Fun Boy Three
Encyclopedia
Fun Boy Three were a short-lived but successful English
New Wave Pop
band which ran from 1981 to 1983 and was formed by singers Terry Hall
, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding
after they left The Specials
.
had crafted with great success in the ska
revival of the late 1970s and went into a much brighter, poppier phase with this new band, though maintaining savagery and wit within the lyrics
and Hall's wholly expressionless persona.
Together, they set about making music which covered a variety of genre
s. The band enjoyed six UK Top 20 hits, including "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" and "Tunnel of Love" and created two albums of which the eponymous Fun Boy Three
was the most successful.
The trio's last UK hit was "Our Lips Are Sealed
" from the album Waiting
, co-written by Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin
of The Go-Go's
, who had scored a U.S. hit with the song a year earlier. They then toured the United States
and split afterwards.
They were also credited with helping launch the career in 1982 of Bananarama
, whom Hall first saw in The Face
magazine. The three women provided credited chorus
vocals on the hit "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)
"; the Fun Boy Three later sang on the Bananarama song "Really Saying Something".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
New Wave Pop
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...
band which ran from 1981 to 1983 and was formed by singers Terry Hall
Terry Hall (singer)
Terry Hall is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and has also collaborated with many artists including David A...
, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding
Lynval Golding
Lynval Golding is a British musician. He is best known as a rhythm guitarist and vocalist with the British 2 Tone Records band, The Specials....
after they left The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...
.
History
They dispensed with the darker, moody sound and demeanour which they and Jerry DammersJerry Dammers
Jeremy David Hounsell "Jerry" Dammers is a British musician who is a founder and keyboard player of the Coventry, England based ska revival band The Specials, The Special A.K.A...
had crafted with great success in the ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
revival of the late 1970s and went into a much brighter, poppier phase with this new band, though maintaining savagery and wit within the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics 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...
and Hall's wholly expressionless persona.
Together, they set about making music which covered a variety of genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s. The band enjoyed six UK Top 20 hits, including "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" and "Tunnel of Love" and created two albums of which the eponymous Fun Boy Three
Fun Boy Three (album)
Fun Boy Three is the debut album by Fun Boy Three, a band consisting of three ex-members of the UK ska band The Specials: Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding. It was released in 1982 and was re-released in 1999 as Fame...
was the most successful.
The trio's last UK hit was "Our Lips Are Sealed
Our Lips Are Sealed
"Our Lips are Sealed" is a song written by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. It was first recorded by The Go-Go's as the opening track on their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat and served as their debut American single...
" from the album Waiting
Waiting (Fun Boy Three album)
Waiting is the second and final studio album by the Fun Boy Three. It was released in 1983 and featured the hit single "Our Lips Are Sealed," co-written by Terry Hall and previously performed by The Go-Go's....
, co-written by Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin
Jane Wiedlin
Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and actress. She is best known as the rhythm guitarist of the all-female New Wave band The Go-Go's.-Early life:...
of The Go-Go's
The Go-Go's
The Go-Go’s are an all-female American rock band formed in 1978. They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts....
, who had scored a U.S. hit with the song a year earlier. They then toured the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and split afterwards.
They were also credited with helping launch the career in 1982 of Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, whom Hall first saw in The Face
The Face (magazine)
The Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
magazine. The three women provided credited chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
vocals on the hit "T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)
T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)
"It Ain't What You Do " is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald. The "shim-sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song.-Cover versions:The jazz tune...
"; the Fun Boy Three later sang on the Bananarama song "Really Saying Something".
Albums
| Year | Album details | Chart positions | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK 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... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
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| 1982 | Fun Boy Three Fun Boy Three (album) Fun Boy Three is the debut album by Fun Boy Three, a band consisting of three ex-members of the UK ska band The Specials: Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding. It was released in 1982 and was re-released in 1999 as Fame...
|
7 | 10 | 17 | – |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Gold |
| 1983 | Waiting Waiting (Fun Boy Three album) Waiting is the second and final studio album by the Fun Boy Three. It was released in 1983 and featured the hit single "Our Lips Are Sealed," co-written by Terry Hall and previously performed by The Go-Go's.... |
14 | 47 | 11 | 104 |
British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Silver |
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||
Compilation albums
- The Best of Fun Boy Three (1984)
- Fun Boy Three - The Best of (1996)
- Really Saying Something: The Best of Fun Boy Three (1997)
- Fun Boy Three/The Colourfield The Singles (1994)
- The Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy ThreeThe Very Best of the Specials and Fun Boy ThreeThe Very Best of The Specials and Fun Boy Three is an unofficial greatest hits album featuring songs rerecorded by Neville Staple, a former member of both bands. No other band members were involved.-Track listing:#"Our Lips Are Sealed" The Very Best of The Specials and Fun Boy Three is an...
(2000) - The Best of the Specials & Fun Boy ThreeThe Best of the Specials & Fun Boy ThreeThe Best of the Specials & Fun Boy Three is an album by Neville Staple comprising new recordings of the greatest hits of The Specials and Fun Boy Three, released in 2006 .-Track listing:#"Our Lips Are Sealed"#"Man at C&A"...
(2006)
Singles
| Year | Title | 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... |
IRL 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... |
NL MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
NZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
US 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... |
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| 1981 | "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" | 20 | – | 28 | – | 46 | – | Fun Boy Three |
| 1982 | "It Ain't What You Do.... T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) "It Ain't What You Do " is a calypso song written by jazz musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford, Harry James, and Ella Fitzgerald. The "shim-sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song.-Cover versions:The jazz tune... " (Fun Boy Three with Bananarama Bananarama Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular... ) (UK Certification British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... : Silver) |
4 | 55 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 49 | |
| "Really Saying Something He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin is a soul song written by Motown Records songwriters Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Edward Holland, Jr. in 1964... " (Bananarama with Fun Boy Three) |
5 | 74 | 9 | 16 | – | 16 | Deep Sea Skiving (Bananarama Bananarama Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular... album) |
|
| "The Telephone Always Rings" | 17 | – | 29 | 49 | – | – | Fun Boy Three | |
| "Summertime Summertime (song) "Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP.... " |
18 | – | 13 | – | – | – | — | |
| "The More I See (The Less I Believe)" | 68 | – | – | – | – | – | Waiting | |
| 1983 | "The Tunnel of Love" | 10 | – | 14 | 38 | – | – | |
| "Our Lips Are Sealed Our Lips Are Sealed "Our Lips are Sealed" is a song written by Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin and Specials and Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall. It was first recorded by The Go-Go's as the opening track on their 1981 album Beauty and the Beat and served as their debut American single... " |
7 | – | 13 | – | – | – | ||
| "The Farm Yard Connection" | – | – | – | – | – | – | ||
| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||