Moloko
Moloko /məˈloʊkoʊ/ were an Irish-English electronic music duo formed in Sheffield, England, consisting of vocalist Róisín Murphy and producer Mark Brydon. Blending elements of trip hop, electronica, and dance music, they are best known for their UK top 10 singles "The Time Is Now" (2000) and "Familiar Feeling" (2003), as well as the 1999 Boris Dlugosch remix of "Sing It Back" which became an international hit.
Moloko | |
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![]() Moloko in 2003: Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy | |
Background information | |
Origin | Sheffield, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1994–2004[1] |
Labels | The Echo Label, Warner Bros. |
Past members | Róisín Murphy 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] Its first sentence 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.
In 1997, their cover of "Are 'Friends' Electric?" featured on the Gary Numan tribute album Random.
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. They started touring as a full band along with percussionist Paul Slowly, keyboardist Eddie Stevens, and guitarist Dave Cook.[6]
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 just before they began work on the album and, following a tour, disbanded the group.[1]
Style
Moloko's music has been described as trip hop, alternative dance,[1] dance-pop,[1] experimental pop,[7] dance-punk[8] and electropop.[9] 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 humour and sass unique to Moloko."[1]
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [10] |
AUS [11] |
AUT [12] |
BEL (Fl) [13] |
FIN [14] |
FRA [15] |
GER [16] |
IRE [17] |
NLD [18] |
SWI [19] | |||
Do You Like My Tight Sweater? | 92 | 179 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
I Am Not a Doctor |
|
64 | 137 | 30 | — | — | — | 91 | — | — | 45 | |
Things to Make and Do |
|
3 | 38 | 21 | 6 | 26 | — | 14 | 10 | 66 | 25 |
|
Statues |
|
18 | 34 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 135 | 12 | 59 | 28 | 26 |
Compilations
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [10] |
AUS [11] |
BEL (Fl) [13] |
GER [16] |
IRE [17] |
NLD [18] | ||||
All Back to the Mine |
|
149 | 144 | 47 | — | — | — | ||
Catalogue |
|
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.[22]
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK [10] |
AUS [11] |
AUT [12] |
BEL [13] |
FRA [15] |
GER [16] |
IRE [17] |
NLD [18] |
SWI [19] |
US Dance [23] | ||||
"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] | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
- A^ : "Pure Pleasure Seeker" did not chart on the Flemish Ultratop 50, but peaked at number 15 on the Ultratip chart.
- B^ : "Indigo" did not chart on the Flemish Ultratop 50, but peaked at number 16 on the Ultratip chart.
- C^ : "Cannot Contain This" did not chart on the Flemish Ultratop 50, but peaked at number 3 on the Ultratip chart.
Video
Video albums
Year | Video details |
---|---|
2004 | 11,000 Clicks |
Awards and honours
"Best International Live Act" - Belgian TMF Awards 2004
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- Phares, Heather. "Moloko Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
- "Mark Brydon Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
- DeLong, Donnacha; Fox, Olivia. "Moloko - Greek for Wanker". Sorted magAZine. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- Phares, Heather. "About Moloko". MTV Artists. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- "Moloko – Things To Make And Do". Discogs.com. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- "Moloko". last.fm.
- "Roisin Murphy". Scotsman.
- "Moloko". abc.net.au.
- "Interview". DuJour.
- UK chart peaks:
- Top 100 peaks: "Official Charts > Moloko". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- Top 200 peaks to December 2010: "Chart Log UK (1994–2010): M – My Vitriol". zobbel.de. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Moloko in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 192.
- "Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?", "Dominoid", "Fun for Me", "Day for Night", "The Flipside", "Pure Pleasure Seeker", "Indigo", "Forever More" and "Cannot Contain This": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- Do You Like My Tight Sweater?, I Am Not a Doctor and Catalogue: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 17 February 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- All ARIA chart peaks to 29 July 2019: "Moloko ARIA chart history, received from ARIA on 29 July 2019". Imgur.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
- "austriancharts.at > Moloko in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- "Ultratop > Moloko in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- "finnishchars.com > Moloko in Finnish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- "lescharts.com > Moloko dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Suche nach: Moloko" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- Irish chart peaks:
- Top 30 singles chart peaks: "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Moloko (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media, via Imgur.com. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- Peaks from 2000: "irishcharts.com - Discography Moloko". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- "dutchcharts.nl > Moloko in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
- "Moloko - hitparade.ch" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014. Click "Charts" and select either Songs or Alben (Albums) to see peaks.
- "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.
- "ultratop.be - Goud en Platina 2003" (in Dutch). Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- Moloko discography at Discogs: Compilations
- "Billboard > Moloko Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
External links
- Moloko discography at Discogs
- Moloko at WhoSampled