The Midnight Beast
Encyclopedia
The Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British
comedy music group from London
, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American
pop artist Ke$ha
. The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.
. Abingdon is a multi-instrumentalist, and can be seen playing acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and ukeleles in YouTube videos with his various bands. Prior to the formation of TMB, Abingdon was a member of numerous non-comedic music projects, which spanned a number of genres, including Ink, Killafornia, R.U.Twin, Icarus Burning, Stefan & The Artschool, Trick Fantastic, The Clik Clik, Perfect People, and Chapters, as well as recording songs as a solo act. In 2010, Abingdon recorded Drunk Girls for the soundtrack of British crime drama 4.3.2.1
, and in 2011, Abingdon co-wrote and produced the title track for Selena Gomez & the Scene
's third studio album When the Sun Goes Down
.
, Genie in the House
, EastEnders
and Doctor Who
. He also starred in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
as a child.
, Facebook
and YouTube
, with over 280,000 subscribers and a combined 40 million views on their YouTube
channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of September 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes
music charts, and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million views on YouTube. The group has also had songs reach positions on national music charts in the U.K. and Australia.
The band and their music have achieved high levels of success not only with fans, but critics as well. Music and internet culture critics have often mentioned the band's instant "internet fame", and the transition of that fame into the real world. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com, and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.
The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha
and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down
, with Ke$ha stating "holy. shit. this is better than my version.", and Jay Sean posting "Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with "pants on the ground
"...". Ke$ha would go on to state the she wished the group had directed her own music video.
The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Ya Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International
charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines
"One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex
as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs
. The story eventually reached the front page of the paper. The music video for "Pizza in Ibiza" also attracted some mild controversy, with local publications criticizing footage of the band members tossing food into the sea around the island.
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...
comedy music group from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop artist Ke$ha
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
. The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.
Stefan Abingdon
Stefan James Donald John Abingdon (born 19 January 1989) is a graduate of The BRIT School for Performing Arts & TechnologyBRIT School
The London School for Performing Arts & Technology is a British school located in Selhurst, Croydon, in London, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible...
. Abingdon is a multi-instrumentalist, and can be seen playing acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and ukeleles in YouTube videos with his various bands. Prior to the formation of TMB, Abingdon was a member of numerous non-comedic music projects, which spanned a number of genres, including Ink, Killafornia, R.U.Twin, Icarus Burning, Stefan & The Artschool, Trick Fantastic, The Clik Clik, Perfect People, and Chapters, as well as recording songs as a solo act. In 2010, Abingdon recorded Drunk Girls for the soundtrack of British crime drama 4.3.2.1
4.3.2.1
4.3.2.1 is a British crime thriller film directed by Noel Clarke and Mark Davis, released 2 June 2010. It stars, Emma Roberts, Ophelia Lovibond, Shanika-Warren Markland, Tamsin Egerton, Adam Deacon, Ashley 'Bashy' Thomas and Noel Clarke.-Plot:...
, and in 2011, Abingdon co-wrote and produced the title track for Selena Gomez & the Scene
Selena Gomez & the Scene
Selena Gomez & the Scene is an American pop band formed in Hollywood, California in 2009. Along with lead singer and founder Selena Gomez, the band consists of bassist Joey Clement, guitarist Ethan Roberts, drummist Greg Garman and keyboardist Dane Forrest. Selena Gomez & the Scene have released...
's third studio album When the Sun Goes Down
When the Sun Goes Down (Selena Gomez & the Scene album)
When the Sun Goes Down is the third studio album by American band Selena Gomez & the Scene, released on June 28, 2011, by Hollywood Records...
.
Dru Wakely
Andrew Francis Wakely (born 10 January 1987) was also a musician prior to the formation of TMB, playing drums alongside Abingdon in Icarus Burning, The Clik Clik, and Perfect People.Ashley Horne
Ashley Neil Horne (born 4 January 1989) is the only member of the group with no known professional musical experience prior to forming TMB, although Horne can be seen playing the bass guitar in concert with the group. Horne was originally pursuing an acting career, and had bit parts in a number of British television series, including Foyle's WarFoyle's War
Foyle's War is a British detective drama television series set during World War II, created by screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz, and was commissioned by ITV after the long-running series Inspector Morse came to an end in 2000. It has aired on ITV since 2002...
, Genie in the House
Genie In The House
Genie in the House is a British situation comedy broadcast on Nickelodeon about a widowed father with two teenage daughters who find a dusty old golden lamp while exploring the loft of their new home. A quick rub of the lamp releases Adil, a trainee genie from Balamkadaar who has been confined to...
, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. He also starred in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car is a children's book written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham...
as a child.
Book
The group released a semi-autographical book titled Book at Us Now on 27th October 2011. The book included interviews with the band members, the history of The Midnight Beast, as well as exposition on the groups videos and songs. The group held book signings around the country in a promotion titled the Book at Us Now Tour.Sitcom
In 2011, it was announced that the band would star in its own, self-titled, sitcom, The Midnight Beast. The show is currently set to be broadcast in 2012 by E4. The series will consist of 6 episodes, and follow fictionalized version of the band members as they attempt to become successful musicians.Reception
The Midnight Beast have a rather large following on TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, with over 280,000 subscribers and a combined 40 million views on their YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of September 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
music charts, and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million views on YouTube. The group has also had songs reach positions on national music charts in the U.K. and Australia.
The band and their music have achieved high levels of success not only with fans, but critics as well. Music and internet culture critics have often mentioned the band's instant "internet fame", and the transition of that fame into the real world. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com, and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.
