained pianist, whose ambition once was "To get a record deal and put out a few tunes". That goal was achieved very quickly, so Liam is now concentrating on maintaining his status as the most successful hardcore underground act, blending his unique sound of hip-hop beats and manic house music, and, most importantly, keeping the crowds happy.

This article was taken from a posting by Peter Thomas

During the Prodigy's six-and-a-half-year reign, they have flirted with the rock culture upon many occasions. If you're new to the Prodigy, here the facts on Prodigy with guitars.

LIAM HOWLETT: First and foremost, the keyboardist with the Prodigy. He also has the hard task of sorting out all the samples for the songs, and producing them too. Some say he _is_ the Prodigy, but this is a claim he'd deny. Way back in 1991, you may have noticed that the Original Mix of Charly (which is seen as a 'b-side' on the Charly EP) was a very dark version compared to the well known a-track of Charly's Alley Cat Edit. Anyway, this Original Mix features some guitar-like synths.

Anyway, we fast-forward into the future, and we find a b-side remix of Poison, on, naturally, enough, the Poison EP. Who's doing the bass guitar? None other than Liam himself. He looped it, because he said his playing was so bad!

BUZZ: Guitarist with Pop Will Eat Itself (now defunct), and responsible for the guitar licks you hear on Their Law.

LANCE RIDDLER: This guitar teacher from Witham, Essex was hired solely for studio guitar work for Jilted. He has never been on stage with the Prodigy for any gigs. Responsible for the guitar sounds on Voodoo People.

JIMMY 'FINGERS' DAVIES: Live guitarist for the gigs from 1994 to 1996. This is the man featured on the Electronic Punks video. He did all the studio guitar work you hear on FOTL, including Breathe. He left the band in early 1996, as he was not comfortable playing live. Liam has stated that he will still work with Jimmy for future studio work. Jimmy is now in his own band, called 'Dead Mans Pants'. He's into Pantera, White Zombie and Slayer.

GIZZ BUTT: Real name Graham. Already established in the punk underground since 1980, with credible Brit outfit The English Dogs. During a brief spell in the early 90s, the band split, only to be reformed again. After hearing Jilted a few times on the ED tour bus, Gizz becomes a Prodigy fan. When Gizz hears from a rock magazine journo that the Prodigy are looking for a new guitarist, Gizz turns up straight away for the auditions, with his own written guitar riffs for Firestarter. They've now found a new record label and Gizz is cashing in on the success by name-dropping Prodigy on ED flyers.

Gizz is a former guitar teacher from Stamford College: "Amazin' the things you do when you're strapped for cash, eh?". He has never appeared on any commercially released Prodigy tracks, apart from the live version of Their Law, as found on the Breathe EP.

Gizz is into just about everything, but I'll shortlist it down to: The Beatles, Manic Street Preachers, Sex Pistols, Placebo, 3 Colours Red, Downset, Exploited and Fugazi.

He also happens to be the funniest member of the Prodigy, IMHO. He thinks all internet users are sad, and that a lot of Yanks are dumb. He also can play Jimmy Hendrix riffs using only telephone feed-back (or that's what he'd like me to think!).