Jump to content

Wake Up! (The Boo Radleys album): Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
first release only
Line 123: Line 123:
[[Category:The Boo Radleys albums]]
[[Category:The Boo Radleys albums]]
[[Category:Creation Records albums]]
[[Category:Creation Records albums]]
[[Category:Columbia Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios]]

Revision as of 08:22, 27 October 2022

Wake Up!
Studio album by
the Boo Radleys
Released27 March 1995
RecordedSeptember–October 1994
StudioRockfield, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales
GenreAlternative rock, Britpop, baroque pop
Length51:29
LabelCreation
ProducerThe 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.

Background

Wake Up! was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales in September and October 1994 with the band served as producers. Andy Wilkinson acted as engineer with assistance from Paul Read. The recordings were then mixed at The Church Studios in London in November 1994 by Al Clay with assistance from Matt Sime.[1]

In addition to their regular roles in the band, some of the members played additional instruments: Bassist Tim Brown played piano and keyboard; guitarist Martin Carr played glockenspiel, keyboard, harmonica and percussion; and drummer Rob Cieka played keyboard and a bell.[1]

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.[2] After the departure of marketing consultant Tim Abbot, John Andrews became his successor in November 1994.[3] 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".[2]

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".[4] 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".[5] 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".[6] 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.[7]

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.[5] Despite the album's success, McGee said the band were approaching them for money to help fund touring.[8] When the second single, "Find the Answers Within", was added to BBC Radio 1's playlist, "Wake Up Boo!" was not removed.[7] This resulted in a situation where the radio presenter would plug "Find the Answers Within", but play "Wake Up Boo!" instead.[9] 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.[10]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Guardian[12]
Select5/5[13]
Uncut[14]

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.[15] 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.[5]

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.[16]

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Carr.[1]

  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

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[1]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Wake Up! (booklet). The Boo Radleys. Creation Records. 1995. CRECD179/SCR 478509 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ a b Cavanagh 2000, p. 456
  3. ^ Cavanagh 2000, p. 455
  4. ^ Cavanagh 2000, pp. 460–1
  5. ^ a b c Cavanagh 2000, p. 461
  6. ^ McGee 2014, p. 208
  7. ^ a b Cavanagh 2000, p. 464
  8. ^ McGee 2014, p. 209
  9. ^ Cavanagh 2000, p. 465
  10. ^ Cavanagh 2000, p. 466
  11. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Wake Up! – The Boo Radleys". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (31 March 1995). "CD of the week: The Boo Radleys". The Guardian.
  13. ^ Morris, Gina (April 1995). "The Boo Radleys: Wake Up!". Select. No. 58. p. 98.
  14. ^ "The Boo Radleys: Wake Up!". Uncut. p. 77. 'It's Lulu' boasts the adolescent heart-skipping rush of vintage Buzzcocks, with added horns.
  15. ^ "Wake Up". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  16. ^ A.Z. (6 August 2015). "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. p. 2. Retrieved 7 August 2015.

Sources

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wake_Up!_(The_Boo_Radleys_album)&oldid=1118490774"