Aurora

Having worked together for over ten years, duo Sacha Collinson and Simon Greenaway finally broke through to the mainstream with their cover of Duran Duran's "Ordinary World" in 2000. Featuring Irish vocalist Naimee Coleman, the song reached the Top Five in the U.K. and went on to become a big airplay hit in Europe. Before adopting the Aurora moniker, the pair had worked together under various guises including Think Twice, remixing tracks for the likes of Olive and collaborating with David Arnold on the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. Greenaway, whose dad Roger was the songwriter responsible for the Coca Cola-endorsed "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing," had previously penned tracks for Charlotte Church, worked with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer, and produced music for various ad campaigns, while Collinson was an established DJ. In 1999 they released their debut single, "Hear You Calling," which reached the Top 20 in the U.K., but after the success of "Ordinary World" a year later, the duo ditched their Ibiza-friendly sound for a more acoustic, chillout vibe. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2002, featured contributions from songwriter Rob Davis, ex-Shakespear's Sister Marcella Detroit, and up-and-coming vocalist Lizzy Pattinson. The group scored a further two U.K. Top 30 hits, but the album failed to reach the Top 100 and Aurora have yet to dent the charts since, although they did return in 2003 with an unreleased version of Tasmin Archer's "Sleeping Satellite" and again three years later with a cover of Texas' "Summer Son." ~ Jon O'Brien