Adamski
Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer", a collaboration with Seal, which was a No. 1 song in the UK in 1990.[3]
Also recorded as Adam Paul Tinley · Sonny Eriksson · Adam Tinley · Adamski Products Inc.
Adamski

Nana Klimek · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Adamski
- Birth Name
- Adam Paul Tinley
- Born
- 4 December 1967
- Birthplace
- Lymington, Hampshire, England
- Occupation
- * DJ
- Full name
- Adam Paul Tinley.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom.
- Fields
- techno and acid house.
- Education
- Priestlands School.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer", a collaboration with Seal, which was a No. 1 song in the UK in 1990.[3]
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Note VALÉORINE
Adamski (born 1967) is a composer, disc jockey and musician, among other activities, of British nationality. The composer was born Adam Paul Tinley in Lymington. Adamski is also known as Adam Sky and Sonny Eriksson. Adamski was educated at Priestlands School.
The work spans acid house and techno. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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getty · 500097821 · gnd · 134662423 · wikidata · Q301867 · wikipedia · Adamski
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Adamski • Birth Name — Adam Paul Tinley • Alias — * Adam Sky • Sonny Eriksson • Born — 4 December 1967 • Birthplace — Lymington, Hampshire, England • Genre — * Acid house • house • Occupation — * DJ • record producer • Years Active — 1979–present • Label — MCA • Website — * adamskiofficial.com • sonnyerikssonlive.com Adam Paul Tinley (born 4 December 1967),[2] known professionally as Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer", a collaboration with Seal, which was a No. 1 song in the UK in 1990.[3]
Career
Career
Tinley was born in Lymington, Hampshire, England. As a youngster, influenced by punk rock and John Peel, he formed his first band The Stupid Babies when he was 11 and living in New Forest in England. He persuaded his five-year-old brother Dominic to sing while he strummed a small guitar, and sent a demo tape to the indie label Fast Product, run by The Human League's manager Bob Last. "Everyone thought that was a really precocious and strange thing for an 11 year-old to do," Adamski recalls "but I just thought that's what everybody did". The kiddie-punk tracks were released on the Earcom3 sampler.[4] When alternative BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel started playing their song "Babysitters" the band caused quite a stir, receiving positive write-ups in music magazines like Smash Hits and Melody Maker.[5][6] He performed with his brother Mark Tinley, and Johnny Slut of the band Specimen, as Diskord Datkord. They released their only single in 1988, an electroid cover of "Identity" by punk band X-Ray Spex. In March 1989, Adamski was booked for his first solo gig at Le Petit Prince Restaurant in Kentish Town, run by his manager Phil Smith. Lenny D, promoter of nightclub Heaven, happened to be walking past, and was convinced by Smith to book Adamski for an all-dayer at Heaven. He quickly catapulted into the upper echelons of the nascent rave scene. Within a few weeks, Adamski was playing to thousands people at Sunrise Festival at Santa Pod Raceway and signed to MCA Records, producing the first rave record on MCA called Liveandirect.[7] He had success with this first release, which was a collection of tracks recorded live at various raves. It contained a short, live version of his first single "N-R-G", as well as "I Dream of You", which appeared on a free four-track 7" vinyl single given away with the music paper Record Mirror in 1989. The cover of the single "N-R-G" featured a mocked up Lucozade bottle with the word "Lucozade" replaced with "N-R-G".[8] Adamski toured many clubs with his portable keyboard set up, playing long sets, with an MC, Daddy Chester, and later with Seal. In front of his keyboard was a UK car number plate with the word ADAMSKI on it. Early versions of future singles "Killer" and "Future Love Paradise" were played on some of the Seal dates. The album, Adamski's Thing, was issued in late 1998, on Trevor Horn's ZTT Records label, Adamski's Thing included tracks, "Intravenous Venus" and "Existential Boredom".[9] Throughout the late 1990s, Tinley shifted focus to his DJ career. He soon adopted a new moniker, Adam Sky, touring Europe, and making the odd UK appearance such as playing at the electroclash night Nag Nag Nag in London in 2002 – run by his old friend Jonny Slut. As a producer, his songs at that time also included a collaboration with musician Danny Williams. In 2007, he released a remake of The Pop Group's 1979 single "We Are All Prostitutes" with Mark Stewart, which appeared on a number of compilations. His single "Ape-X" was released on Kitsuné Musique in 2006. In 2009, he began to release more material on Shir Khan's record label.[10] Adamski's futurewaltz project, saw him release album Revolt, as reported in 2014 and 2015.[11][12] In 2020, Adamski released Free to Kill Again, featuring 10 new interpretations of "Killer" with guest features by Boy George, Nina Hagen, Adrian Sherwood and Mykki Blanco.[13] In 2022, Adamski released "Black Butterfly", featuring Robert Owens.[14] He also released "Black Star Acid" on Boys Noize Records.[15]
