World Party - Thank You World
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[From The EP "Thank You World"]
[From The CD "KCRW Rare On Air Volume II"]
World Party is actually a one-man-party. Karl Wallinger (previously of the Waterboys) writes, performs and produces the World Party albums. A bit like Prince in that respect - the art for "Private Revolution" reminds me a little of "Sign O The Times". The first three Albums, "Private Revolution", "Goodbye Jumbo" and "Thank You World" are quite good, if you dig that eighties, world-lite, funky, pop, beat thing. He clearly has a talent for songwriting, which is obvious despite the intricate production and arrangements. He tackles Peter Gabriel "So" era pop with "Is It Too Late" and "Show Me To The Top", blue eyed soul with "Ain't Gonna Come Till I'm Ready", political folk with "And I Fell Back Alone" and Donavan meets Ringo Starr meets Tears For Fears with "Thank You World". Yeah, OK we get it, the guy's talented. "Thank You World (Live)" comes from the aptly titled EP "Thank You World" which still appears to be in print, though with different cover art than the CD I have. I can imagine nods from the Polyphonic Spree for this one.
Mystery Girl
The live recording of Mystery Girl comes from the compilation CD "KCRW Rare On Air [Volume II]. I've listened to this track at least a dozen times this evening and asked Mr. Google a hundred different ways for more information. But either this really is a cover and the Google folks aren't giving up any info whatsoever about the original version or it's the most instantly infectious song since the Beatles' "Baby's In Black". I swear I've heard this before, but where? A mystery to me. Other than being a bonus track on the "Give It Away" CD Single from "Bang!", the World Party website is no help. I even searched the U.S. Copyright Office records, but came up empty. Chalk it up to aural deja vu I guess. Karl Wallinger has been compared to the Beatles by some reviewers and you can hear the similarities in this performance. Enjoy. (And somebody, please tell me, is this a cover?...)
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