This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2009) |
Curiosity Killed the Cat | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as | Curiosity |
Origin | London, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1984–1994, 2001–2016 |
Labels | Mercury, RCA, BMG |
Past members | Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot Julian Brookhouse Nick Thorpe Migi Drummond |
Curiosity Killed the Cat were a British pop band formed in London in 1984, comprising singer Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, guitarist Julian Godfrey Brookhouse, bassist Nick Thorpe and drummer Migi Drummond. The band achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with their debut album Keep Your Distance reaching No. 1 in 1987 and producing three top 20 hit singles in "Down to Earth", "Misfit" and "Ordinary Day". This was followed by Getahead in 1989, with another UK top 20 single "Name and Number". In 1991, Thorpe left the band, with the remaining three members continuing under the shortened name Curiosity for their third and final album, 1994's Back to Front, which included the UK top 5 single "Hang On in There Baby". [3] The band split in 1994 although there have been occasional temporary reunions.
The band played soulful, jazzy and funky pop music, [4] [5] and was initially signed to Mercury Records. They first came to notice of the UK music press when they worked with Andy Warhol for the video of their 1986 single "Misfit". This featured the band in New York City and at one point featured frontman Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot dancing down a side street whilst Andy Warhol referenced Bob Dylan's 1965 long-form promotional film for "Subterranean Homesick Blues" by dropping pieces of white card in time to the music.
The single was initially unsuccessful but the release of their next single, "Down to Earth", gave the band a top 3 hit in early 1987. [3] The band's first album, Keep Your Distance , entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1 in April 1987, and stayed in the top ten for 13 weeks. [3] Further singles included "Ordinary Day" (UK No. 11), "Free" (UK No. 56) and a re-release of "Misfit" (UK No. 7). [3] "Misfit" was also their only U.S. charting single, peaking at No. 42. [6]
The band's second album, Getahead , was released in 1989, led by the single "Name and Number" (UK No. 14), [3] and its "hey how you doin'" refrain found itself in the top 10 two years later as part of the De La Soul song "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)". The album, however, was not as successful in comparison to their first album, peaking at No. 29. [3]
After the lacklustre performance of Getahead and its second single "First Place", the band shortened their name to 'Curiosity' but were dropped by Mercury Records. Bass player Nick Thorpe then left the band. However, in 1992, the band (now a three-piece and signed to RCA Records) returned to the UK Top 3 with a cover of Johnny Bristol's "Hang On in There Baby". [3] Despite this, the band's follow up singles (covers of "I Need Your Lovin'" and "Gimme the Sunshine") were unsuccessful, which resulted in the album Back to Front only being released in Japan and selected overseas markets in 1994. The band then split up.
In 2001, the band reformed for an appearance on a National Lottery midweek show on BBC 1, and since then Volpeliere has toured under the name Curiosity Killed the Cat, on a number of 1980s revival packages.[ citation needed ]
In November 2015, a compilation album, called 80's Recovered featured many groups. Curiosity Killed the Cat did a cover of the Doobie Brothers track "Long Train Runnin'", with a regular version, and a remix. [7]
Lead singer Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot was best known for wearing a beret in most pictures of the band. He later revealed it was in fact a peaked fisherman's hat, turned round with the peak to the rear so that it resembled a beret. Ben VP (as he was billed on a number of solo singles in the mid-1990s) was frequently referred to as 'Ben Vol-au-vent Parrot' in Smash Hits magazine, [8] with 'Bendy Ben' (or 'Boozy Ben') also used. He also appeared as a model on the front of Mike Read's Pop Quiz board game.
In 1995, Migi Drummond and Nick Thorp set up Naked Records which was acquired a year later by software maker Eidos Plc.
Toby Andersen co-wrote all tracks and played keyboards on the album Keep Your Distance. Session guitarist/keyboard player Mike McEvoy (Michael J McEvoy) co-wrote the songs on their Getahead album and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro played on three tracks ("Cascade", "Can't Grow Trees on Money" and "Who Are You").
