Wake Up! (The Boo Radleys album)

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

Background

The Boo Radleys released their third studio album Giant Steps in 1993; it reached number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. All three of its singles became hits on the UK Singles Chart, "I Wish I Was Skinny" at number 75, "Lazarus" at number 50 and "Barney and Me" at number 48. "Lazarus" also gained some traction in the United States; to capitalize on it, they toured that country US as part of Lollapalooza festival in August and September 1994. 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. 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!. Despite the album's success, founder Alan McGee said the band were approaching them for money to help fund touring. Alongside this, McGee mentioned that 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.

The Boo Radleys subsequently supported Blur for a one-off show at the Mile End Stadium in London; following this, they performed at the Glastonbury and Reading Festival. Though the album's accompanying singles helped keep the band's profile high in mainland Europe, it did not fare as well in the US. Columbia Records, who distributed Creation Records' releases in the US, dropped the band from their roster sometime afterwards. Two versions were released on CD: the first with an edit of "Wake Up Boo!", "Janus", "Blues for George Michael" and "Friendship Song", while the second included an alternative version of "Wake Up Boo!", "...And Tomorrow the World" and "The History of Creation Parts 17 & 36". As an important element of Andrews' marketing campaign for the single, he wanted it 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. Two versions were released on CD: the first with "Don't Take Your Gun to Town" and "Wallpaper", while the other featured a remix of "Find the Answer Within", "The Only Word I Can Find" and "Very Together". When "Find the Answer Within" was added to BBC Radio 1's playlist, "Wake Up Boo!" was not removed. "It's Lulu" was released as a single in the UK on 17 July 1995. It was released to modern rock radio stations in the US in September 1995. Two versions were released on CD: the first with the single version of "It's Lulu", "This Is Not About Me" and remixes of "Reaching Out from Here" and "Martin, Doom! It's Seven O'Clock", while the second included the single version of "It's Lulu", a remix of "Joel", "Tambo" and "Donkey".

Cherry Red Records released a three-CD edition of the album that featured all of the related B-sides in 2010. Wake Up! was re-pressed on vinyl in 2019 by the label Music on Vinyl. "Joel", "Find the Answer Within" and "Reaching Out from Here" were included on the band's second compilation album Find the Way Out (2005). "Wake Up Boo!", "It's Lulu", "Find the Answer Within", "Reaching Out from Here", "Stuck on Amber" and "4am Conversation" were featured on the band's third compilation album The Best of the Boo Radleys (2007).

Reception

Author Dave Thompson, in his book Alternative Rock (2000), said the inclusion of 1960s influences sees the "world wak[ing] up to the wonders of Boo." 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.

Track listing

All songs written by Martin Carr.

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 photography

References

Citations

Sources

External links

Wake Up! at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)