Wake Up! (The Boo Radleys album)

Wake Up!
Studio album by the Boo Radleys
Released	27 March 1995
Recorded	September–October 1994
Studio	Rockfield, Wales
Genre	Alternative rock, Britpop, baroque pop
Length	51:29
Label	Creation
Producer	The Boo Radleys
The Boo Radleys chronology
Giant Steps (1993) Wake Up! (1995) C'mon Kids (1996)

Wake Up! is the fourth album by British alternative rock band the Boo Radleys, released by Creation Records in 1995.

Release and promotion

Following the success of Definitely Maybe (1994) by Oasis, Creation Records' owner Sony Music Entertainment wanted more chart success from the label. After the departure of marketing consultant Tim Abbot, John Andrews became his successor in November 1994. While Abbot had previously tried to market the label in his own image, Andrews was more concerned with simply selling records. Andrews was tasked with achieving commercial success for Teenage Fanclub and the Boo Radleys. Guitarist Martin Carr said upon meeting Andrews for the first time, he was "scaring me with all this talk about marketing. It was the first time we'd ever been asked to participate alongside marketing and take an interest in it".

Upon hearing the album's final mixes in November 1994, staff from the label argued over the first choice of a single. Assistant press officer Andy Saunders, along with Carr, proposed "Wake Up Boo!", while co-founder Dick Green wanted the less commercial-sounding "It's Lulu". Saunders chalked this up to the old-school way of thinking at the label, not wanting to seem like the band sold-out. Three other staff members agreed with Green, which resulted in Saunders exclaiming, "You are insane. This ['Wake Up Boo!'] is a smash". Creation Records used the emerging Britpop movement to help push promotion for Wake Up!. Founder Alan McGee said they had "indie bands doing stuff that wasn't indie at all – the Boo Radleys being interviewed by Richard and Judy, doing children's programmes". As Carr was a driven-kind of person, he agreed to any opportunity in this vein, while Sice became unenthusiastic with this type of promotion. Following an interview with SKY Magazine, Sice and Saunders got into an argument that saw the latter being fired as the band's publicist.

As an important element of Andrews' marketing campaign for "Wake Up Boo!", he wanted the single to be priced at £1.99, and increase by two pounds the week after its release, which was in line with what major labels did for their single release. Green and business manager James Kyllo were hesitant about this, while Andrews was adamant about it being key to the song's potential success. Despite the album's success, McGee said the band were approaching them for money to help fund touring. When the second single, "Find the Answers Within", was added to BBC Radio 1's playlist, "Wake Up Boo!" was not removed. This resulted in a situation where the radio presenter would plug "Find the Answers Within", but play "Wake Up Boo!" instead. To tie in with Britpop, Andrews organized a retail campaign with Our Price and Virgin Megastores, which included releases from the Boo Radleys, Blur and Elastica.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Guardian
Select	5/5
Uncut

Although the band had received critical acclaim with their previous album, Giant Steps, Wake Up! was their first true commercial success, reaching number one in the UK album charts. This was due in large part to two factors: the emergence of Britpop as a driving force in mid-1990s British music, and a Top 10 single, "Wake Up Boo!". Journalist David Cavanagh said the song would become one of defining songs of the genres, and in the ensuing years, it "floated off into the world of classic pop radio programming," alongside "Walking on Sunshine" (1985) by Katrina and the Waves and "Lovely Day" (1977) by Bill Withers.

Two further singles were released from the album: "Find The Answer Within" (with two versions available, one an early fade of the album version, the other a remix by The High Llamas) and "It's Lulu". Both reached the UK Top 40 but were unable to repeat the popularity of "Wake Up Boo!".

"Wake Up Boo!" was ranked at number 67 on Spin's "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995" list.

Track listing

Original release

All songs written by Martin Carr.

1. "Wake Up Boo!" - 3:37
2. "Fairfax Scene" - 2:14
3. "It's Lulu" - 3:04
4. "Joel" - 6:10
5. "Find the Answer Within" - 4:34
6. "Reaching Out from Here" - 3:02
7. "Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'Clock" - 6:21
8. "Stuck on Amber" - 5:24
9. "Charles Bukowski Is Dead" - 2:39
10. "4am Conversation" - 2:43
11. "Twinside" - 4:45
12. "Wilder" - 6:56

2010 expanded edition

CD1 - Wake Up!

CD2 - First bonus disc

1. "Janus" (3:08)
2. "Blues for George Michael" (8:48)
3. "Friendship Song" (5:25)
4. "Wake Up Boo! Music for Astronauts" (8:55)
5. "And Tomorrow the World" (4:36)
6. "The History of Creation [Parts 17 & 36]" (4:40)
7. "Find the Answer Within" (High Llamas Mix) (5:44)
8. "The Only Word I Can Find" (3:06)
9. "Very Together" (3:22)
10. "Don't Take Your Gun to Town" (3:52)
11. "Wallpaper" (4:04)

• 1 - 6 taken from the "Wake Up Boo!" singles.
• 7 - 11 taken from the "Find the Answer Within" singles.

CD3 - Second bonus disc

1. "This Is Not About Me" (4:02)
2. "Reaching Out from Here" (High Llamas Mix) (2:52)
3. "Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'clock" (Stereolab Mix) (6:42)
4. "Joel" (Justin Warfield Mix) (4:49)
5. "Tambo" (1:47)
6. "Donkey" (1:57)
7. "From the Bench at Belvidere" (4:23)
8. "Hi Falutin" (3:23)
9. "Crushed" (3:23)
10. "Almost Nearly There" (3:36)

• 1 - 6 taken from the "It's Lulu" singles.
• 7 - 10 taken from the "From The Bench At Belvidere" single.

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.

The Boo Radleys

• Sice – lead vocals, handclaps (tracks 11)
• Tim Brown – bass (all except track 10), piano (tracks 1 and 12), keyboard (tracks 2, 4, 7–10 and 12)
• Martin Carr – guitar, backing vocals (tracks 1–5, 7 and 10–12), glockenspiel (tracks 5 and 9), keyboard (tracks 7, 8 and 10), harmonica (track 8), handclaps (tracks 11), percussion (tracks 12)
• Rob Cieka – drums (tracks 1–9, 11 and 12), percussion (tracks 1, 3, 7, 10 and 12), keyboard (track 4), bell (track 12)

Additional musicians

• Simon Gardner – trumpet (tracks 1)
• Neil Sidwell – trombone (tracks 1)
• Nigel Hitchcock – saxophone (tracks 1)
• Scottie – handclaps (tracks 1)
• Dick Green – guitar (track 2)
• Steve Kitchen – trumpet (tracks 3, 4 and 11), flugelhorn (track 7)
• Chris Moore – trumpet (tracks 3, 4 and 11)
• Lindsay Johnston – cello (tracks 4, 8 and 10)
• Fay Sweet – viola (tracks 4, 8 and 10)
• Peter Fry – double bass (tracks 4, 8 and 10)

Production and design

• The Boo Radleys – producer
• Andy Wilkinson – engineer
• Paul Read – assistance
• Al Clay – mixing
• Matt Sime – assistance
• Stephen A. Wood – sleeve art
• Joel Graphics – typeset layout reprographics
• Toby Egelnick – final assemblage
• Roger Sargent – band photgraphy

References

Citations

Sources

• Cavanagh, David (2000). The Creation Records Story: My Magpie Eyes are Hungry for the Prize. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 1-85227-775-0.
• McGee, Alan (2014). Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label. London: Pan Books. ISBN 978-1-4472-2591-1.

External links

• Wake Up! at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)