WORLD PARTY

Formed: 1986, London, England

Members: Karl Wallinger, guitar, piano, vocals (born Prestatyn, Wales, 19 October 1957). Former members: Chris Sharrock, drums (born 1965); John Turnbull, guitar (born Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 27 August 1950); Dave Catlin-Birch, guitar, bass; Jeff Trott, guitar (born San Francisco, California); Chris Whitten, drums; Martyn Swain, bass.

Genre: Rock

Best-selling album since 1990: Goodbye Jumbo (1990)

Hit songs since 1990: "Way Down Now," "Put the Message in the Box"

Even when sporting a full complement of musicians, World Party was essentially a one-man band; at its center was Karl Wallinger, whose obsession with 1960s pop music engendered a few minor, retro-influenced hits in the early 1990s.

As a youngster growing up in Wales during the 1960s, Wallinger developed an affinity for the music of the Beatles, the Turtles, and the Box Tops, as well as for the American sound of Motown. In 1976 Wallinger made his musical debut with a band called Quasimodo, which later evolved into the Alarm. In 1984, after a period in London during which he played in a funk band and served as musical director for theater productions, Wallinger joined the Water-boys, a big-sounding U.K. rock outfit. After two critically acclaimed albums with the Waterboys, Wallinger, seeking more creative freedom, left the band to form World Party. World Party was, in fact, a Wallinger solo project; on World Party's 1987 debut, Private Revolution, Wallinger produced, sang, and played every instrument. The album draws heavily on Wallinger's pop influences and includes a cover of Bob Dylan's "All I Really Want to Do." The track "Ship of Fools" became a Top 40 hit in the United States.

Three years later, Wallinger expanded the World Party lineup and released Goodbye Jumbo, which features more of a full-band sound and enjoyed even more radio success. The lead single, "Way Down Now," a minor alternative-radio hit, showcases the expanded band's muscle; as Martyn Swain's bass and Chris Whitten's drums propel the chugging groove, Wallinger conjures up a 1960s spirit with the trippy catch phrase "I'm way down now." "Way Down Now" features an overt musical nod to 1960s pop-rock, with the end chorus of "ooh-oohs" bearing remarkable similarity to those from the Rolling Stones' classic "Sympathy for the Devil." The second single, "Put the Message in the Box," also harked back to 1960s-era pop, with its light, breezy feel as well as its simple, hippie-style message: "Put the message in the box / Put the box into the car / Drive the car around the world / Until you get heard." The poppy vibe of Goodbye Jumbo belies the ominous tone of Wallinger's lyrics, which frequently deal with global issues such as environmental abuse.

Wallinger continued to record sporadically with various musicians as World Party throughout the 1990s while also serving as musical director for the 1994 film Reality Bites. World Party's later albums did not yield any hits for the band, but the British sensation Robbie Williams was successful with a cover of "She's the One" from World Party's 1997 album Egyptology.

World Party never enjoyed mainstream appeal, but, with enduring songs such as "Way Down Now" and "Message in the Box," Wallinger's band did contribute to the preservation of 1960s pop-rock traditions within contemporary music.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Private Revolution (Papillon, 1987); Goodbye Jumbo (Papillon, 1990); Bang! (Papillon, 1993); Egyptology (Papillon, 1997); Dumbing Up (Papillon, 2000).

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