World Party
Encyclopedia
World Party is a British
pop
/alternative rock
band, which is essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger
. He started the band in 1986 in London
after leaving The Waterboys
.
performance of The Rocky Horror Show
, Wallinger joined a funk band dubbed The Out, before signing on with Mike Scott
's Waterboys in 1984 to record the album
A Pagan Place
. After 1985's This Is the Sea
, Wallinger departed to form World Party.
Recorded at Wallinger's home in 1986, his debut album Private Revolution
yielded two minor hits
in the UK
, "Private Revolution" and "Ship of Fools
". "Ship Of Fools", however, would do much better outside the UK — it reached no. 4 in Australia
, no. 21 in New Zealand, and no. 27 in the US
, in the process becoming the act's only major international hit.
Between World Party's first and second albums, Wallinger aided Sinéad O'Connor
in recording her 1988 debut, The Lion and the Cobra
. O'Connor, then an unknown, had appeared as a guest on World Party's first album. She would go on to appear as a guest on the second LP as well.
Goodbye Jumbo, World Party's second album, contained the minor UK hit singles "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box". Wallinger collaborated with fellow songwriter
Guy Chambers
on some of the tracks. Goodbye Jumbo was voted "album of the year" by Q
magazine and was nominated for a Grammy Award
for "best alternative music performance" in the US.
After the 1991 EP
Thank You World (including a cover
of The Beatles
' "Happiness Is a Warm Gun
"), Wallinger recruited guitarist David Catlin-Birch
and drummer Chris Sharrock
as fully-fledged members for 1993's hit album Bang!
. It reached no. 2 in the UK Albums Chart
, with the track "Is It Like Today?" (no. 19 on the UK Singles Chart
) also becoming a moderately successful single in Europe
. The success of Bang! saw World Party in the line-up for the Glastonbury Festival
.
In 1994, World Party recorded "When You Come Back to Me" for the Reality Bites
soundtrack
.
Their fourth album, Egyptology
(1997), written following the death of Wallinger's mother, was commercially disastrous, although "She's the One" won an Ivor Novello Award and was subsequently recorded by Robbie Williams
. Wallinger took a three-year break from World Party, before the release of Dumbing Up
in 2000. However, in February 2001 he was struck down by an aneurysm
that left him unable to speak.
After a long, five-year rehabilitation, in 2006 Wallinger re-emerged onto the scene. With his back catalogue reclaimed from EMI, a distribution deal was struck (via his own Seaview label) with Universal, and he played his first live show in a decade at the Austin, Texas
-based South by Southwest
festival. He played additional US dates in 2006. Big Blue Ball
, a joint project with Peter Gabriel
with production work by Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, New Order) has also been released.
In September 2007, World Party supported Steely Dan
in their first tour of Australia
.
In 2011 the band returned to the South by Southwest festival to play a free concert in which they opened for Blue October
.
, Bob Dylan
, The Beach Boys
, Junior Walker, Neil Young
and Prince
. He sings and plays most of the instruments himself, using multi-tracking to create the studio sound. Lyrically, many of his songs feature thoughtful and occasionally political sentiments.
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
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band, which is essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger
Karl Wallinger
Karl Edmond De Vere Wallinger is a Welsh musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for leading the band World Party and for his mid-1980s stint in The Waterboys...
. He started the band in 1986 in 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...
after leaving The Waterboys
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a band formed in 1983 by Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England. Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Spiddal, New York, and Findhorn have all served as homes for the group. The band has played in a...
.
Career
After a stint as musical director of a West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
performance of The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show
The Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
, Wallinger joined a funk band dubbed The Out, before signing on with Mike Scott
Mike Scott (musician)
Michael 'Mike' Scott is the founding member, lead singer and chief songwriter of rock band The Waterboys. He has also produced two solo albums, Bring 'em All In and Still Burning...
's Waterboys in 1984 to record the 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...
