Moloko

Moloko

Moloko in 2003: Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy
Background information
Origin Sheffield, England, United Kingdom
Genres
Years active 1994–2003[1]
Labels The Echo Label, Warner Bros.
Past members Róisín Murphy
Mark Brydon

Moloko /məˈlk/ were an English-Irish music duo from Sheffield, England. The duo consisted of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon.

History

Murphy had no prior professional experience as a singer when Moloko was formed.[1] Brydon, had previously worked on music as a producer with musicians such as Boy George and Cabaret Voltaire on releases from the 1990s.[2] In 1994, the two met at a party in Sheffield, where Murphy approached Brydon with the chat-up line, "Do you like my tight sweater? See how it fits my body!"[1] The query became their début album's title, recorded while Murphy and Brydon had begun dating.[1] The name Moloko comes from the narcotic-filled milk drink, Moloko Plus, in the Anthony Burgess novel A Clockwork Orange,[3] based on the Russian for milk, "молоко" ("moloko").

The group signed to Echo Records and released their single "Where Is the What If the What Is in the Why?"[1] The group's debut album Do You Like My Tight Sweater? was released in 1995.[1] The group toured with Pulp following the release.[1]

The single "Fun for Me" was featured prominently on the Batman & Robin soundtrack and received radio airplay and strong MTV rotation.[4] It reached no. 4 in the US Dance chart.

After Moloko finished the tour, they built a home studio and recorded their second album, titled I Am Not a Doctor, which was released in 1998 in the United Kingdom.[1] The album wasn't a success, reaching only no. 64 in the UK album chart. However, a Boris Dlugosch remix of "Sing It Back", the third single from the album that originally failed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart, was a huge hit, reaching no. 4 in the UK chart and no. 1 in the US Dance Chart.

Their third album Things to Make and Do was released in the year 2000[5] and reached no. 3 in the UK album chart. The first single, "The Time Is Now" was their biggest hit, charting at no. 2 in the charts.

Their 2003 album Statues produced two hit singles, "Familiar Feeling", which reached no. 10 in the UK, and "Forever More", which reached no. 17. Brydon and Murphy ended their romantic relationship after the album's release and, following a tour, disbanded the group.[1]

Style

Moloko's music has been described as "jazzy trip hop,"[6] alternative dance,[1] dance-pop,[1] experimental pop,[7] and electropop.[8] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the sound of their debut album similar to that of Portishead and Massive Attack with elements of dance, funk, and trip hop, while noting the group had "a sense of humor and sass unique to Moloko."[1]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[9]
AUS
[10]
AUT
[11]
BEL (Fl)
[12]
FIN
[13]
FRA
[14]
GER
[15]
IRE
[16]
NLD
[17]
SWI
[18]
Do You Like My Tight Sweater? 92 179
I Am Not a Doctor
  • Released: 24 August 1998
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
64 137 30 91 45
Things to Make and Do
  • Released: 10 April 2000
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
3 38 21 6 26 14 10 66 25
Statues
  • Released: 3 March 2003
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
18 34 19 1 12 135 12 59 28 26

Compilations

Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[9]
AUS
[10]
BEL (Fl)
[12]
GER
[15]
IRE
[16]
NLD
[17]
All Back to the Mine 149 47
Catalogue
  • Released: 17 July 2006
  • Label: Echo
  • Format: CD
82 142 7 98 70 65
All Back to the Mine: Vol. I
All Back to the Mine: Vol. II

All Back to the Mine (2001) is a collection of 21 remixes (23 in Japan). Vol. I and Vol. II (2016) each contain 34 remixes, for a total of 68. Not all of the remixes on the 2001 version are included on the 2016 versions.[21]

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[9]
AUS
[10]
AUT
[11]
BEL
[12]
FRA
[14]
GER
[15]
IRE
[16]
NLD
[17]
SWI
[18]
US Dance
[22]
"Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?" 1995 189 Do You Like My Tight Sweater?
"Fun for Me"
"Dominoid" 1996 65 148
"Fun for Me" (re-release) 36 4
"Day for Night" 37
"The Flipside" 1998 53 107 I Am Not a Doctor
"Sing It Back" 1999 45
"Sing It Back" (Remix) 4 20 26 35 47 12 24 18 1 Things to Make and Do
"The Time Is Now" 2000 2 36 15 49 10 46 41
"Pure Pleasure Seeker" 21 119 [A]
"Indigo" 51 [B]
"Familiar Feeling" 2003 10 46 59 29 72 26 100 84 Statues
"Forever More" 17 26 96 77
"Cannot Contain This" 97 [C]

Awards and honours

"Best International Live Act" - Belgian TMF Awards 2004

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Phares, Heather. "Moloko Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  2. "Mark Brydon Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  3. DeLong, Donnacha; Fox, Olivia. "Moloko - Greek for Wanker". Sorted magAZine. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  4. Phares, Heather. "About Moloko". MTV Artists. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  5. "Moloko – Things To Make And Do". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  6. Fact Magazine - Róisín Murphy: A Junkie for Love
  7. Scotsman
  8. DuJour
  9. 1 2 3 "Chart Log UK (1994–2010): M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  11. 1 2 "Discographie Moloko - austriancharts.at" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  12. 1 2 3 "ultratop.be - Moloko - Sing It Back" (in Dutch). Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  13. "finnishchars.com - Discography Moloko". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  14. 1 2 "lescharts.com - Discographie Moloko" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  15. 1 2 3 "officialcharts.de - Suche nach Moloko" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  16. 1 2 3 Irish chart peaks:
  17. 1 2 3 "dutchcharts.nl - Discografie Moloko" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  18. 1 2 "Moloko - hitparade.ch" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014. Click "Charts" and select either Songs or Alben (Albums) to see peaks.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 16 November 2014. Enter "Moloko" in the Keywords field, select "Artist" under Search by, tick the exact match box and hit search.
  20. "ultratop.be - Goud en Platina 2003" (in Dutch). Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  21. Moloko discography at Discogs: Compilations
  22. "Moloko - Chart history on the Dance Club Songs chart". Billboard. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
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