The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha
Kesha
Kesha village is a small village nestled in the mountains of Yongshun County, northwestern Hunan province, China, located at latitude 29 05' 50", longitude 109 57' 9". The name is pronounced in Standard Chinese. The official language is Manderin Chinese....
and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down
Down (Jay Sean song)
"Down" is an R&B-electropop song by British artist Jay Sean. The song was released in North America as his debut single from his first album there, All or Nothing. In other markets, including the UK, the song serves as Jay Sean's lead single from his third studio album. The single features American...
, with Ke$ha stating "holy. shit. this is better than my version.", and Jay Sean posting "Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with "pants on the ground
Pants on the Ground
"Pants on the Ground" is the first single by civil rights activist "General" Larry Platt. The song is meant to protest the practice of sagging. It was released on American King Music on February 4, 2010...
"...". Ke$ha would go on to state the she wished the group had directed her own music video.
The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Ya Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International
Marie Stopes International
Marie Stopes International is an International Non-Governmental Organisation working on Sexual and Reproductive Health with headquarters in London, UK. It is named after Marie Stopes, a Scottish author, campaigner for eugenics, women's rights, and a pioneer in the field of family planning...
charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines
"One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
. The story eventually reached the front page of the paper. The music video for "Pizza in Ibiza" also attracted some mild controversy, with local publications criticizing footage of the band members tossing food into the sea around the island.
EPs
| Year | Title | Label | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2010 | Booty Call EP Booty Call EP -Chart Positions:... |
Midnight Beast Records AWAL Records |
64 |
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK 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 ... |
AUS ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
IRE Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
|||
| 2009 | "TiK ToK Parody" | 90 | 4 | 39 | Non-album single |
| 2010 | "Down Down (Jay Sean song) "Down" is an R&B-electropop song by British artist Jay Sean. The song was released in North America as his debut single from his first album there, All or Nothing. In other markets, including the UK, the song serves as Jay Sean's lead single from his third studio album. The single features American... Parody" |
— | — | — | |
| "Ninjas" | — | — | — | ||
| "Lez Be Friends" | — | — | — | ||
| "Friends For Never" | — | — | — | ||
| "Daddy" | — | — | — | Booty Call EP Booty Call EP -Chart Positions:... |
|
| "Booty Call" | 64 | — | — | ||
| "Just Another Boy Band" | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
| 2011 | "The Dance Routine" | 48 | — | — | |
| "Pizza In Ibiza" | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that country. | |||||
Other Songs, Parodies and Skits
- Nerds and Drunk Girls, two songs originally performed as solo recordings by Abingdon; the group only plays these songs live
- XXXmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...), a holiday-themed adult parody of All I Want For Christmas Is YouAll I Want for Christmas Is You"All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released by Columbia Records on November 1, 1994 as the lead single from her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, both of whom were also the producers...
by Mariah CareyMariah CareyMariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
and Walter AfanasieffWalter AfanasieffWalter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
- Walk With Us, a comdeic skit
- Dubstep On My Mouth, a comedic skit revolving around the genre of DubstepDubstepDubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
music
- Fashion Innit, a gonzo report for MTV Rocks; Fashion Innit was included on the Booty Call EP
- House Party, a skit made for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Comedy revolving around the 2010 elections
- Camden Crawling, a gonzo report for MTV Rocks about the Camden Crawl Festival
- All Time Low Parody featuring Tom DeaconTom Deacon (comedian)Tom Deacon is a British comedian and broadcaster.He has appeared on many television programmes, including The Rob Brydon Show and Edinburgh and Beyond on the Comedy Central channel, as well as an appearance on BBC Two's Winging It and 5:19 for their youth-aimed 'Switch' programming.Currently,...
, a parody of All Time LowAll Time Low (song)"All Time Low" is a pop song by British boy band The Wanted, written by Steve Mac, Wayne Hector, Richard Jobling and Ed Drewett. It was released as their debut single in the United Kingdom on 25 July 2010 on digital download format and on 26 July 2010 on CD single format through Geffen Records. The...
by The WantedThe WantedThe Wanted are a British-Irish boy band based in London, England. The band consists of Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Their debut single, "All Time Low", was released in July 2010 and reached number one in the United Kingdom for one week...
.
- Walk With Us Xmas Special, a holiday-themed version of the original Walk With Us skit
- Use Ya Head, a sexual education-themed skit released in support of the Marie Stopes charity
- Friday Parody, a "parody" of FridayFriday (Rebecca Black song)"Friday" is a song by American recording artist Rebecca Black, written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson. It was released as a single on March 14, 2011, by Ark Music Factory as Black's debut single. The music video for the song became a viral hit due to criticism of the song's lyrics,...
by Rebecca BlackRebecca BlackRebecca Renee Black is an American pop singer who gained extensive media attention with the 2011 single "Friday". Her mother paid $4,000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release through the record label ARK Music Factory. The song was co-written and produced...
; contrary to the title, it is not a parody, but a full on cover, as in Stefan's words, 'The lyrics are already funny enough'
- E.T. Parody, a parody of E.T.E.T. (song)"E.T." is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry taken from her third studio album Teenage Dream . The song was written by Katy Perry, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, and Joshua Coleman, while the production was handled by Gottwald under his stage name Dr. Luke, Martin and Ammo. "E.T." was...
by Katy PerryKaty PerryKaty Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...
and Kanye WestKanye WestKanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
Tours
- Unnamed 2010 tour (October 17-October 25)
- Unnamed 2011 tour (February 15-February 24)
- The Wednesday Tour (June 22-August 24, 2011)
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/chapterstheband
- The Midnight Beast Fansite