Digging Your Scene: The Best of The Blow Monkeys
Encyclopedia
Digging Your Scene: The Best of The Blow Monkeys is a double greatest hits album, released on 4 February 2008 by British
pop rock
/ new wave
/ funky / Dance
band The Blow Monkeys
. Led by singer, guitar
ist, piano
and keyboard player
Dr. Robert, the group formed in the early eighties and disbanded in 1990. After that, Dr. Robert went on to pursue a solo
career. The Blow Monkeys recently reformed, with the aim of touring and releasing a brand new album
.
The 36 tracks included on this double compilation
were originally featured on the band's fifth studio album
s, and most of them were also released as singles
, the most successful ones including "It Doesn't Have to Be This Way" (which reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart
in 1987, their highest position ever), and "Digging Your Scene" (climbing to Number 12 in 1986, this song represented their first British, American and worldwide hit, also making it to Number 14 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
, Number 7 in the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
, and Number 25 in Germany
).
Another Top Ten track was the smash hit "Wait", a duet which got to Number 7, and was only credited to the leader Dr. Robert, as Robert Howard (his real name), and Chicago house
diva
Kym Mazelle
, though it was actually played by the whole group and featured on their fourth studio album Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood
.
Five more duets are contained in the 2008 double greatest hits album, including the politically censored "Celebrate (The Day After You)", sung with soul
legend Curtis Mayfield
(it came out at the time of 1987 re-election, when then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
was heavily being attacked by many British musical acts, including The Blow Monkeys), "Be Not Afraid", a heartfelt interpretation of Robert with amazing Arabian
singer Cheb Khaled (the description of how this song actually came into being is one of the few things Howard wrote in the booklet to a less recent double compilation), "Choice?", a house
stomper played by the band with young vocalist Sylvia Tella
(one of their last hits, before splitting up in the early nineties), who also co-performed "Slaves No More", a less successful single which also features here, and, last but not least, "Sweet Murder", one of the band's earlier interpretations, realized with toaster Eek-A-Mouse
(never released as a single, this popular album track was contained in their second long playing work, namely Animal Magic, which also included their very first smash hit "Digging Your Scene").
This greatest hits collection comprises many other stand-out tracks which were never taken out their respective albums, among which the fifth LP's title track "Springtime for the World", the instrumental
medley
"Vibe Alive/Reflections '89", "Squaresville", and many more.
' six studio albums, their first greatest hits collection and their first live album :
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
/ new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/ funky / Dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
band The Blow Monkeys
The Blow Monkeys
The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...
. Led by singer, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and keyboard player
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
Dr. Robert, the group formed in the early eighties and disbanded in 1990. After that, Dr. Robert went on to pursue a solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
career. The Blow Monkeys recently reformed, with the aim of touring and releasing a brand new album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
.
The 36 tracks included on this double compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
were originally featured on the band's fifth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s, and most of them were also released as singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, the most successful ones including "It Doesn't Have to Be This Way" (which reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in 1987, their highest position ever), and "Digging Your Scene" (climbing to Number 12 in 1986, this song represented their first British, American and worldwide hit, also making it to Number 14 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, Number 7 in the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
, and Number 25 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
).
Another Top Ten track was the smash hit "Wait", a duet which got to Number 7, and was only credited to the leader Dr. Robert, as Robert Howard (his real name), and Chicago house
Chicago house
Chicago house is a style of house music, a genre of electronic dance music which emerged in Chicago in the mid-1980s. Stylistically, Chicago house has no widely accepted definition, but generally includes the first house music productions by Chicago-based artists throughout the 1980s, and any later...
diva
Diva
A diva is a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of diva is closely related to that of "prima donna"....
Kym Mazelle
Kym Mazelle
Kym Mazelle is an American dance-pop, Hi-NRG, soul, and house singer. She was brought up and lived on the same street as the Jackson family and knew Michael Jackson's mother and uncle.-Career:...
, though it was actually played by the whole group and featured on their fourth studio album Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood
Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood (album)
Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood was The Blow Monkeys' 1989 follow-up album to She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter, released two years before....
.