A Pagan Place
A Pagan Place
A Pagan Place was an album released in June 1984 by The Waterboys. It was the first Waterboys record with Karl Wallinger as part of the band and also includes Roddy Lorimer's first trumpet solo for the band on the track "A Pagan Place"....
. After 1985's This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea
This Is the Sea is the third and last of The Waterboys' "Big Music" albums. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment", it was the first Waterboys album to enter the United Kingdom charts, peaking at number...
, Wallinger departed to form World Party.
Recorded at Wallinger's home in 1986, his debut album Private Revolution
Private Revolution
Private Revolution is the 1986 debut album by the British rock band World Party. At this point, singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger was the only member of World Party, and the only person pictured on the cover....
yielded two minor hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
in the UK
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...
, "Private Revolution" and "Ship of Fools
Ship of Fools (World Party song)
"Ship of Fools" is a rock song performed by World Party. It was written and produced by singer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger, formerly of The Waterboys. Wallinger is the sole member of World Party....
". "Ship Of Fools", however, would do much better outside the UK — it reached no. 4 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, no. 21 in New Zealand, and no. 27 in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, in the process becoming the act's only major international hit.
Between World Party's first and second albums, Wallinger aided Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad O'Connor
Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
in recording her 1988 debut, The Lion and the Cobra
The Lion and the Cobra
The Lion and the Cobra is the 1987 debut album by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. O'Connor, age 20 at the time, recorded the album while heavily pregnant with her first child....
. O'Connor, then an unknown, had appeared as a guest on World Party's first album. She would go on to appear as a guest on the second LP as well.
Goodbye Jumbo, World Party's second album, contained the minor UK hit singles "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box". Wallinger collaborated with fellow songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers
Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...
on some of the tracks. Goodbye Jumbo was voted "album of the year" by Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine and was nominated for a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for "best alternative music performance" in the US.
After the 1991 EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Thank You World (including a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Happiness Is a Warm Gun
"Happiness Is a Warm Gun" is a song by The Beatles, featured on the eponymous double-disc album The Beatles, also known as The White Album...
"), Wallinger recruited guitarist David Catlin-Birch
David Catlin-Birch
David Catlin-Birch is a British musician, most notably as the World Party bassist, including their "Is It Like Today" track from No.1 album Bang, and the original and most recent Paul for leading Beatles tribute The Bootleg Beatles....
and drummer Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock
Chris Sharrock is an English drummer from Bebington, Merseyside, England who has a long history of being an official member of many noted British bands, including The Icicle Works, The La's, The Wild Swans, World Party, The Lightning Seeds, The Robbie Williams Band, Oasis, and Beady...
as fully-fledged members for 1993's hit album Bang!
Bang! (World Party album)
Bang! is the third album by British group World Party. While previous World Party albums were essentially solo projects by one-man orchestra Karl Wallinger, for this album World Party officially became a three person group: Wallinger , Dave Catlin-Birch , and Chris Sharrock...
. It reached no. 2 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, with the track "Is It Like Today?" (no. 19 on 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 ...
) also becoming a moderately successful single in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The success of Bang! saw World Party in the line-up for the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
.
In 1994, World Party recorded "When You Come Back to Me" for the Reality Bites
Reality Bites
Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy-drama film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The film was shot on location in Austin...
soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
.
Their fourth album, Egyptology
Egyptology (album)
Egyptology is an album by World Party released in 1997, re-released in 2006. It contained the #31 British single "Beautiful Dream" and the award-winning She's the One, among other songs...
(1997), written following the death of Wallinger's mother, was commercially disastrous, although "She's the One" won an Ivor Novello Award and was subsequently recorded by Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
. Wallinger took a three-year break from World Party, before the release of Dumbing Up
Dumbing Up
Dumbing Up is an album by World Party released in 2000 and then re-released with a special DVD and new track listing in 2006.-2000 Release:#Here Comes the Future #What Does It Mean Now? #Another 1000 Years #High Love...
in 2000. However, in February 2001 he was struck down by an aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...
that left him unable to speak.
