The Wiseguys

For other uses, see Wise guy (disambiguation).

The Wiseguys were a British electronic duo active in the mid to late 1990s.^[1] They only released one proper album together, as their sophomore album, The Antidote, was solely produced by Touché. This album included the hits "Start the Commotion" and "Ooh La La", the former was prominently featured in a Mitsubishi TV advertisement and the latter was used in Budweiser commercials.

The Wiseguys
Origin	London, England
Genres	Big beat, breakbeat, trip hop[1]
Years active	1994 (1994)–2001 (2001)
Labels	Wall of Sound
Past members	Touché Regal

Career

The band was formed in 1994 with two members, Touché (Theo Keating) and Regal (Paul Eve).^[1] They were music production partners from 1990 and released an EP called Ladies Say Ow! in 1994 on the Blackmarket International record label.^[1] The record label Wall of Sound signed the duo and released the double A-side "Nil by Mouth" / "Too Easy" in 1995.^[1] Their first album, Executive Suite was released in 1996 to critical acclaim, feature downtempo jazz beats and happy optimistic hip-hop numbers, and is now considered a cult classic.^{[citation needed]}

Regal left the band in 1997 to pursue his career as co-founder of the UK's Bronx Dogs, and Touché worked on the second Wiseguys album, The Antidote.^[1] This was released in 1998, and contained their two most well-known songs, "Ooh La La" and "Start the Commotion".^[1] "Ooh La La" was a minor UK hit in April 1998, but in March 1999 it was re-released as a single and went to No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart following its use in a popular TV commercial for Budweiser.^[1] In 2001, "Start the Commotion" was shown on a Mitsubishi Motors television commercial in the United States, and the song reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Solo work

The Wiseguys disbanded in 2001, and Touché continued as a solo artist producing house music under Fatboy Slim's Southern Fried record label. In July 2006, Regal released his first solo single "Shock Ya Mind" on the Funk Weapons label.

On 31 December 2006, Executive Suite made its way onto the US version of iTunes. Touché is a producer and DJ, one half of the Black Ghosts. He produces under several other aliases including Fake Blood.

Regal also went solo; he signed to Unique Records in 2007 and has since released two solo albums and three singles for the label, including his debut solo album Loop Dreams and the CD Time Past, which is paired with his "Time Past" 12" remixes sampler, released in late 2009.

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		UK [2]	AUS [3]	US [4]
Executive Suite	Released: 1996 Label: Wall of Sound	—	—	—
The Antidote[1]	Released: 1998 Label: Wall of Sound	124	89	133

EPs

• Ladies Say Ow! (1994)

Compilation appearances

• Wall of Sound Essentials – Mixed by the Wiseguys (2000)

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions

Title	Year	Peak chart positions		Album
		UK [5]	US [6]
"Nil by Mouth"	1995	—	—	Executive Suite
"The Sound You Hear"/"We Keep On"	1996	—	—
"Casino 'Sans Pareil'"/"A Better World"	1997	88	—
"Ooh La La"	1998	2	—	The Antidote
"Start the Commotion"		47	31

The Japanese version of The Antidote contains a bonus track, "Expand on the Topic" which features guest spots from J-Nise, Season and Sense Live, and was the B-side to the "Ooh La La" single.