Len

Len is a Canadian alternative rock group from Toronto, Ontario, where they moved in 1991. They are known internationally as a one-hit wonder for their song "Steal My Sunshine" in 1999. The band consists of siblings Marc Costanzo (vocals, guitar) and Sharon Costanzo (vocals, bass).

History

Len's early material was reminiscent of artists such as My Bloody Valentine, Mystery Machine and the Descendents. When they were dubbed as a "hip-hop Human League", Marc and Shar were flattered and admitted to being "weaned" on the Human League. The band has been together since 1991; the members are siblings.

As an indie band, Len released an EP, and two albums, Superstar and Get Your Legs Broke, first on the Halifax, Nova Scotia based No Records label, then on their own imprint, Funtrip. These albums eventually sold around 20,000 to 35,000 each. Len eventually added new members to the group, D Rock, DJ Moves and Planet Pea. The group changed the sound of their music from pop to a more hip-hop sound. They released You Can't Stop the Bum Rush in 1999, featuring the hit song "Steal My Sunshine", which reached #9 on the Hot 100 in the US and #8 on the UK Singles Chart while topping the Canadian chart, and was part of the Go soundtrack. The track featured a raspy sounding Marc complemented by the sweet sounding voice of Sharon, backed by a sampled beat from the instrumental break of "More, More, More" by Andrea True Connection.

In 2002, Len released an advance copy of We Be Who We Be (2002) only in the United States and Canada on Dreamworks. The album was originally slated for quarter two of 2002, but after years of delays the band decided to leave the struggling label for Canadian-based Venus Corp (EMI). On , 2005, Venus Corp released a completely different Len album, Diary of the Madmen, in Canadian stores only. However, some stores decided not to sell it due to its explicit language.

Len was working on their new album, the follow-up to Diary of the Madmen, which was supposed to be finished in the summer of 2007 with Marcin Watras. The record was to contain ten songs and was to feature guests such as Stubbs, Junior "Dirty" Sanchez, and Chin. The album was also to feature one Ozzy Osbourne cover from a similarly named album. Marc and Sharon's voices would not be featured on every song; this is not unusual. According to a blog entry December 18, 2006, by Marc on Len's MySpace page - "Goin to the UK in Jan to do last vocs with shasha. The album will be out for the summer (2007)."

Group member Marc Costanzo posted a blog on September 24, 2008 that read: "Soooo.... after all this time and all the thousands emails askin....it looks like were not gonna make another len record. Just couldn't get it (and everyone) together. There may be still one hope but 'll know at the end of this week. On a brighter note....Me and Sharon will be making our own record and will keep you updated on a page we will make soon! So 'm still fuckin excited and if me and sha start this...it should be done in months, not years! hahaha...."

Cryptik Souls Crew

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len