Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop[1] band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seven UK top 20 hits.

History

Fun Boy Three reduced the ska sound that they and Jerry Dammers had crafted with great success with the Specials and initially took a more minimal approach with the focus on percussion and vocals.[2] For their second album they assembled a six-piece backing group including a cellist and a trombone player, allowing the record to feature more diverse and expansive arrangements, and also enabling them to play live instead of being a purely studio group as previously. The band enjoyed six UK top 20 singles, starting with "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" and including the top 10 hits "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)", "Tunnel of Love" and "Our Lips Are Sealed".[3] They created two albums of which the eponymous The Fun Boy Three was the more successful. The follow-up album Waiting, produced by Scottish-American singer David Byrne, was well-received critically.[4][5][6]

Following the trio's last UK hit "Our Lips Are Sealed", co-written by Terry Hall and Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's, who had a U.S. hit with the song a year earlier, they then toured the United States and split afterwards.[citation needed]

They were credited with helping launch the career in 1982 of Bananarama, whom Hall first saw in The Face magazine.[citation needed] The three women provided credited chorus vocals on the hit "It 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", both reaching the top 5 in the UK.[3]

Discography

Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
Title Details Chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[7][8]
AUS
[9]
NL
[10]
NZ
[11]
US
The Fun Boy Three 7 84 10 17
Waiting
  • Released: February 1983
  • Label: Chrysalis
14 47 11 104
"–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Live albums

List of live albums, with selected details
Title Details
Live on the Test
  • Released: 1994
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Windsong International
  • Note recorded 1983

Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details
Title Details
The Best of Fun Boy Three
  • Released: 1984
  • Format: LP, CS
  • Label: Chrysalis
Really Saying Something: The Best of Fun Boy
  • Released: 1997
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Chrysalis
The Complete Fun Boy Three
  • Released: 4 August 2023
  • Format: 5×CD + DVD
  • Label: Chrysalis Catalogue

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[7][14]
AUS
[9]
IRL
[15]
NL
[10]
NZ
[11]
US Club Play
1981 "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" 20 43 28 46 Fun Boy Three
1982 "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" (Fun Boy Three with Bananarama) 4[7] 55 5 3 37 49
"Really Saying Something" (Bananarama with Fun Boy Three) 5[7] 74 9 16 16 Deep Sea Skiving (Bananarama album)
"The Telephone Always Rings" 17 29 49 Fun Boy Three
"Summertime" 18 13
"The More I See (The Less I Believe)" 68 Waiting
1983 "The Tunnel of Love" 10 14 38
"Our Lips Are Sealed" 7 13
"The Farm Yard Connection" (Germany only)
"–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

  1. ^ a b Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio
  2. ^ Green, Jim & Robbins, Ira "Fun Boy Three", Trouser Press, retrieved 27 January 2010
  3. ^ a b "Fun Boy Three". Official Charts.
  4. ^ Review from Allmusic
  5. ^ Fun Boy Three from Christgau's website
  6. ^ Robert Palmer (10 August 1983). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d "Fun Boy Three | Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 216. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives: Australian Chart Book. p. 119. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ a b "charts.org.nz - Discografie Fun Boy Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  11. ^ a b "charts.nz - Discography Fun Boy Three". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  12. ^ "Albums in the Year 1982". © 2007-9, Steve Hawtin et al. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  13. ^ a b c "British certificates: searchable database". bpi.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  14. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 519. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts". IRMA 2006 - 2008. Archived from the original on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

