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.

For other uses, see Moloko (disambiguation).

Moloko
Moloko in 2003: Mark Brydon and Róisín Murphy
Background information
OriginSheffield, England
Genres
Years active1994–2004[1]
LabelsThe Echo Label, Warner Bros.
Past membersRóisín 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? 92179————————
I Am Not a Doctor
  • Released: 24 August 1998
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
 6413730———91——45
Things to Make and Do
  • Released: 10 April 2000
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette, LP
 33821626—14106625
Statues
  • Released: 3 March 2003
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, LP, SACD
 18341911213512592826

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
  • Released: 2 October 2001
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: CD, cassette
 14914447———
Catalogue
  • Released: 17 July 2006
  • Label: Echo
  • Format: CD
 821427987065
All Back to the Mine: Vol. I ——————
All Back to the Mine: Vol. II
  • Released: 11 November 2016
  • Label: Echo
  • Formats: Digital download
 ——————

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

References
  1. Phares, Heather. "Moloko Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. "Mark Brydon Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 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. "Moloko". last.fm.
  7. "Roisin Murphy". Scotsman.
  8. "Moloko". abc.net.au.
  9. "Interview". DuJour.
  10. UK chart peaks:
  11. Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
  12. "austriancharts.at > Moloko in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  13. "Ultratop > Moloko in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  14. "finnishchars.com > Moloko in Finnish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  15. "lescharts.com > Moloko dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  16. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Suche nach: Moloko" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  17. Irish chart peaks:
  18. "dutchcharts.nl > Moloko in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  19. "Moloko - hitparade.ch" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014. Click "Charts" and select either Songs or Alben (Albums) to see peaks.
  20. "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.
  21. "ultratop.be - Goud en Platina 2003" (in Dutch). Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  22. Moloko discography at Discogs: Compilations
  23. "Billboard > Moloko Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
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