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Gnarls Barkley

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Gnarls Barkley <tr style="text-align: center;"><td colspan="3">Image:GnarlsBarkleyAvalon.jpg
Danger Mouse (top, on keyboards) and Cee-Lo (far right, at microphone) on-stage in Boston, August 11, 2006
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Background information

<tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Atlanta, Georgia, USA</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Soul, Electro, Alternative</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">2003 - Present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">Downtown Records
Warner Music</td></tr><tr><td>Website</td><td colspan="2">www.GnarlsBarkley.com</td></tr><tr><th style="background: #b0c4de;" colspan="3">Members</th></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;" colspan="3">Cee-Lo, Danger Mouse</td></tr>

Gnarls Barkley is a collaboration between Baltimore, Maryland-based DJ and producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and rapper/singer Cee-Lo (Thomas Callaway), from Atlanta. Their first album, St. Elsewhere, was released by Warner Music on April 24 2006 in the UK and on May 9 in the US by Atlantic/Downtown Records. It was made available for download one week earlier in the U.S. via the iTunes Music Store and other online download stores.

Contents

[edit] Career

"Crazy", their first single, based on samples of the song "Nel Cimitero Di Tucson" (1968) by Gianfranco Reverberi, gained some of its popularity due to its use on primetime BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's television advert, and it was also made Record of the Week by Ken Bruce of BBC Radio 2, Scott Mills and Jo Whiley of BBC Radio 1 as well as being made 'Weekend Anthem' by DJ Spoony and Sara Cox (also of Radio 1).They came together in 2003 when Cee-Lo was on tour and Danger Mouse happened to be the DJ. They became Gnarls Barkley. They were signed to Downtown Records by Josh Deutsch, after the song was presented to him by Danger Mouse's manager.<ref>Interview - Josh Deutsch, A&R for Gnarls Barkley (No.1 UK) - Sep 04, 2006. HitQuarters. Retrieved on November 9, 2006.</ref> It was released as a single on April 3 2006, preceded by its release as digital download and 12" Vinyl record single in March 2006. On 2 April 2006, it became the first ever UK number one single based on download sales alone.<ref>Crazy song makes musical history. BBC News. Retrieved on April 2, 2006.</ref>

The band performed along with Christina Aguilera, AFI, and Wolfmother at the MTV Movie Awards 2006 June 8 2006 at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.<ref>http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1530297/story.jhtml</ref>. They were dressed as characters from the film series Star Wars: Rebel Alliance pilots, Imperial officers, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Jango Fett, Obi-Wan, with Cee-Lo singing as an unmasked Darth Vader.

Many people believed that the name Gnarls Barkley is a play on words of the name of former NBA basketball player Charles Barkley. In fact, many radio listeners first misheard the name of the band as "Charles Barkley." Also, many radio DJ's explained to the listeners that the band name originated from the basketball player.[citation needed] In the June 18, 2006 New York Times Magazine Burton explains the name came from friends, "making up fictional celebrity names like Prince Gnarls and Bob Gnarley." When someone came up with Gnarls Barkley, Burton wrote it down.

"Crazy" is the first ever single to top the UK singles chart purely on download sales as it was released online a week before it was released as a CD single. It is also the first single to top the UK singles chart for nine weeks consecutively since 1994 when Wet Wet Wet's "Love Is All Around" was number one for fourteen weeks (the last song to spend exactly nine weeks on top was "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984). It has also equaled the Queen 1975 classic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also topped the UK singles chart for nine weeks. Crazy is also the longest number-one on the UK Official Download Chart with its stay lasting eleven consecutive weeks. Gnarls Barkley announced that as the record had spent its ninth week at number one, it was to be deleted as a vinyl/CD listing from May 28 2006 so people will "remember the song fondly and not get sick of it".<ref>Gnarls Go Out On Top. The Daily Record. Retrieved on May 28, 2006.</ref>

Prior to their collaboration as Gnarls Barkley, Danger Mouse and Cee Lo both worked on the single "What You Sittin' On?", available on "The Wired CD" under a Creative Commons license.

As of August 23, the album has sold 772,000 copies. [1]

A limited edition deluxe package of St. Elsewhere was released on November 7, 2006. The CD+DVD package includes a 92-page booklet, four music videos and bonus songs from live performances. [2] From January till March 2007, they will tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers through the United States of America. [3]

[edit] Awards

Gnarls Barkley won Best Song (for "Crazy") and the Future Sounds award at MTV's European Music Awards 2006 in Copenhagen.

[edit] Videos

To date Gnarls Barkley has released five music videos.

For more on these videos see Crazy, Smiley Faces, Gone Daddy Gone, Go-Go Gadget Gospel, and Who Cares.

[edit] Costumes

Gnarls Barkley has a propensity to appear in costume. For each live performance, as well as each photo shoots and interviews, the duo and their backing band dress in a different set of themed costumes. When performing live, the group will often open with a cover suited to their particular costume. For example, when they appeared as chefs in San Francisco, they opened with a cover of Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf."

Here is a partial list of costumes the group has worn in concert:

In photo shoots, as well as in the "Smiley Faces" video and various concerts, the group mimicks a classic movie. Here is a partial list of movies and/or movie characters they have referenced in publicity photos or otherwise:

[edit] Discography

[edit] Album

[edit] Singles

For more detailed chart listings, see the individual singles' articles
Title Release date Album Peak chart positions<ref>Gnarls Barkley's Crazy: Chart Positions. Retrieved on May 26, 2006.</ref>
U.S. UK NZ AUS CAN BE IT EU
"Crazy" April 3 2006 St. Elsewhere 2 1 1 2 1 3 2 1
"Smiley Faces" July 17 2006 St. Elsewhere - 10 - 38 - 35 9
"Who Cares?" / "Gone Daddy Gone" November 6 2006 St. Elsewhere TBR 60 - - - -

[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

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