After a long, five-year rehabilitation, in 2006 Wallinger re-emerged onto the scene. With his back catalogue reclaimed from EMI, a distribution deal was struck (via his own Seaview label) with Universal, and he played his first live show in a decade at the Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
-based South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
festival. He played additional US dates in 2006. Big Blue Ball
Big Blue Ball
Big Blue Ball is an album by multiple artists which "grew from 3 recording weeks" at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in the summers of 1991, 1992, and 1995. It is Peter Gabriel's fourteenth album project overall....
, a joint project with Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
with production work by Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys, New Order) has also been released.
In September 2007, World Party supported Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
in their first tour of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
In 2011 the band returned to the South by Southwest festival to play a free concert in which they opened for Blue October
Blue October
Blue October is a rock band from Houston, Texas. The band was formed in 1995 and currently consists of Justin Furstenfeld , Jeremy Furstenfeld , Ryan Delahoussaye , Matt Noveskey , and Julian Mandrake .-History:Blue October was formed by lead...
.
Music
Wallinger cites influences such as The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Junior Walker, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
. He sings and plays most of the instruments himself, using multi-tracking to create the studio sound. Lyrically, many of his songs feature thoughtful and occasionally political sentiments.
Albums
- Private RevolutionPrivate RevolutionPrivate Revolution is the 1986 debut album by the British rock band World Party. At this point, singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger was the only member of World Party, and the only person pictured on the cover....
(1986) - Goodbye JumboGoodbye JumboGoodbye Jumbo is the second album by World Party. Released in 1990, the album was essentially a solo project by Karl Wallinger, aided by a number of guest artists, including Sinéad O'Connor and former members of The Waterboys. The album was voted Album of the Year by Q magazine in 1990. In 2000, Q...
(1990) - Bang!Bang! (World Party album)Bang! is the third album by British group World Party. While previous World Party albums were essentially solo projects by one-man orchestra Karl Wallinger, for this album World Party officially became a three person group: Wallinger , Dave Catlin-Birch , and Chris Sharrock...
(1993) - EgyptologyEgyptology (album)Egyptology is an album by World Party released in 1997, re-released in 2006. It contained the #31 British single "Beautiful Dream" and the award-winning She's the One, among other songs...
(1997) - Dumbing UpDumbing UpDumbing Up is an album by World Party released in 2000 and then re-released with a special DVD and new track listing in 2006.-2000 Release:#Here Comes the Future #What Does It Mean Now? #Another 1000 Years #High Love...
(2000) - Dumbing UpDumbing UpDumbing Up is an album by World Party released in 2000 and then re-released with a special DVD and new track listing in 2006.-2000 Release:#Here Comes the Future #What Does It Mean Now? #Another 1000 Years #High Love...
(2006) (limited edition with bonus DVDDVDA DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
) - Best in Show (2007) (greatest hitsGreatest hitsA greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
compilationCompilation albumA 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...
)
Hit singles
- "Ship of Fools" (February 1987): no. 42 (UKUK Singles ChartThe 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 ...
), no. 4 (AUSAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
); no. 27 (USBillboard Hot 100The 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...
) - "Message in the Box" (May 1990): no. 39 (UK); no. 8 (US Modern Rock)
- "Way Down Now" (August 1990): no. 66 (UK), no. 1 (US Modern Rock)
- "Thank You World" (April 1991): no. 68 (UK)
- "Is It Like Today" (March 1993): no. 19 (UK); no. 52 (GERGermanyGermany , 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...
); no. 5 (US Modern Rock) - "Give It All Away": (July 1993): no. 43 (UK)
- "All I Gave" (September 1993): no. 37 (UK)
- "Beautiful Dream" (May 1997): no. 31 (UK)
- "She's the One" (Nov 1999): no. 1 (UK) (when covered by Robbie WilliamsRobbie WilliamsRobert Peter "Robbie" Williams is an English singer-songwriter, vocal coach and occasional actor. He is a member of the pop group Take That. Williams rose to fame in the band's first run in the early- to mid-1990s. After many disagreements with the management and certain group members, Williams...
)