History Music / SaintEtienne

Their most famous single is their first, a cover of the Music/NeilYoung song [[Music/AfterTheGoldRush "Only Love Can Break Your Heart"]] – which was [[BlackSheepHit not sung by Sarah]], ironically given that she is generally considered the FaceOfTheBand otherwise.

* MurderBallad: "Like A Motorway".

Their most famous single is their first, a cover of the Neil Young song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – which was [[BlackSheepHit not sung by Sarah]], ironically given that she is generally considered the FaceOfTheBand otherwise.

* [[TheCoverChangesTheMeaning The Cover Changes... Almost Everything, Actually]]: "I'm Too Sexy". The story goes that when they got into the studio to record the song, they couldn't remember how it goes, so they [[CrowningMomentOfFunny made it up on the spot]].

'''Saint Etienne''' is an IndiePop group from UsefulNotes/{{London}} who are sometimes described as making "[[AlternativeDance indie dance]]" music. The band was founded in 1991 by ex-music journalists Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, who named it after a French football team, and they originally had rotating guest singers until Sarah Cracknell joined them permanently, midway through production of their first album.

Saint Etienne are a pop group from UsefulNotes/{{London}} who are sometimes described as making "indie dance" music. The band was founded in 1991 by ex-music journalists Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, who named it after a French football team, and they originally had rotating guest singers until Sarah Cracknell joined them permanently, midway through production of their first album.

Their most famous single is their first, a cover of the Neil Young song "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" – which was not sung by Sarah, ironically given that she is generally considered the FaceOfTheBand otherwise.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: Several, but the two-disc ''Smash The System: Singles And More'' is the best - not least because of its Neapolitan ice cream cover.

* OneOfUs: All of them are music nerds, but Bob especially (not surprising when you consider his original career was as a music journalist).

Saint Etienne are a pop group from London who are sometimes described as making "indie dance" music. The band was founded in 1991 by ex-music journalists Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs, who named it after a French football team, and they originally had rotating guest singers until Sarah Cracknell joined them permanently, midway through production of their first album.

* MurderBallad: "Like A Motorway"

* SelfDeprecation: their sleevenotes do this a lot.

* SongOfSongTitles: "Popular"

* IndecipherableLyrics: the repeated, distorted refrain in "Girl VII". Producer Ian Catt and remixer Richard X may be the only people outside the band who know for sure what it says - and Pete Wiggs claims he's forgotten.

* CoverVersion: Quite a few, including songs by DavidBowie, Teenage Fanclub, Music/ScottWalker, and, famously, NeilYoung ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart").

* CoverVersion: Quite a few, including songs by DavidBowie, Teenage Fanclub, Scott Walker, and, famously, NeilYoung ("Only Love Can Break Your Heart").

* AgeProgressionSong: "Over The Border"

* Foxbase Alpha (1991)
* So Tough (1993)
* Tiger Bay (1994)
* Good Humor (1998)
* Sound of Water (2000)
* Finisterre (2002)
* Tales from Turnpike House (2005)
* Words and Music by Saint Etienne (2012)

* SignatureSong: Fairly successfully averted by dint of "resting" songs from their live set when they threaten to become this. "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" is probably their most ''recognisable'' song, thanks to being included on countless compilations.

* WordSaladLyrics: "Hobart Paving" among others.

Most of their music can accurately be described as a love song dedicated to London, the city in which the band is based.