External links

  1. Live @ Isle Of Wight Festival, UK 15 06 2019 - Fatboy Slim 01:12:50
  2. Live @ S2O Festival, Bangkok, Thailand 13 04 2019 - Fatboy Slim 01:08:38
  3. UK TOUR 2019 - Birmingham, UK [EXTRACTS] 22 02 2019 - Fatboy Slim 42:48
  4. Brighton Rooftop B2B Set 30 11 2018 - Fatboy Eats 01:40:26
  5. Live @ Creamfields 2018, UK 26 08 2018 - Fatboy Slim 31:37
  6. Live @ Tomorrowland, Freedom Stage (Week End 2) , Belgium 28 07 2018 - Fatboy Slim 01:27:45
  7. Live @ British Airways i360, Brighton, UK 30 07 2018 - Fatboy Slim 01:29:55
  8. Live @ Tomorrowland, Belgium 21 07 2018 - Fatboy Slim 01:26:30
  9. Live @ Tuesdays On Mars, Pacha Ibiza, Spain 03 07 2018 - Fatboy Slim 03:04:03
  10. All Night Long - Pacha Ibiza 19 05 2018 - Fatboy Slim 05:16:00
  11. Record Store Day Desert Island Disco Mix, BBC 6 Music, UK 15 04 2016 - Fatboy Slim 28:31
  12. Beat Up The NME 60 Knockout Minutes (1997) Fatboy Slim 01:00:47
  13. Live @ Electric Gardens, Serafino Winery, Adelaide, Australia [EXTRACTS] 26 01 2018 - Fatboy Slim 01:04:05
  14. Live @ Hultsfred, Sweden 14 06 1997 - Fatboy Slim 01:03:14
  15. Live @ Personal Fest '17, Buenos Aires, Argentina 12 11 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:34:54
  16. Live @ Beats for Love 2017 Festival in Ostrava, Czech Republic 05 07 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:14:04
  17. Live @ Ultra Music Festival 2012, Miami, USA 24 03 2012 - Fatboy Slim 58:51
  18. Live @ Float Your Boat, Ibiza, Spain 21 09 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:30:48
  19. Live @ Brixton Academy, London, UK [EXTRACTS] 20 12 2014 - Fatboy Slim 01:00:00
  20. Live @ Creamfields 2017, Liverpool, UK 27 08 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:31:43
  21. Live @ Café Mambo, Ibiza, Spain 05 08 2017 - Fatboy Slim 38:21
  22. Live @ Tomorrowland Festival 2017,Lost Frequencies & Friends Stage,Belgium 29 07 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:25:04
  23. Live At National Cardiff 01 01 2000 - Fatboy Slim 01:13:23
  24. Live @ Super Bock Super Rock Festival, Lisbon, Portugal 15 07 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:30:31
  25. Live @ Kappa Futur Festival, Torino, Italy 08 07 2017 - Fatboy Slim 01:29:26
  26. Live @ Electric Daisy Carnival, Tokyo, Japan 29 04 2017 - Fatboy Slim 30:25
  27. EDC Japan 2017 Mix Fatboy Slim 01:00:00
  28. Live @ Santa Cruz Boat Party, Ibiza, Spain 15 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:40:46
  29. Live @ The O² Arena, London, UK 17 12 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:28:37
  30. Beats 1 Radio Show #8 16 12 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:20
  31. Beats 1 Radio Show #7 02 12 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:56
  32. Beats 1 Radio Show #6 18 11 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:33
  33. Beats 1 Radio Show #5 04 11 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:25
  34. Beats 1 Radio Show #4 21 10 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:43
  35. Beats 1 Radio Show #3 07 10 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:51:05
  36. Beats 1 Radio Show #2 23 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:58:05
  37. Beats 1 Radio Show #1 09 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:49:55
  38. DJ SET WMF, Berlin, Germany 29 09 2000 - Fatboy Slim 01:49:50
  39. BACK TO THE ODD SCHOOL feat. FATBOY SLIM's Desert Eagle Disc top ten 27 11 2016 03:00:42
  40. Essential Millennium 1999 (Disc 2) Fatboy Slim 01:16:05
  41. Live @ Boiler Room, Brighton, UK 11 10 2016 - Fatboy Slim 02:55:40
  42. One Mix: Fatboy Slim - Ep27 20 01 2016 - Beats 1 59:55
  43. Live @ Bestival 2016, Essential Mix, BBC Radio 1, UK 17 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:59:48
  44. Celebrating 20 years of Better Living @ The Social, London, UK 13 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 29:09
  45. Live At Carl Cox: Music Is Revolution, Space, Ibiza, Spain 10 08 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:57:43
  46. Live On A Night with Annie Nightingale, Maida Vale Studio, BBC Radio 1,UK 09 09 2010 - Fatboy Slim 21:29
  47. Live @ The House Of Blues, New Orleans, USA 25 03 2000 - Fatboy Slim 02:00:03
  48. Live @ Glastonbury 2016, UK 25 06 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:25:32
  49. From Punk Get Funk, BBC Radio 2, UK 06 06 2016 - Norman Cook 56:20
  50. Live @ The Metro, Chicago, USA 03 03 1998 – Fatboy Slim 02:03:33
  51. Live @ Club Cream 10th Birthday Special, Liverpool, UK 12 10 2002 - Fatboy Slim 41:51
  52. Live @ The Ultimate FSTVL House Party, Brighton, UK 21 04 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:30:20
  53. Live @ HARD Haunted Mansion, Shrine Expo Hall, Los Angeles, USA 28 10 2011 - Fatboy Slim 01:11:55
  54. We Are 30 Mixed By Fatboy Slim (2013) Mixmag 01:05:29
  55. Fatboy Slim - The Legend Returns (2010) Mixmag 50:59
  56. Live At Newquay Beach, Essential Selection, BBC Radio 1, UK 21 06 2002 - Fatboy Slim & Eric Morillo 01:29:08