Five more duets are contained in the 2008 double greatest hits album, including the politically censored "Celebrate (The Day After You)", sung with soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
legend Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
(it came out at the time of 1987 re-election, when then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
was heavily being attacked by many British musical acts, including The Blow Monkeys), "Be Not Afraid", a heartfelt interpretation of Robert with amazing Arabian
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
singer Cheb Khaled (the description of how this song actually came into being is one of the few things Howard wrote in the booklet to a less recent double compilation), "Choice?", a house
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
stomper played by the band with young vocalist Sylvia Tella
Sylvia Tella
Sylvia Tella is a British lovers rock singer, who after working as a vocalist for Boney M embarked on a successful solo career, releasing her first album in 1981. She had a top 40 hit in 1989 in collaboration with the Blow Monkeys.-Biography:Born c.1960 in Manchester, England, Tella's career began...
(one of their last hits, before splitting up in the early nineties), who also co-performed "Slaves No More", a less successful single which also features here, and, last but not least, "Sweet Murder", one of the band's earlier interpretations, realized with toaster Eek-A-Mouse
Eek-a-Mouse
Eek-A-Mouse is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the early artists to be described as a "singjay".-Biography:...
(never released as a single, this popular album track was contained in their second long playing work, namely Animal Magic, which also included their very first smash hit "Digging Your Scene").
This greatest hits collection comprises many other stand-out tracks which were never taken out their respective albums, among which the fifth LP's title track "Springtime for the World", the instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
"Vibe Alive/Reflections '89", "Squaresville", and many more.
CD 1
- "Digging Your Scene"
- "Celebrate (The Day After You)" - The Blow MonkeysThe Blow MonkeysThe Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...
& Curtis MayfieldCurtis MayfieldCurtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly... - "Wait" - Robert Howard & Kym MazelleKym MazelleKym Mazelle is an American dance-pop, Hi-NRG, soul, and house singer. She was brought up and lived on the same street as the Jackson family and knew Michael Jackson's mother and uncle.-Career:...
- "It Doesn't Have to Be This Way"
- "Springtime for the World"
- "Be Not Afraid" - The Blow Monkeys & Cheb Khaled
- "Vibe Alive/Reflections '89"
- "As the Dust Settles"
- "La Passionara"
- "This Is Your Life (1988 mix)"
- "Choice?" - The Blow Monkeys & Sylvia Tella
- "Slaves No More" - The Blow Monkeys & Sylvia Tella
- "Out with Her"
- "Heaven Is a Place"
- "In Too Deep"
- "Let the People Dance"
- "Checking Out"
- "If You Love Somebody"
CD 2
- "Man from Russia"
- "He's Shedding Skin"
- "Atomic Lullaby"
- "Wildflower"
- "Wicked Ways"
- "Forbidden Fruit"
- "Squaresville"
- "It Pays to Belong"
- "Trashtown Incident"
- "Fat Cat Belusha"
- "Bombed into the Stoneage"
- "Aeroplane City Lovesong"
- "I Backed a Winner in You"
- "I Nearly Died Laughing"
- "Come on Down"
- "Sweet Murder" - The Blow Monkeys & Eek-A-MouseEek-a-MouseEek-A-Mouse is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the early artists to be described as a "singjay".-Biography:...
- "Rise Above"
- "The Other Side of You"
Band members
- Dr Robert: lead vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, musicMusicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, lyricsLyricsLyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
, bookBookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
let - Mick Anker: bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Tony Kiley: drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Neville Henry: saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
Production
- Dr. Robert
- Adam Moseley
- Peter Wilson
- Michael Baker & The Axeman
- Stephen Hague
- Juan Atkins
- Paul Witts/Egor
- Hector
Other staff members
For the other musicians, producers and staff in detail, see The Blow MonkeysThe Blow Monkeys
The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...
' six studio albums, their first greatest hits collection and their first live album :
- Limping for a GenerationLimping for a GenerationLimping for a Generation was the 1984 debut album by the British band, The Blow Monkeys.In the booklet to 1999 Atomic Lullabies - Very Best of The Blow Monkeys, the leader Dr. Robert writes down that, even if it was "Digging Your Scene", from the band's second album, Animal Magic, "that opened the...
(19841984 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
) - Animal Magic (19861986 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
) - She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter (19871987 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
) - Whoops! There Goes the NeighbourhoodWhoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood (album)Whoops! There Goes the Neighbourhood was The Blow Monkeys' 1989 follow-up album to She Was Only A Grocer's Daughter, released two years before....
(19881988 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1988.-January-March:* January 1 – André Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra plays its first concert....
) - Choices - The Singles Collection (19891989 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
) - Springtime for the World (19891990 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990.-Events:*January 21 – MTV's Unplugged premieres on cable television with British band Squeeze...
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)