“We thought it would be a taster single to set the scene, but when it came out, it went crazy": The almost unbelievable story of how EMF went to No 1 in the US with their debut single, which came with a huge guitar riff and a helping hand from Rick Rubin

1990: English boyband E.M.F. James Atkin, Ian Dench, Derry Brownson, Zac Foley, Mark DeCloedt (Photo by BSR Agency/Gentle Look via Getty Images).

What would you say to the idea that a group of young musicians from the Forest of Dean in the UK could form a band in 1989 and then hit number one in the US with their debut single little more than a year later?

Unbelievable? You would have thought so, but that would be to reckon without EMF, and their song of that very name.