About Artful Dodger
Artful Dodger was originally a UK garage duo featuring songwriters and producers Mark Hill and Pete Devereux. They achieved notoriety in the 1990s and early 2000s, releasing seven consecutive singles all of which charted in the United Kingdom Top 20. During this period, the then-unknown Craig David was featured on the track "Re-Rewind". The single launched David's career, landing at #2 in the UK singles chart. Hill and Devereux won numerous accolades, including the 2000 UK Producers of the Year and Ivor Novello recognition for their songwriting.
In 2001, Hill and Devereux parted ways due to creative differences and the trademark, name and usage rights of 'Artful Dodger' were purchased by Blessed Records.
Capitalising on the significant live demand for the group, The owner of Blessed Records, DJ Dave Lowe, accompanied by MC Alistair adopted the name, in essence creating a cover band. They continue to tour under the name Artful Dodger to this day, performing the music of Hill and Devereux frequently in their sets.
Having reunited in 2017, Hill and Devereux found themselves unable to release new music or perform under their own name.
The band is named after a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, due to their numerous early bootlegs. They are referred to in the Streets' single "Let's Push Things Forward". Many Artful Dodger tracks can be found on the UK garage compilation album series Pure Garage, mixed by DJ EZ.
What began as a handle for the release of underground bootleg recordings quickly blossomed into a musical project creating original material for mainstream release and culminated in the release of It's All About the Stragglers, after the duo went on to work with an array of up-and-coming vocalists.
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