Babylon Zoo | |
---|---|
Origin | Wolverhampton, England |
Genres | Alternative rock, electronic rock |
Years active | 1992–2000 |
Labels | Phonogram, WEA, EMI |
Past members |
|
Babylon Zoo were an English rock band formed in 1992 in Wolverhampton. 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. [2] "Spaceman" led to the band being considered a one-hit wonder; they had little success with any subsequent releases. [3]
Frontman Jas Mann had formerly been in an indie music band, called The Sandkings. In 1993, a three-track demo earned him a contract from Phonogram Records for his next project, Babylon Zoo, [3] but ended up being signed to Warners' WEA record label where the band recorded the album The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes . However around this time Clive Black, the Managing Director of Warners, was poached by rival record company EMI and so took Babylon Zoo over to EMI. [4] [5]
The band's first single was the song "Spaceman" which had been recorded and pressed by Warners as a CD single, before being scrapped when Black left the company. However, a promo version was played on a Manchester radio station, where an advertising agency creative heard it and decided it would be perfect for a Levi's jeans TV advert they were developing. Levi's used part of "Spaceman" for their UK TV ad and so the hook of the song became popular. Even though the rest of the song turned into slower grunge-glam track, it still became the fastest-selling debut single in British history. [6] The single sold 383,000 copies in the first week of release, [7] spending 5 weeks at number 1. [8]
Critic Steven Wells wrote that the "Spaceman" single (resembling the Levi's advert version for only "about ten seconds") angered many consumers. He reported that Mann drew further ire through self-aggrandising interviews, and noted his ridicule in the media, including from the NME and in a 1997 episode of comedy TV series Brass Eye . [9]
Tim Moore wrote that "only failure and embarrassment" followed for Babylon Zoo. [10] An album entitled The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes was produced at Mann's New Atlantis Productions music and video centre. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart on 17 February, [2] but quickly dropped out of the Top 40, lasting only a further two weeks on the chart. [11] Subsequent singles charted progressively lower, failing to match the success of "Spaceman". [8] The band's reputation was further damaged by a series of scathing live reviews. [12]
In 1999, a follow-up album was released, King Kong Groover . The album received negative reviews and sold fewer than 10,000 units, [12] failing to chart in the UK. The singles from the album were "All The Money's Gone", which was released in the UK and Europe and peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, a cover of Mott the Hoople's "Honaloochie Boogie", was only released as a promotional single in France. [13] The group disbanded shortly after and Mann moved to India where he spent time working for an aid agency. [14]
In 2005, Jas Mann announced he would be issuing a new Babylon Zoo album, called Cold Clockwork Doll, though no official release date was ever announced and no further updates followed. [14] [15]
Many critics and journalists felt that Babylon Zoo was influenced by David Bowie's musical style. [16] [17] [18] [19] As such, the band can be seen as a 90's alternative rock band of the time with glam and electronic influences.
Title | Released | UK [2] | AUS [20] | Certification |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes | February 1996 | 6 | 28 |
|
King Kong Groover | February 1999 | – | – |
Year | Song | UK [2] | AUS [20] | Certification | Album |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | "Spaceman" | 1 | 3 | The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes | |
1996 | "Animal Army" | 17 | 59 | ||
"The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes" | 32 | – | |||
1999 | "All the Money's Gone" | 46 | – | King Kong Groover | |
"Honaloochie Boogie" | – | – | |||
2000 | "Love Lies Bleeding" | – | – | Non-album single | |
The English rock group The Rolling Stones have released 31 studio albums, 13 live albums, 28 compilation albums, 3 extended plays, 122 singles, 31 box sets, 51 video albums, 2 video box sets and 77 music videos. Throughout their career, they have sold over 200 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Billboard ranked them as the 2nd Greatest artist of all time. The Rolling Stones have scored 38 top-10 albums on the Billboard 200 and 8 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, they have sold 66.5 million albums in the US, making them the 16th best-selling group in history.
The discography of the English rock band the Who consists of 12 studio albums, 16 live albums, 27 compilation albums, four soundtrack albums, four extended plays, 58 singles and 23 video albums.
This is a summary of 1996 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
Savage Garden is the debut studio album by Australian pop duo Savage Garden, released on 4 March 1997 in Australia by Columbia Records and Roadshow Music. The album won the award for Highest Selling Album at the 12th Annual ARIA Music Awards, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide, according to Billboard magazine. In September 1997, Savage Garden won a record ten ARIA Awards from 13 nominations for the album and associated singles. As of 2005, Savage Garden had been certified diamond in Canada, 12× platinum in Australia, 7× platinum in the US, 2× platinum in New Zealand, Singapore, and in the UK.
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.
The Sandkings were an indie pop music band from Wolverhampton, England who had minor success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"Love Bites" is a song by English glam metal band Def Leppard from their album Hysteria. The power ballad is Def Leppard's only number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. On the UK Singles Chart, the track peaked at number 11.
The Corrs are an Irish folk rock/pop band consisting of siblings Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim Corr. Formed in their hometown of Dundalk, Ireland, in 1990, the band's discography includes seven studio albums, three live albums and three compilation albums, as well as six video albums and twenty-six singles. This list does not include material recorded by The Corrs as solo artists.
British rock band Queen have released 15 studio albums, 10 live albums, 16 compilation albums, 2 soundtrack albums, 2 extended plays, 73 singles, and 7 promotional singles. Queen was formed in London by Freddie Mercury, Brian May (guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums), and in 1971, John Deacon (bassist) became a member.
The Boy with the X-Ray Eyes is the debut album by British 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.
The English rock band the Cure has released thirteen studio albums, six live albums, two remix albums, seven compilation albums, eight box sets, twelve extended plays, and forty-six singles on Fiction Records and Geffen Records. They have also released twelve video albums and forty-four music videos.
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.
The discography of American rock band Tool consists of five studio albums, one box set, two extended plays, four video albums, fifteen singles and nine music videos.
"Spaceman" is a song by British rock band Babylon Zoo, released on 15 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, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 21 January 1996 following its use in a Levi's jeans television advertisement the previous year; "Spaceman" was the sixth song to reach number one in the UK after being featured in a Levi's advert.
"Animal Army" is a song by English rock band 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.
"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.
The discography of Supergrass, an English alternative rock band, consists of six studio albums, three extended plays, two compilation albums, 26 singles and 24 music videos. They were formed in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey. Rising to prominence during the Britpop era in the mid-1990s with their single "Alright", they were joined by Rob Coombes in 2002 (keyboards) until their demise on 11 June 2010.
Van Halen was an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California in 1972 by the Dutch-born American brothers Eddie Van Halen (guitar) and Alex Van Halen (drums), plus singer David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony. The band's discography consists of 12 studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, and 56 singles.
The discography of British-American band Fleetwood Mac consists of 18 studio albums, 10 live albums, 23 compilation albums, one extended play and 62 singles. The band also has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Savage Garden were an Australian pop duo consisting of Darren Hayes on vocals and Daniel Jones on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; they formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1993. They were signed to John Woodruff's talent agency and achieved international success with their No. 1 hit singles "I Want You", "To the Moon and Back", "Truly Madly Deeply" (1997), and "I Knew I Loved You" (1999).