World Party

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World Party
Origin London, England
Genres Pop / alternative rock
Years active 1986–present
Labels Ensign, Chrysalis, Papillon
Website World Party website
Members Karl Wallinger

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.[1]

Contents

Career [edit]

After a stint as musical director of a West End 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.[1] 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".[1] "Ship Of Fools", however, did 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".[1] 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 ex-Icicle Works 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)[1] 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, though they played their previously in 1987 & 1990.

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 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 including the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee. Big Blue Ball, a joint project with Peter Gabriel with production work by Stephen Hague was also released.

In September 2007, World Party supported Steely Dan in their first tour of Australia. The Best In Show compilation was released to celebrate the Australian tour.

2009 included an American west coast tour and galvanizing appearances at Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival and San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

In 2012 World Party released a new five CD / 70 song collection of new songs, live recordings and cover versions titled, "Arkeology" to critical acclaim. World Party toured extensively in America in 2012, and toured England for the first time in 12 years, ending with a triumphant appearance in November 2012 in London at the Royal Albert Hall.

2013 looks to bring more touring in America, England, Scotland and Canada, along with the release of new material.

Music [edit]

Wallinger cites influences such as The Beatles, 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.

Discography [edit]

Studio Albums [edit]

Compilations & reissues [edit]

Hit singles [edit]

  • "Ship of Fools" (February 1987): no. 42 (UK), no. 4 (AUS); no. 27 (US)
  • "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 (GER); 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)[1][2]
  • "She's the One" (Nov 1999): no. 1 (UK) (when covered by Robbie Williams)

Other contributions [edit]

  • Acoustic 05 (2005, Echo) — "She's the One"

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 1084. ISBN 1-84195-017-3. 
  2. ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 610. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 
World Party
Studio albums
EPs
  • Thank You World
Singles
  • "Ship of Fools"
  • "Message in the Box"
  • "Way Down Now"
  • "Thank You World"
  • "Is It Like Today?"
  • "Give It All Away"
  • "All I Gave"
  • "Beautiful Dream"
  • "She's the One"
Compilations
Related articles
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