Karl Wallinger

Karl Wallinger (born 19 October 1957, Prestatyn, Wales [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll Allmusic.com] ] ) is a Welsh musician.

Career

Wallinger was immersed from a young age in the music of The Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Love. Echoes of these childhood heroes permeate the record he was to release thirty three years later. He was educated at Charterhouse, a public school in Surrey.

Wallinger's musical career began in the 1970s with a couple of unsuccessful bands and a brief job in music publishing, after which he became musical director of "The Rocky Horror Show". He joined The Waterboys as a keyboardist from 1983-86. Whilst working on his World Party material, he also worked on Sinéad O'Connor's 1987 debut album "The Lion and the Cobra" - O'Connor also sings some backing vocals on the World Party track "Sweet Soul Dream". Wallinger's first release under the World Party banner, "Private Revolution" (1987), was a combination of folk, funk and soul. Its title was a nod to its creation by Wallinger working alone in a home recording studio. It spawned a minor hit single in "Ship of Fools".

Further World Party albums followed, including "Goodbye Jumbo". Wallinger was also musical director for the 1994 film, "Reality Bites", and contributed to the soundtrack of "Clueless" in 1996. The Wallinger penned "She's the One" has been successfully covered by Robbie Williams (most of Williams' other hits, including "Angels" were co-written by Guy Chambers, who was originally with World Party). Wallinger has also acted as a member of Bob Geldof's backing band.

1997 saw two tracks by Wallinger included on a compilation album entitled "Now And In Time To Be", a musical celebration of the works of famed Irish poet, W. B. Yeats. The poem "Politics" is credited as having been interpreted by Wallinger, while World Party is acknowledged as a contributing artist for "The Four Ages of Man".fact|date=October 2008

In an interview with Chicago Tribune freelancer Jay Hedblade, Wallinger revealed that he suffered a brain aneurysm in February 2001. He has made a full recovery and resumed touring in 2006.

In 2007 Karl Wallinger released "Best In Show", a best of album covering tracks from his five studio albums.

In 2008, after almost eighteen years in the making, the album "Big Blue Ball" was released, co-produced with Peter Gabriel and Stephen Hague. The album collects songs written and recorded during the summers of 1991, 1992 and 1995 by several artists from different countries. Among them are the French duo, Deep Forest, and the Irish singer, Sinead O'Connor.

References