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Gnarls Barkley

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Gnarls Barkley
Gnarls Barkley: Dangermouse and Cee-Lo
Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo costumed in a homage to the film A Clockwork Orange
Background information
OriginBaltimore, Maryland, USA
Years active2005–present
MembersCee-Lo, Danger Mouse
Websitewww.GnarlsBarkley.com

Gnarls Barkley is a musical collaboration between Baltimore-based DJ and producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton), and rapper/singer Cee-Lo (Thomas Callaway). Their first album, St. Elsewhere, was released by Warner Music on April 24 2006 in the UK and on May 9 in the US by Atlantic/Downtown Records. It was made available for download one week earlier in the U.S. iTunes Music Store and other online download stores.

Career

"Crazy", their first single, based on samples of the song "Nel Cimitero Di Tucson" (1968) by Gianfranco Reverberi, gained some of its popularity due to its use on primetime BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's television advert, and it was also made Record of the Week by Ken Bruce of BBC Radio 2. Some of the popularity is also due to the performance of the song at The 2006 MTV Movie Awards, where the band performed in Star Wars costumes -- including the garb of Rebel Alliance pilots, Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Jango Fett, Obi-Wan, with Cee-Lo singing as an unmasked Darth Vader. It was released as a single on April 3 2006, preceded by its release as digital download and 12" vinyl single in March 2006. On 2 April 2006, it became the first ever UK number one single based on download sales alone.[1]

Many think the name Gnarls Barkley is related to the former NBA basketball player Charles Barkley. In the June 18, 2006 New York Times Magazine Burton explains the name came from friends, "making up fictional celebrity names like Prince Gnarls and Bob Gnarley. When someone came up with Gnarls Barkley, Burton wrote it down."

The duo made their debut performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 30 2006,[2] but their first concert, hosted by Myspace.com, part of the Secret Show series, took place at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles on April 28 2006. They are set to perform at Lollapalooza 2006 in Chicago and the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin. Their U.S. television debut was made on May 25 2006 during Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The duo also appeared on the prestigious BBC TV music show, Later with Jools Holland, on May 19 2006, and on the June 12 2006 edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

"Crazy" is the first ever single to top the UK singles chart purely on download sales as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. It is also the first single to top the UK singles chart for nine weeks consecutively since 1994 when Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" was number one for fourteen weeks (the last song to spend exactly nine weeks on top was "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984). It has also equalled the Queen 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks. Crazy is also the longest number-one on the UK Official Download Chart with its stay lasting eleven consecutive weeks. Gnarls Barkley announced that as the record had spent its ninth week at number one, it was to be deleted as a vinyl/CD listing from May 28 2006 so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it".[3]

Gnarls Barkley perfomed along with Christina Aguilera, AFI, and Wolfmother at the MTV Movie Awards 2006 June 8 2006 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[4]

Gnarls Barkley appeared at the O2 Wireless Festival in London on Friday, June 23, and in Leeds on Saturday, June 24.

Gnarls Barkley performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago's Grant Park on August 5, 2006, in Central Park on August 17, and will perform at the Virgin Festival at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore on September 23.

Videos

To date Gnarls Barkley has released two music videos for each of its first two singles[citation needed] - totalling four videos for two songs. For each single, only one of the two videos produced was granted the title of "official video".

The videos are as follows:

Crazy:

  • "Official" Video: by far the most well known of their videos to date, it features an intricate continuous photo treatment and animation of Cee-Lo singing and Danger Mouse, usually bobbing his head. The entire video is made to resemble the famous Rorschach inkblot test used in psychoanalysis. For more info on this video go to [[1]]
  • Alternate Video: The alternate video is a long intricate animation that appears in similar style to popular vector art, and it has several well symbols from many cultures and religions that appear in a dissjointed harmony to the lyrics. Lyrics of the song, and the band's gun and heart logo also appear prominently. The video's end result is a near identical image to the songs single cover art. it can be found on youTube[2]. Neither of the bands members or likeness appear in this version.

Smiley Faces:

  • "Official" Video: Takes the form of a Mockumentary narrated tracking Gnarls Barkley's supposed role in twentieth century music and, to a lesser extent, pop art. Both Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse appear in the video, inserted into historic moments in music. Dennis Hopper and Dean Stockwell appear as music historians.
  • Alternate Video: Fully animated using emoticons. niether band member appears because of this method, although emoticon dopplegangers of the members appear.

Discography

Album

Singles

For more detailed chart listings, see the indvidual singles' articles
Title Release date Album Peak chart positions[7]
U.S. UK NZ AUS CAN
"Crazy" April 3 2006 St. Elsewhere 2 1 1 2 1
"Smiley Faces" July 17 2006 St. Elsewhere - 10 - - -

See also

References

  1. ^ "Crazy song makes musical history". BBC News. Retrieved April 2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006). "Billboard Bits: Gnarls Barkley, Test Icicles, Malkmus". Billboard. Retrieved February 28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Gnarls Go Out On Top". The Daily Record. Retrieved May 28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1530297/story.jhtml
  5. ^ "Australian Top 50 Albums Chart". ARIA.
  6. ^ http://entertainment.skynet.be/index.html?l1=entertainment&l2=ultratop&l3=charts&chartid=4
  7. ^ "Gnarls Barkley's Crazy: Chart Positions". Retrieved May 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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