Dumbing Up

Last updated
Dumbing Up
Dumbing Up World Party.png
Studio album by
Released30 October 2000
Genre Rock
Label Papillon [1]
Seaview [2]
Producer Karl Wallinger
World Party chronology
Egyptology
(1997)
Dumbing Up
(2000)
Best in Show
(2007)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Dumbing Up is the fifth and final studio album by World Party, released in 2000 on Karl Wallinger's own record label. [4] [5]

Contents

Release

The album was re-released in 2006 with new track listing and bonus DVD with the music videos. In addition to changing the song sequence, the 2006 release of Dumbing Up drops the tracks "All the Love That's Wasted" and "Little Bit of Perfection", and replaces them with "'Til I Got You" and "I Thought You Were a Spy".

Reception

The album peaked at No. 64 on the UK Albums Chart. [6]

NPR wrote that "with great melodies and astute lyrics, Dumbing Up is cause for celebration." [7] The Guardian wrote that the songs, while tuneful, "display a dogged determination to ignore the last 30 years of pop." [8] The Washington Post thought that "once again [Wallinger] revels in Have a Nice Day-era sounds." [2]

Track listing

2000 Release

All songs written by Karl Wallinger, except "Here Comes the Future" written by Wallinger, Somerset, Gorman & Burnett.

  1. "Here Comes the Future" (4:44)
  2. "What Does It Mean Now?" (4:59)
  3. "Another 1000 Years" (5:29)
  4. "High Love" (6:51)
  5. "Best Place I've Ever Been" (3:31)
  6. "You're a Hurricane, I'm a Caravan" (4:00)
  7. "Who are You?" (5:08)
  8. "See the Light" (5:19)
  9. "Santa Barbara" (4:17)
  10. "All the Love that's Wasted" (4:33)
  11. "Little Bit of Perfection" (5:26)
  12. "Always on My Mind" (8:34)

2006 Release

  1. "Another 1000 Years" (5:30)
  2. "What Does It Mean Now?" (4:59)
  3. "'Til I Got You" (3:42)
  4. "Who Are You?" (5:06)
  5. "Here Comes the Future" (4:44)
  6. "I Thought You Were a Spy" (3:32)
  7. "High Love" (6:50)
  8. "Best Place I've Ever Been" (3:26)
  9. "Santa Barbara" (4:23)
  10. "You're a Hurricane, I'm a Caravan" (4:02)
  11. "See the Light" (5:19)
  12. "Always on My Mind" (8:34)

Related Research Articles

Aimee Mann American singer-songwriter

Aimee Elizabeth Mann is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects. Her work with the producer Jon Brion in the 1990s was influential on American alternative music.

World Party were a British musical group, which was essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger. He started the band in 1986 in London after leaving The Waterboys.

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 also wrote and originally released the song "She's the One", which was later covered by Robbie Williams and became a hit single.

Busted (band) English pop punk band

Busted are an English pop punk band from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, consisting of James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson. Formed in 2000, the band had four UK number-one singles, won two Brit awards, released four studio albums and sold over 5 million records. The band released Busted in 2002 and A Present for Everyone in 2003 before disbanding in January 2005. Following the split, all three members pursued separate musical careers: Simpson as the frontman for the post-hardcore band Fightstar, Bourne as the lead singer of pop punk band Son of Dork and Willis as a solo artist. The band reunited in 2016 and have stayed together since.

The 411 are an English girl group comprising Carolyn Owlett, Tisha Martin and Tanya Boniface. Originally a four-piece featuring Suzie Furlonger, the group formed in late 2003 after Martin and Boniface sang backing vocals on Lemar's version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together". The 411 took their name after the Mary J. Blige album What's the 411? (1992). During their time together as a group, they released one studio album, Between the Sheets and three top-forty singles before disbanding for the first time in 2005.

<i>Goodbye Jumbo</i> 1990 studio album by World Party

Goodbye Jumbo is the second studio album by British alternative rock band World Party, released on 24 April 1990 on Ensign Records.

<i>Private Revolution</i> 1987 studio album by World Party

Private Revolution is the 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.

N-Dubz British hip hop group

N-Dubz are an English hip hop trio from Camden Town, London, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed to Polydor Records before joining All Around the World. Released the following year, the trio's debut album Uncle B was certified double platinum and spawned four UK top-40 singles.

<i>Egyptology</i> (album) 1997 studio album by World Party

Egyptology is the fourth studio 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. But the album was not a commercial success, and Karl Wallinger was upset when his label, Chrysalis, used "She's the One" as a vehicle for pop artist Robbie Williams; Williams' version hit #1 on the British pop charts and won Williams several awards. Wallinger later wrote:

I was so lucky that Robbie recorded "She's the One" because it allowed me to keep going [after his aneurysm in 2000]. He nicked my pig and killed it but gave me enough bacon to live on for four years. He kept my kids in school and me in Seaview [Wallinger's recording studio] and for that I thank him.

