Animal Magic (The Blow Monkeys album)

Animal Magic
Studio album by The Blow Monkeys
Released	7 April 1986
Recorded	1985-1986
Genre	Pop rock / New wave
Length	44:03 48:15 (cassette version)
Label	RCA/Ariola
Producer	Peter Wilson Dr. Robert Adam Moseley
The Blow Monkeys chronology
Limping for a Generation (1984) Animal Magic (1986) She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter (1987)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
The Montreal Gazette	(favorable) [2]
Schenectady Gazette	(favorable) [3]

Animal Magic is the second album from the British band, The Blow Monkeys, published in 1986, by the label then known as RCA/Ariola (now BMG). It scored the group its commercial breakthrough since their debut, Limping for a Generation, had won critical acclaim but no success in the charts.^[4]

Animal Magic, less original and less new wave, but more pop rock and commercially mature, contains the massive worldwide hit "Digging Your Scene", which burst into the Top Ten singles listings, both on the European continent, and in the USA,^[5] reaching a respectable Number 12 in the UK. The song actually represents the first successful promotional release from the album, since the first single, "Forbidden Fruit", had been out several months before the LP (almost a year before, in fact, in 1985): a nice ballad, with a nice videoclip, it didn't get any cigars though. After "Digging Your Scene" crashed into the international charts, two more singles were taken from the album, both of which, though catchy and cleverly built, didn't succeed in replicating that huge unexpected success: "Wicked Ways", didn't get any further than a disappointing Number 60 in Great Britain, whilst the last single, "Don't be Scared of Me", didn't even chart among the first 75 positions.

In general, Animal Magic displays an intelligent collection of middle-beat pop rock tunes, with a couple of ballads representing the climax of the album, of which the 1985 single is one example, the other song perhaps being the masterpiece on the whole work: "I Backed a Winner (in You)" is in fact a heartfelt, essential track, almost completely a cappella, with the lead singer, Dr. Robert, softly playing his acoustic guitar, barely audible, but giving the lyrics its perceptive rhythm, where his vocals, and especially those of an aptly called ensemble, The Demon Barbers, acting as a sort of doo wop choir, make this a real work of art, worth the whole pack, and getting far beyond a barber's realm of typical harmonies. Amongst the album's many gems is also a duet with bizarre Jamaican toaster Eek-A-Mouse (resurfaced almost 20 years later on some DJ compilations, mixed by Boy George, who is mentioned by Dr. Robert in one of the many B-sides issued by the band). The duet is entitled "Sweet Murder", and it foreshadows things soon to come for the UK group - as an example of many, just see "Celebrate (the Day after You)" with Curtis Mayfield, one of the four singles from The Blow Monkeys' next 1987 album, She Was Only a Grocer's Daughter.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Singles from the album 3 Credits 3.1 Line Up 3.2 Musicians 3.3 Production 3.4 Staff 4 Release details 5 Charts 6 References 7 External links

Track listing

Words and music by Dr. Robert.

1. "Digging Your Scene" - 4:13
2. "Animal Magic" - 3:07
3. "Wicked Ways" - 4:14
4. "Sweet Murder" - 6:31
5. "Aeroplane City Lovesong" - 4:52
6. "Walking the Blue Beat" - 4:12 (on cassette edition only)[1], [2]
7. "I Nearly Died Laughing" - 3:37
8. "Don't Be Scared of Me" - 3:29
9. "Burn the Rich" - 4:17
10. "I Backed a Winner (in You)" - 2:39
11. "Forbidden Fruit" - 3:59
12. "Heaven Is a Place I'm Moving to" - 3:05

Singles from the album

• "Forbidden Fruit" (1985)
• "Digging Your Scene" (1986) [UK Singles Chart: Number 12; USA Billboard Hot 100: Number 14; USA Hot Dance Club Play: Number 7; Germany: Number 25]

- Used in the 1999 movie Splendor.^[6]

- Cover versions have been released by Ivy on Long Distance (2001) and Guestroom (2002),^[7] and by Rahsaan Patterson on the Japanese edition of Love in Stereo (1999).^[8][9]

• "Wicked Ways" (1986) [UK Singles Chart: Number 60]
• "Don't Be Scared of Me" (1986)

Credits

Line Up

• Dr Robert: words & music; vocals; electric guitar tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; acoustic guitar tracks 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12
• Neville Henry: tenor saxophone tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11; alto saxophone tracks 2, 5, 8
• Mick Anker: bass tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11; double bass track 9, 12
• Tony Kiley: drums tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11

Musicians

• Dixie Peach, Morris Michael: background vocals track 1
• Sylvia Mason-James: background vocals tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12
• Mary Cassidy: background vocals tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12
• Bernita Turner: background vocals tracks 2, 8, 12
• Yogi: background vocals track 3
• Morris Michael: background vocals track 3
• Vicky St. James: background vocals tracks 4, 5, 7, 11
• Luis Jardim: percussion tracks 1, 4, 5
• Peter Wilson: keyboards tracks 1, 8; honk box, brass arrangement track 4; string machine track 6; Hammond organ track 7; barroom piano & background vocals track 9
• Eek-A-Mouse: vocals track 4
• Guy Barker: trumpet track 5, 7, 11
• Morris Micheals: background vocals track 6
• Joe Brown: slide guitar track 9
• The Demon Barbers: background vocals track 10
• Mickey Finn: bongos track 11
• Dick Morrissey: Soprano saxophone track 12

Production

• Peter Wilson: production except tracks 3 & 6; string arrangement except track 12
• Dr. Robert, Adam Mosely: production tracks 3 & 6
• Michael Baker: mixing track 3; additional recording and mixing track 1
• John Mealing: string arrangement track 12
• Axel Kroell: drum programming

Staff

• Mainartery: art direction & design
• Ian Thomas: photography

Release details

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
UK	1986	RCA/Ariola	CD	PD 70910

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart[10]	21
US Billboard 200[11]	35

Song	Chart	Peak	Date
"Animal Magic"	US Billboard 200[12]	35	August 9, 1986
"Digging Your Scene"	UK Singles Chart[10]	12	March 1, 1986
"Digging Your Scene"	US Billboard Hot 100[12]	14	August 2, 1986
"Wicked Ways"	UK Singles Chart[10]	60	May 17, 1986

References

External links

• MySpace: The Blow Monkeys' MySpace page, with audio clips to four representative tracks by the band, including the smash hit from Animal Magic, "Digging Your Scene".