Editing The Prodigy (section)

===Origins and Formation (1990–1991)===

Liam Howlett began making music as a teenager in Essex, influenced by early electro, hip-hop, ska, and rave. After Howlett gave a mix tape to his friend Keith Flint — with a collection of his own original tracks recorded on the flip side — Flint and fellow dancer Leeroy Thornhill urged Howlett to form a group around the music. The tape had the word "Prodigy" scratched onto it, borrowed from Howlett's own DJ moniker and the name of a Moog synthesizer. The three were soon joined by MC and vocalist '''Maxim''' (Keith Palmer), then performing as Maxim Reality, and female dancer and vocalist Sharky, a friend of Flint's. The Prodigy's first public performance took place at Club Labyrinth at the Four Aces in Dalston, London. Their debut single, "What Evil Lurks," was pressed in a limited run of 7,000 copies in early 1991, followed shortly by "Charly," which sampled a meowing cat from a British public information film and reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.