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Artist
World Party
12+ albums
alternativerock80sbritpopbritish
about
Founded on the talents of ex-Waterboys keyboard player Karl Wallinger (19 October 1957, Prestatyn, Wales), World Party had to work hard to shrug off comparisons with the leader of his former band, Mike Scott. This was a little unjust, bearing in mind Wallinger’s quite separate, but in many ways equal, songwriting abilities. Wallinger was born the son of an architect father and housewife mother. He was brought up in North Wales on a diet of 60s ephemera, from the Supremes, through the Spencer Davis Group, to Merseybeat. His first musical experience arrived in 1976 with Quasimodo, who would eventually lose their hump to become the Alarm. Later he moved to London to become a clerk for ATV/Northern Songs, who counted the Beatles’ catalogue among their acquisitions. He delved back into performance in his own time, eventually going on to become musical director of The Rocky Horror Show in the West End of London. A short residency with funk band the Out overlapped his liaison with the Waterboys. After he split amicably from Mike Scott, Wallinger set out on a solo career that would see him sign to Prince’s management. He also helped Sinéad O’Connor on her Lion And The Cobra set. Wallinger recorded the first two World Party albums (Private Revolution and Goodbye Jumbo) practically single-handed. The former reached the US Top 40 and the single ‘Ship Of Fools’ broke into the Top 30 (it was hastily dropped by radio in his native Great Britain because of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster). Go
