- The Midnight Beast
-
The Midnight Beast Origin London, United Kingdom Genres Comedy Years active 2009–present Website http://themidnightbeast.com/ Members Stefan Abingdon
Dru Wakely
Ashley HorneThe Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British comedy music group from London, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American pop artist Ke$ha.[1] The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.
Contents
Members
Stefan Abingdon
Stefan James Donald John Abingdon (born 19 January 1989) is a graduate of The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology. Abingdon is a multi-instrumentalist, and can be seen playing acoustic and electric guitars,[2][3] keyboards[4] and ukeleles[5] in YouTube videos with his various bands. Prior to the formation of TMB, Abingdon was a member of numerous non-comedic music projects, which spanned a number of genres, including Ink, Killafornia, R.U.Twin, Icarus Burning, Stefan & The Artschool, Trick Fantastic, The Clik Clik, Perfect People, and Chapters, as well as recording songs as a solo act. In 2010, Abingdon recorded Drunk Girls for the soundtrack of British crime drama 4.3.2.1, and in 2011, Abingdon co-wrote and produced the title track for Selena Gomez & the Scene's third studio album When the Sun Goes Down.
Dru Wakely
Andrew Francis Wakely (born 10 January 1987)[6] was also a musician prior to the formation of TMB, playing drums alongside Abingdon in Icarus Burning, The Clik Clik, and Perfect People.
Ashley Horne
Ashley Neil Horne (born 4 January 1989) is the only member of the group with no known professional musical experience prior to forming TMB, although Horne can be seen playing the bass guitar in concert with the group.[7] Horne was originally pursuing an acting career, and had bit parts in a number of British television series, including Foyle's War, Genie in the House, EastEnders and Doctor Who.[8][9][10][11] He also starred in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a child.
Book
The group released a semi-autographical book titled Book at Us Now on 27th October 2011. The book included interviews with the band members, the history of The Midnight Beast, as well as exposition on the groups videos and songs. The group held book signings around the country in a promotion titled the Book at Us Now Tour.[12]
Sitcom
In 2011, it was announced that the band would star in its own, self-titled, sitcom, The Midnight Beast. The show is currently set to be broadcast in 2012 by E4[13]. The series will consist of 6 episodes, and follow fictionalized version of the band members as they attempt to become successful musicians.
Reception
The Midnight Beast have a rather large following on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with over 280,000 subscribers and a combined 40 million views on their YouTube channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of September 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes music charts,[14] and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million views on YouTube. The group has also had songs reach positions on national music charts in the U.K. and Australia.
The band and their music have achieved high levels of success not only with fans, but critics as well. Music and internet culture critics have often mentioned the band's instant "internet fame",[15] and the transition of that fame into the real world. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com,[16] and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.
The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down, with Ke$ha stating "holy. shit. this is better than my version.",[17][18] and Jay Sean posting "Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with "pants on the ground"...".[19] Ke$ha would go on to state the she wished the group had directed her own music video.[20]
The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Ya Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines "One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs.[21] The story eventually reached the front page of the paper.[22] The music video for "Pizza in Ibiza" also attracted some mild controversy, with local publications criticizing footage of the band members tossing food into the sea around the island.
Discography
EPs
Year Title Label Chart Positions UK 2010 Booty Call EP Midnight Beast Records
AWAL Records64 Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album UK[23][24][25] AUS[26] IRE[27] 2009 "TiK ToK Parody" 90 4 39 Non-album single 2010 "Down Parody" — — — "Ninjas" — — — "Lez Be Friends" — — — "Friends For Never" — — — "Daddy" — — — Booty Call EP "Booty Call" 64 — — "Just Another Boy Band" — — — Non-album single 2011 "The Dance Routine" 48 — — "Pizza In Ibiza" — — — "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that country. Other Songs, Parodies and Skits
- Nerds and Drunk Girls, two songs originally performed as solo recordings by Abingdon; the group only plays these songs live
- XXXmas Buddies (How To Get A Xmas...), a holiday-themed adult parody of All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff
- Walk With Us, a comdeic skit
- Dubstep On My Mouth, a comedic skit revolving around the genre of Dubstep music
- Fashion Innit, a gonzo report for MTV Rocks; Fashion Innit was included on the Booty Call EP
- House Party, a skit made for BBC Comedy revolving around the 2010 elections
- Camden Crawling, a gonzo report for MTV Rocks about the Camden Crawl Festival
- All Time Low Parody featuring Tom Deacon, a parody of All Time Low by The Wanted.
- Walk With Us Xmas Special, a holiday-themed version of the original Walk With Us skit
- Use Ya Head, a sexual education-themed skit released in support of the Marie Stopes charity
- Friday Parody, a "parody" of Friday by Rebecca Black; contrary to the title, it is not a parody, but a full on cover, as in Stefan's words, 'The lyrics are already funny enough'
- E.T. Parody, a parody of E.T. by Katy Perry and Kanye West
Tours
- Unnamed 2010 tour (October 17-October 25)
- Unnamed 2011 tour (February 15-February 24)
- The Wednesday Tour (June 22-August 24, 2011)
References
- ^ "Tik Tok (Parody) - Single". iTunes Store. 15 January 2010. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/tik-tok-parody-single/id350757754. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSwShWswRk
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGslnol566I
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHiBFIoaVt4
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1qwjYVxtUk
- ^ http://www.facebook.com/midnightbeastuk/posts/143677479023190
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDSwShWswRk
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ http://www.locatetv.com/person/ashley-horne/279290
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ Ashley Horne at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ http://www.themidnightbeast.com/
- ^ http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/the_midnight_beast/
- ^ http://www.music-chart.info/artist/11570/The-Midnight-Beast
- ^ http://www.yorkvision.co.uk/scene/the-midnight-beast/
- ^ http://www.yorkvision.co.uk/scene/the-midnight-beast/
- ^ http://twitter.com/keshasuxx/status/6676461438
- ^ Daw, Robbie (12 January 2010). "The Midnight Beast: And You Thought Ke$ha’s Version Of "TiK ToK" Was Trashy". Idolator. http://idolator.com/5358512/the-midnight-beast-and-you-thought-kehas-version-of-tik-tok-was-trashy. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
- ^ http://twitter.com/jaysean/status/8034031578
- ^ http://www.yorkvision.co.uk/scene/the-midnight-beast/
- ^ http://www.metro.co.uk/news/854880-controversial-safe-sex-video-too-cheeky-for-some
- ^ http://midnightbeastuk.tumblr.com/post/3817433303/metro-heres-another-thing-to-tick-off-our-to-do
- ^ "The Midnight Beast UK charting positions". Chart Stats. chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=12493. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ "Chart Positions, Artists by name (M)". http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_M.HTM. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
- ^ http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/110514cluk.txt
- ^ "The Midnight Beast - Tik Tok (Parody)". eMedia Jungen. australian-charts.com. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Midnight+Beast&titel=TiK+ToK+%28Parody%29&cat=s. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ http://irish-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=The+Midnight+Beast
External links
Categories:- British comedy musical groups
- Musical groups from London
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