Albums
Albums
• Liveandirect (1989) – UK No. 47 • Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy (1990) – UK No. 8[16] • Naughty (1992) • Adamski vs The Sentinels (1993) • Adamski's Thing (1998) • Killer – The Best of Adamski (1999) • Mutant Pop (1999) • This is 3-Step EP (2014) • Revolt (2015) • The Sound of Sonny Eriksson (2017) • The Spirit of Sonny Eriksson (EP) (2018) • Re:nrgise (2019) • Free to Kill Again (2020)
Singles
Singles
• Year — Single — Peak positions — Album • UK — IRE — NED — BEL (FLA) — GER — AUT — SWI — ITA — SWE — NZ • 1990 — "N-R-G" — 12 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Doctor Adamski's Musical Pharmacy • "Killer" (featuring Seal) — 1 — 5 — 2 — 1 — 2 — 11 — 15 — – — 5 — 29 • "The Space Jungle" — 7 — 13 — 20 — 24 — – — – — 25 — – — – — 21 • "Flashback Jack" — 46 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1991 — "Never Goin' Down! / Born to Be Alive!" (featuring Jimi Polo / Soho) — 51 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Naughty • 1992 — "Get Your Body" (featuring Nina Hagen) — 68 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Back to Front" — 63 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1993 — "Sleeping with an Angel" (with Transformer 2) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Singles only • "Bastardo" (with Pizarro) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1998 — "One of the People" — 56 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Adamski's Thing (as "Adamski's Thing") • "Intravenous Venus" — 165 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 1999 — "In the City" (featuring Gerideau) — – — – — – — – — – — – — – — 24 — — — — — Mutant Pop (as "Adamski Products Inc.") • 2000 — "Take Me Away" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2002 — "Already Out There" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Single only • 2006 — "Ape-X" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Single only (as "Adam Sky") • 2012 — "I Like It" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Single only • 2012 — "Pawa 2 Da PPL" (with Gaudi) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2015 — "Dazed 'n' Confused" (featuring Betty Adewole) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Revolt • 2022 — "Black Butterfly" (Robert Owens) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2022 — "Black Star Acid" (Boysnoize Records) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.
Remixes
Remixes
• Miss Kittin and The Hacker – "Stock Exchange" (2003) • Mignon – "Demons of Love" (2004) • ESKA – "She's in the Flowers" (2015)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
Adamski was recorded at birth as Adam Paul Tinley. He also worked under the names Adam Sky, Adamski and Sonny Eriksson. His recorded language was English.
Holdings and surviving copies
Where the work is held
Holdings and surviving copies
Where material relating to Adamski is held.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 134662423, Adamski.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500097821, Adamski, Hans Peter.
Unverified · The Getty Research Institute
reference work
- “Adamski”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q301867: Adamski
Unverified · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Title Unknown.
- 2.Jörg Amtage, Matthias Müller: Alle Hits aus Deutschlands Charts 1954-2003, Pro Business, 2003, p. 20.
- 3.Simpson, Dave, "How we made Killer, by Seal and Adamski". The Guardian. 11 March 2011
- 4.Colin Larkin. The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin Books. 9/10. 2000. 0-7535-0427-8.
- 5.Adamski, Scott. Adamski: my favourite 10 albums. Louderthanwar.com. 22 December 2014.
- 6.Game Changer | djmag.com.
- 7.Green, Thomas. The Keyboard Wizards Of Acid House. Mixmag.net.
- 8.Adamski TheAudioDB.com. www.theaudiodb.com.
- 9.Thelan, Christopher. Adamski’s Thing – Christopher Thelen – The Daily Vault. 1999-06-24.
- 10.Exploited singles credited to Adam Sky.
- 11.Adamski: The Spin Doctor – Electronic Sound.
- 12.Hodgkinson, Will. Adamski: The rave DJ who’s taken up waltzing. www.thetimes.com. 2015-03-30.
- 13.Earls, John. Adamski - Free To Kill Again interview. Classic Pop Magazine. 2022-06-27.
- 14.Black Butterfly. Spotify.
- 15.Black Star Acid. Shazam.
- 16.Roberts, David. British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records Limited. 15. 2006. 1-904994-10-5.
- 17.Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company: Adamski.
- 18.Adamski – German Chart. Charts.de.
- 19.Adamski – Italian Chart. Hitparadeitalia.it.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 134662423, Adamski.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedauthority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500097821, Adamski, Hans Peter.The Getty Research Institute
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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