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [9] | AUS [10] [11] | AUT [12] | GER [13] | IT [14] | NL [15] | NZ [16] | SWE [17] | SWI [18] | US [19] | |||
Keep Your Distance | 1 | 47 | 20 | 29 | 8 | 9 | 19 | 32 | 7 | 55 | ||
Getahead |
| 29 | 136 | — | — | 19 | 90 | — | — | — | — |
|
Back to Front | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Their Very Best |
|
The Very Best Of |
|
Down to Earth: The Collection |
|
Misfits: The Mercury Years 1986–1990 |
|
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Running the Distance |
|
Live from the Camden Palace |
|
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [9] | AUS [10] [11] [21] | BE (FL) [22] | GER [13] | IRE [23] | IT [14] | NL [24] | NZ [25] | SWI [26] | US [27] | |||
"Misfit" | 1986 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Keep Your Distance |
"Down to Earth" | 3 | 88 | 24 | 32 | 5 | — | 14 | 13 | — | — | ||
"Ordinary Day" | 1987 | 11 | — | — | — | 13 | 9 | 31 | 42 | 24 | — | |
"Misfit" (re-release) | 7 | 97 | — | 53 | 8 | 16 | 48 | — | — | 42 | ||
"Free" | 56 | — | — | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Name and Number" | 1989 | 14 | 131 | — | — | 16 | 13 | 31 | — | — | — | Getahead |
"First Place" | 86 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Hang On in There Baby" (as Curiosity) | 1992 | 3 | 127 | 38 | 42 | 10 | 23 | — | — | — | — | Back to Front |
"I Need Your Lovin'" (as Curiosity) | 47 | — | — | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Work It Out" (as Curiosity) | 1993 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
"Gimme the Sunshine" (as Curiosity) | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Long Train Runnin'" | 2015 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 80's Re:Covered – Your Songs with the 80's Sound |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
S'Express were a British dance music act from the late 1980s, who had one of the earliest commercial successes in the acid house genre.
The American rapper and record producer Timbaland has released 3 studio albums, 17 singles, and 14 music videos.
Racey are a British pop group, formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, by Clive Wilson and Phil Fursdon. They achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits such as "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Some Girls". Their 1979 song "Kitty" was an international hit in 1981 for Toni Basil when she reworked it into "Mickey".
The discography of the British band Genesis contains 15 studio albums, 6 live albums, 3 compilation albums, and 10 box sets. They have sold over 100 million albums worldwide, including around 21.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the United States
The discography of Black Sabbath, an English heavy metal band, includes 19 studio albums, eight live albums, 13 compilation albums, nine video albums, three extended plays and 37 singles. The band was formed in 1968 by John "Ozzy" Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi, Terence "Geezer" Butler, and Bill Ward (drums). The band has undergone multiple lineup changes. Though the second most recent line-up of the band to work together were Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, Iommi, and Butler, for three new songs for a compilation in 2007, the original line-up was still considered the "current" lineup at the time and had been since their reunion in 1997. The 2007 sessions were deemed a one-off which led to the Heaven and Hell side project, resulting in a new studio album in 2009 titled The Devil You Know. In June 2013, a partial reformation of the original line-up released 13, which was the first album to feature Osbourne on vocals since 1978's Never Say Die!. After 49 years together, Black Sabbath announced their breakup in March 2017.
Rush was a Canadian progressive rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. For the overwhelming majority of its existence, the band consisted of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The band achieved this definitive form when Neil Peart replaced original drummer, John Rutsey, in July 1974.
The following is a comprehensive discography of Poison, an American glam metal band that achieved huge success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Poison sold more than 16 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, including six Top 10 singles and the Hot 100 number-one single, "Every Rose Has Its Thorn". The band became icons of the 1980s MTV era and have had widespread commercial success. The band's breakthrough debut album, the multi-platinum Look What the Cat Dragged In was released in 1986 and they hit their peak with the second album, the multi-platinum selling Open Up and Say... Ahh! which became the band's most successful album ever. The popularity continued into the new decade with their third consecutive multi-platinum selling album Flesh & Blood.
The following is a comprehensive discography of Scorpions, a German rock band. The band have released 19 studio albums, six live albums, 13 video albums, 29 compilation albums, one cover album, 92 singles and 43 music videos. They have sold between 75 and 100 million records worldwide.
Keep Your Distance is the debut album by the British band Curiosity Killed the Cat, released in April 1987. It debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, and is their only album to chart on the Billboard 200, reaching #55.
This article presents the discography of Shirley Bassey.
English ska revival band the Specials have released a diverse discography since their debut in 1979, including: nine studio albums, one collaboration album, five live albums, eleven compilation albums, four extended plays, twenty-three singles, and filmed five videos.
American boy band B2K has released 3 studio albums, eleven singles, two compilation albums, two remix albums and one soundtrack album.
This is a list of all recordings released by English gothic rock band the Mission.
This is the discography of American rock band the Knack.
Martin Benedict Volpeliere-Pierrot is an English singer best known as the vocalist from the band Curiosity Killed the Cat. He is known for sporting a distinctive hat often mistaken for a beret, which is actually a fiddler cap – a traditional Greek fisherman's hat – worn backwards.
Austrian singer Falco released nine studio albums, four live albums, 13 compilation albums, and 38 singles.
"Down to Earth" is a song by English band Curiosity Killed the Cat, released in November 1986 by Mercury Records as the second single from their debut album Keep Your Distance. It was the band's biggest hit, peaking at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Misfit" is the debut single by English band Curiosity Killed the Cat, originally released in August 1986. The song was not particularly successful and only reached number 76 on the UK Singles Chart. However, the following year, after the success of "Down to Earth" and "Ordinary Day", "Misfit" was re-released in June 1987, upon which it was much more successful, peaking at number 7 in the UK.
This is the discography of Australian actor and singer Jason Donovan.
This is the discography of American rock band Survivor.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)