King Kong Groover

Last updated
King Kong Groover
CONT-000168 s.jpg
Studio album by
Babylon Zoo
Released26 February 1999
Genre Alternative rock, glam rock
Length48:22
59:14 (Japan edition)
Label EMI
Producer Jas Mann
Babylon Zoo chronology
The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes
(1996)		King Kong Groover
(1999)		Love Lies Bleeding (single)
(2000)

King Kong Groover is the second and final album by Babylon Zoo, released on 26 February 1999. It met with negative reviews and was a commercial flop. The singles from the album were "All the Money's Gone", which peaked at #46 on the UK Singles Chart, and a cover of Mott the Hoople's "Honaloochie Boogie", which was issued as a promotional single in France (plans for an international release were abandoned).

Contents

The song "Chrome Invader" was originally called "Silver Surfer" but had to be changed for copyright reasons.[ citation needed ] The Japanese version of the album includes two bonus tracks: an acoustic cover of T.Rex's "Cosmic Dancer" and a remix of "The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes".

Commercial performance

An "abject failure", [1] King Kong Groover sold less than 10,000 copies and did not chart. [2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Dotmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Gaffa Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
NME 1/10 [6]
Scotland on Sunday Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]

King Kong Groover met with negative reviews. [2] NME scored the album one out of ten, calling it a "slickly produced machiavellian plundering of pop classics" and a "clumsy effort to resurrect a career that was a fluke in the first place." [6] In the Scotland on Sunday , Colin Somerville awarded the record one star out of five. He argued that "Bikini Machine" plagiarises The Beatles' "Across the Universe", and concluded: "Sadly lacking in anything even remotely approaching originality, King Kong Groover is the sound of a career spinning into terminal decline." [7] Dotmusic felt that none of the songs match the "futuristic kick" of Babylon Zoo's 1996 debut single, "Spaceman". [3]

Some critics offered scant praise. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian wrote that bandleader Jas Mann is "shrill and fun, but lacking the depth to take him beyond 'Spaceman'." [5] In the Sunday Tribune , Anna Carey described King Kong Groover as "sub-Bowie" and "stupid", and "Manhattan Martian" a "piss-poor rip off of 'Starman'." She allowed, however, that the record is "hard to hate". [9] Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times found the record to be a marked improvement over predecessor The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (1996), but noted that despite its "[aspirations] to Ziggy Stardust -era elevation, Babylon Zoo are still tied down by too many threadbare ideas". [10]

In a favourable retrospective review, AllMusic's Dave Thompson said that while there is "nothing in sight to even approach the peaks that their debut hit 'Spaceman' attained", the album has "yearning majesty" and "neo-operatic flair". [1] Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music author Colin Larkin was mildly positive, but remarked that Mann's "full-on adoption of glam rock... appeared too late to cash in on the attendant furore surrounding Todd Haynes' genre tribute, Velvet Goldmine ." [8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Jas Mann except where noted.

  1. "All the Money's Gone" – 3:46
  2. "Manhattan Martian" – 6:01
  3. "Honaloochie Boogie" (Ian Hunter) – 3:28
  4. "Honeymoon in Space" – 4:53
  5. "Stereo Superstar" – 3:39
  6. "Chrome Invader" – 5:03
  7. "Bikini Machine" – 3:55
  8. "Are You a Boy or a Girl?" – 5:05
  9. "Hey Man" – 5:34
  10. "Aroma Girl" – 6:58
  11. "The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes" (Armageddon Babylon mix) (Japanese version only) – 5:54
  12. "Cosmic Dancer" (Marc Bolan) (Japanese version only) – 4:58

Related Research Articles

The Communards were a British pop duo, active from 1985 to 1988. They are most famous for their cover versions of "Don't Leave Me This Way" and "Never Can Say Goodbye".

Babylon Zoo were an English rock band formed in 1992 in Wolverhampton, England. Their song "Spaceman" gained considerable exposure through its use in a Levi's jeans television advert in the United Kingdom in late 1995. Released as the band's debut single on 21 January 1996, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one. Spaceman led to the band being considered a one hit wonder; they had little success with any subsequent releases.

Theaudience were a Britpop group active in the 1990s. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor became a successful solo artist after the band's disbandment.

Manfred Manns Earth Band British rock group

Manfred Mann's Earth Band is an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a short hiatus in the late 1980s/early 1990s, the Earth Band continues to perform and tour.

<i>Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon</i> 1971 studio album by James Taylor

Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, recorded and released in 1971.

Jasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann is a British songwriter, musician, singer, record producer and film producer. He was lead singer of Babylon Zoo, known for their 1996 UK chart-topping single "Spaceman" and No. 6 album The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes. He has produced/distributed over 20 feature films, including the BAFTA-winning documentary The Imposter, and was executive producer of Simon Pegg's A Fantastic Fear of Everything.

The Sandkings were an indie pop music band from Wolverhampton, England who had minor success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

<i>Colin James and the Little Big Band</i> 1993 studio album by Colin James

Colin James and the Little Big Band is a Jump blues album by Canadian musician Colin James, released in 1993, featuring members of Roomful of Blues. The album had sold 220,000 units in Canada by January, 1999.

<i>Fulfillingness First Finale</i> 1974 studio album by Stevie Wonder

Fulfillingness' First Finale is a 1974 album by Stevie Wonder; widely considered one of the albums from his "classic period". Released on July 22, 1974, on the Tamla label, it is Wonder's nineteenth album overall, and seventeenth studio album.

<i>Tim Hardin 2</i> 1967 studio album by Tim Hardin

Tim Hardin 2 is the second album by folk artist Tim Hardin, released in 1967.

<i>The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes</i> 1996 studio album by Babylon Zoo

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes is the debut album by British alternative rock band Babylon Zoo, released in February 1996. It features the single "Spaceman", which charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart after being featured in a popular Levi's jeans TV advertisement in late 1995. The album peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart and met with generally favourable reviews.

Honaloochie Boogie 1973 single by Mott the Hoople

"Honaloochie Boogie" is a single released by Mott the Hoople. It was the follow-up to their breakthrough single "All The Young Dudes". It reached a peak position in the UK Singles Chart of number 12 in July 1973. Written and sung by vocalist Ian Hunter, apart from the group's regular line-up, it also featured Andy Mackay of Roxy Music on tenor saxophone, Bill Price on moog, and Paul Buckmaster on cello.

Tippa Irie is a British reggae singer and DJ from Brixton, South London. He first came to prominence in the early 1980s as an MC on the South London reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International.

Spaceman (Babylon Zoo song) 1996 single by Babylon Zoo

"Spaceman" is a song by the British rock band Babylon Zoo, released in January 1996 as the lead single from their debut album, The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (1996). Featuring heavily distorted guitars and metallic, robotic sounding vocals, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 21 January 1996, after being featured in a popular Levi's jeans television advertisement in December 1995.

Animal Army

"Animal Army" is a song by Babylon Zoo, released in April 1996 as the second single from their first album The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes and the follow-up to the band's UK chart-topping debut single "Spaceman". It was unable to duplicate the success of its predecessor, reaching number 17 on the UK Singles Chart and falling off the chart after a further week in the top 40. In Australia, "Animal Army" peaked at number 59 in June 1996 and spent six weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart. In Hungary, the single peaked at number 10.

The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes (song)

"The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes" is a song by Babylon Zoo, released in October 1996 as the third and final single from their debut album of the same name. The release was a failure, continuing a downward trend in chart positions for the group's singles and peaking at #32 on the UK Singles Chart. It marked Babylon Zoo's final appearance in the UK Top 40.

All the Moneys Gone

"All the Money's Gone" is a song by Babylon Zoo and the first single to be taken from their second album King Kong Groover. It was written and produced by Jas Mann, and peaked at #46 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1999. An animated music video was made to accompany the single.

Colin Larkin British writer

Colin Larkin is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor in chief of, the Encyclopedia of Popular Music, described by The Times as "the standard against which all others must be judged".

The Encyclopedia of Popular Music was created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the 'modern man's' equivalent of the Grove Dictionary of Music, which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms. Described by The Times as "the standard against which all others must be judged".

References

  1. 1 2 3 Thompson, Dave. "King Kong Groover review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Spaceman band falls back to earth". Sunday Mercury . The Free Library. 9 May 1999. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Babylon Zoo - 'King Kong Groover'". Dotmusic . 26 January 1999. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  4. ↑ Nielsen, Lars (21 September 2001). "Babylon Zoo: King Kong Groover". Gaffa (in Danish). Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 Sullivan, Caroline (5 February 1999). "This week's pop CD releases". The Guardian : 42 (Friday Review, p. 16).
  6. 1 2 "King Kong Groover". NME . 2 January 1999. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  7. 1 2 Somerville, Colin (7 February 1999). "Album releases". Scotland on Sunday .
  8. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin Books. p. 30. ISBN   9780753504277.
  9. ↑ Carey, Anna (14 February 1999). "Rock/pop CDs". Sunday Tribune .
  10. ↑ Courtney, Kevin (12 February 1999). "Rock/Pop". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.