<i>Off the Wall</i> 1979 studio album by Michael Jackson

Off the Wall is the fifth solo studio album by American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, the label he recorded under until his death in 2009, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met while working on the 1978 film The Wiz. Several critics observed that Off the Wall was crafted from disco, pop, funk, R&B, soft rock and Broadway ballads. Its lyrical themes include escapism, liberation, loneliness, hedonism and romance. The album features songwriting contributions from Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Rod Temperton, Tom Bahler, and David Foster, alongside three tracks penned by Jackson himself.

Gary Go Musical artist

Gary Baker, known professionally as Gary Go, is a British songwriter, producer, composer and media artist. He has written and produced songs performed by artists including Rihanna, Robbie Williams, Steve Angello, Benny Benassi, Gryffin, Take That, Celeste, Majid Jordan, Aloe Blacc, Sara Bareilles, Chiiild, Ruby Rose, The Knocks, Borgore, The 2 Bears, Party Pupils, Kylie, Ronan Keating, Morgxn, Simply Red, Katharine McPhee, Joseph Arthur, Thomas Azier, Carina Round, Laleh, Anthony Ramos and Juliette Lewis.

The xx British indie pop band

The xx are an English indie rock band from Wandsworth, London, formed in 2005. The band consists of Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim, Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, and formerly Baria Qureshi. They are known for their distinct and minimalist sound that blends indie rock, indie electronic, indie pop, dream pop and electro-rock and the dual vocalist setup of both Croft and Sim. Their music employs soft, echoed guitar, prominent bass, light electronic beats and ambient soundscape backgrounds.

Cher Lloyd English singer (born 1993)

Cher Lloyd is an English singer. She finished fourth place in the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. Following the seventh series finale, Lloyd was signed to Syco Music. Her debut single, "Swagger Jagger", was released in July 2011 and entered at number one on the UK Singles Chart. Lloyd's second single, "With Ur Love", was released in October 2011, and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart. Her debut studio album, Sticks and Stones, had two releases: its standard edition and a US version. The album peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, while the latter version debuted at number nine in the US Billboard 200.

Ship of Fools (World Party song) 1987 single by World Party

"Ship of Fools" is a rock song by World Party released as a second single from the 1987 debut album Private Revolution. It was written and produced by singer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger, formerly of The Waterboys. Wallinger was the sole member of World Party at the time of release.

Picking Up the Pieces (Paloma Faith song) 2012 single by Paloma Faith

"Picking Up the Pieces" is a song by English recording artist Paloma Faith from her second studio album Fall to Grace. Produced by Nellee Hooper and written by Faith, Wayne Hector and Tim Powell, it was released as the album's first single on 18 May 2012. Faith revealed "Picking Up the Pieces" was inspired by the issues and insecurity of dating someone who is recovering from a previous relationship. The artwork for the single was revealed on 5 April 2012.

Lucius (band)

Lucius is an American four-piece indie pop band. The group was founded by lead vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, joined by drummer Dan Molad, guitarist Peter Lalish, and, formerly, multi-instrumentalist Andrew Burri. Originating in Brooklyn, the band relocated to Los Angeles in 2015.

"Einstein" is a song by American recording artist Kelly Clarkson, from her fifth studio album, Stronger (2011). Originally titled as "Dumb + Dumb = You", "Einstein" was written by Clarkson, Toby Gad, Bridget Kelly, and James Fauntleroy II, with Gad handling the production. Lyrically, the song is written in a woman's first-person narrative about her acquiescence and infuriation towards her ex-lover, whom she described in the song as "dumb". Written in wordplay, it uses various mathematical-related equations and topics as rhetorical devices to describe their relationship, notably referencing the German-born physicist Albert Einstein in a metaphorical lyric, which led to the song being named after him.

<i>The Red</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Red Velvet

The Red is the debut studio album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on September 9, 2015, by SM Entertainment and distributed by Dreamus, marking their second proper release in 2015 following the debut extended play Ice Cream Cake in March 2015.

<i>Love, Sax and Flashbacks</i> 2015 studio album by Fleur East

Love, Sax and Flashbacks is the debut studio album by English singer, songwriter and rapper Fleur East. It was released on 4 December 2015, through Syco.

(Believed You Were) Lucky 1988 single by Til Tuesday

"(Believed You Were) Lucky" is a song by American band 'Til Tuesday, which was released in 1988 as the lead single from their third and final studio album Everything's Different Now. The song was written by Aimee Mann and Jules Shear (music), and produced by Rhett Davies. "(Believed You Were) Lucky" peaked at No. 95 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

References

  1. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 8. MUZE. p. 773.
  2. 1 2 "WORLD PARTY "Dumbing Up" Seaview - The Washington Post".
  3. Azpiri, Jon. Dumbing Up at AllMusic
  4. "World Party | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  5. Handy, Bruce. "The 70s Shall Rise Again! Grizzly Bear's Shields, World Party, and Classic Pop-Rock's Resurgence". Vanity Fair.
  6. "WORLD PARTY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
  7. "World Party and Allison Moorer in Concert". NPR.org.
  8. "Pop roundup | The Guardian | guardian.co.uk". www.theguardian.com.