Fun Boy Three
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Fun Boy Three were a short-lived but successful multi-racial band which ran from 1981 to 1983 and was headed by singer Terry Hall after he left the Specials.
Hall dispensed with the darker, moody sound and demeanour which he and Jerry Dammers had crafted with great success in the ska revival of the late 1970s and went into a much brighter, poppier phase with his new band, though maintaining savagery and wit within his lyrics and a wholly expressionless persona.
He grew out and bleached his hair, wore more flamboyant clothes befitting of the early 80s, and recruited fellow Specials singers Neville Staples and Lynval Golding.
Together they set about making music which covered a variety of genres. The band enjoyed seven UK Top 20 hits, including the jungledrum-inspired "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)" and the brassy, marriage-cynic anthem "Tunnel Of Love".
The trio's last UK hit was a version of The Go-Gos song "Our Lips Are Sealed". They then toured the USA and split afterwards.
They were also credited with the discovery in 1982 of Bananarama, whom Hall first saw in a magazine. The three women, in their berets and donkey jackets, provided credited chorus vocals on the hit "It Ain't What You Do It's The Way That You Do It" before the tables turned and the Fun Boy Three appeared as the 'guests' on the song "Really Saying Something." Bananarama would go on to become the most successful all-female group in UK chart history, a title they held until the arrival of the Spice Girls.
Hall went on to create the even more short-lived project the Colour Field, who had one hit in 1985, before forming less successful bands Vegas and Terry, Blair & Anouchka. He also embarked on a solo career and maintains an enormous respect from musicians and fans alike, with many acts citing him as a huge influence.
