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Gnarls Barkley

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Gnarls Barkley

Gnarls Barkley is a musical collaboration between multi-instrumentalist and producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) from New York, and rapper/vocalist Cee-Lo Green (Thomas Callaway), from Atlanta. Their first album, St. Elsewhere, was released by Warner Music on April 24 2006 in the UK and on May 9 in the US by Atlantic/Downtown Records. It was made available for download one week earlier in the US via the iTunes Music Store and other online download stores. Their first hit, "Crazy", was the biggest-selling single in the UK in 2006.

Career

Prior to their collaboration, both had their own lengthy careers.

Cee-lo first entered the music scene as part of the Atlanta hip-hop group Goodie Mob which had a large hand in the Dirty South Movement of the 1990s. Cee-Lo left the group after their third album in 1999 and started his solo career. He released two solo albums, one in 2002, and one in 2004. In 2006 his former record label released a Cee-Lo's greatest hits album to ride the success of Gnarls Barkley.

Danger Mouse has produced for a number of hip-hop artists, and he produced Gorillaz' Grammy winning album Demon Days. He garnered national attention for his Grey Album, which blended samples from Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' White Album.

"Crazy", the duo's first single, gained some of its popularity due to its use on primetime BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's television advert, and it was also made Record of the Week by Ken Bruce of BBC Radio 2, Scott Mills and Jo Whiley of BBC Radio 1 as well as being made 'Weekend Anthem' by DJ Spoony and Sara Cox (also of Radio 1).They came together in 2003 when Cee-Lo was on tour and Danger Mouse happened to be the DJ. They became Gnarls Barkley. They were signed to Downtown Records by Josh Deutsch, after the song was presented to him by Danger Mouse's manager.[1] It was released as a single on April 3 2006, preceded by its release as digital download and 12" Vinyl record single in March 2006.

In making their American television debut on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on May 24, 2006, the band performed their smash hit, "Crazy". The band performed along with Christina Aguilera, AFI, and Wolfmother at the MTV Movie Awards 2006 June 8 2006 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[2]. They were dressed as characters from the film series Star Wars: Rebel Alliance pilots, Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Jango Fett, Obi-Wan, with Cee-Lo singing as an unmasked Darth Vader.

In October 2006, Gnarls Barkley recorded a live session for Live from Abbey Road at Abbey Road Studios.

Burton explains the collaboration's name came from friends, "making up fictional celebrity names like Prince Gnarls and Bob Gnarley." When someone came up with Gnarls Barkley, Burton wrote it down.

"Crazy" is the first ever single to top the UK singles chart purely on download sales as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. [3] It is also the first single to top the UK singles chart for nine weeks consecutively since 1994 when Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" was number one for 15 weeks (the last song to spend exactly nine weeks on top was "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood in 1984). It has also equaled the Queen 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks. Crazy is also the longest number-one on the UK Official Download Chart with its stay lasting eleven consecutive weeks. Gnarls Barkley announced that as the record had spent its ninth week at number one, it was to be deleted as a vinyl/CD listing from May 28, 2006 so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it".[4]

Prior to their collaboration as Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse and Cee Lo both worked on the single "What You Sittin' On?", available on The Wired CD under a Creative Commons license as well as "Benzie Box" from the album The Mouse and the Mask by Dangerdoom released 2005 on Epitaph Records.

St. Elsewhere has been certified Platinum by the RIAA for selling over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S.

A limited edition deluxe package of St. Elsewhere was released on November 7, 2006. The CD+DVD package includes a 92-page booklet, four music videos and bonus songs from live performances. From January until March of 2007, they toured with the Red Hot Chili Peppers through the United States of America. [2]

They did a collaborative short film in both the Spring of 2006 and 2007 with the international TV series Kung Faux which airs heavily on Channel V around the world, and they also toured Australia in March and April 2007 as part of the Channel V Festival. Gnarls Barkley are currently working on their second album.[5]

Awards

File:GnarlsBarkleyAvalon.jpg
Gnarls Barkley on-stage in Boston, August 11, 2006.

Gnarls Barkley won Best Song (for "Crazy") and the Future Sounds award at MTV's European Music Awards 2006 in Copenhagen.

The duo won two Grammy awards in 2007 for Best Urban/Alternative Performance ("Crazy") and Best Alternative Music Album ("St. Elsewhere").[6]

2007 BET Award for Best Group (Win)

Costumes

Gnarls Barkley has a propensity to appear in costume. For each live performance, as well as each photo shoot and interviews, the duo and their backing band dress in a different set of themed costumes. When performing live, the group will often open with a cover suited to their particular costume. For example, when they appeared as chefs in San Francisco, they opened with a cover of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Here is a partial list of costumes the group has worn in concert:

In photo shoots, as well as in the "Smiley Faces" video and various concerts, the group mimics a classic movie. Here is a partial list of movies and/or movie characters they have referenced in publicity photos or otherwise:

Discography

Albums

Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
U.S Adult Top 40 U.S Modern Rock UK IRL AUS NZ GER FRA ITA EU WW
2006 "Crazy" 2 1 7 1 1 2 1 3 3 2 1 2
St. Elsewhere
"Smiley Faces" – – – 10 9 38 – 32 – – – –
"Who Cares?" – – – 60 1 – – – – – – – –
"Gone Daddy Gone" – 35 26 – – – – – – – –

1 "Who Cares?" and "Gone Daddy Gone" were released as a Double A-Side single in the UK

See also

References

  1. ^ "Interview - Josh Deutsch, A&R for Gnarls Barkley (No.1 UK) - Sep 04, 2006". HitQuarters. Retrieved November 9. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "Crazy song makes musical history". BBC News. Retrieved April 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ "Gnarls Go Out On Top". The Daily Record. Retrieved May 28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1559807/20070516/id_0.jhtml
  6. ^ CNN.com, February 11, 2007


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