Betty Boo Boomania

BETTY BOO Boomania (Limited Edition Postcard Pack) Rhythm King/Sire/Reprise. BETTY BOO Self-Portrait. BETTY BOO Faces Of 1991 Popgear News Beat Special 3. . Betty Boo's original breakthrough came with the release of ‘Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing) as The Beatmasters featuring Betty Boo on Rhythm King in 1989. Her debut album ‘Boomania' followed in 1990 peaking at # 4 in the UK album charts and achieved platinum status of 300,000 sales.

Boomania is the debut and most successful album by Betty Boo, released on 10 September 1990. King John (a duo comprising Rex Brough and John Coxon) produced most of the songs on the album; Coxon continued to collaborate with Betty Boo on her second album, GRRR! It's Betty Boo.

Track listings[edit]

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies an additional producer
• 'Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)' is a reworking of 'I Can't Dance to That Music You're Playing' by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
• 'Boo Is Booming' samples 'Montego Bay' by Bobby Bloom.
• 'Doin' the Do' samples the 1968 song 'Captain of Your Ship' by Reparata and the Delrons.
• At least one CD release, as well as the vinyl, did not have the last two 'bonus' tracks from the original release of Boomania. The UK cassette includes the bonus tracks, but 'Doin' the Do (7' Radio Mix)' is moved to the end of side one, after 'Valentine's Day'.

Doin' the Do: The Best of Betty Boo[edit]

In 1999, an apparent Betty Boo greatest hits album was released but is effectively a slightly expanded version of Boomania as no material from Boo's second album, GRRR! Idle supermarket tycoon franchise. It's Betty Boo, is included. Called Doin' the Do: The Best of Betty Boo, it consists of all the tracks from Boomania in a slightly different order, alongside extended versions of two of its singles, a remix, and a megamix. Its cover art is a mirrored version of the photo from the front of Boomania with the addition of Betty Boo's signature and minor digital alterations. These new tracks were all included on the 2016 deluxe reissue of Boomania.

1. 'Where Are You Baby? (7' Version)' (Alison Clarkson) – 4:05
2. 'Doin' the Do (7' Version)' (Alison Clarkson, Larry Young, Yardley) - 3:41
3. 'Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)' (Alison Clarkson, P. Carter, M. Glanfield, R. Walmsley, D. Richards, D. Dean) - 3:15
4. '24 Hours (Norman Cook Remix)' (Alison Clarkson, Myers, Dean Ross) - 5:35 †
5. 'Boo's Boogie' (Alison Clarkson, Rex Brough, John Coxon) - 3:19
6. 'Leave Me Alone' (Alison Clarkson) - 4:45
7. 'Shame' (Alison Clarkson, Rex Brough, John Coxon) - 5:01
8. 'Boo Is Booming' (Alison Clarkson, Barry, Bloom) - 3:27
9. 'Mumbo Jumbo' (Alison Clarkson, A. Lovegrove, Coldrick) - 3:39
10. '('Til My Last Breath) Doin' It to Def' (Alison Clarkson, K. Clark) - 4:45
11. 'Don't Know What to Do' (Alison Clarkson) - 3:50
12. 'Valentine's Day' (Alison Clarkson) - 4:44
13. '24 Hours' (Alison Clarkson, Myers, Dean Ross) - 3:28
14. 'Where Are You Baby (12' Peter Lorimer Version)' (Alison Clarkson) - 6:37 †
15. 'Doin' the Do (12' Version)' (Alison Clarkson, Young, Yardley) - 5:38 †
16. 'Boo's Megamix' (Alison Clarkson, John Coxon, Rex Brough, Myers, Dean Ross, Richards, Dean, Walmsley, Glanfield, Carter, Young, Yardley) - 7:16 †

† Denotes a new track that was not originally on Boomania

Betty Boo Boomania Review

References[edit]

1. ^Amazon, deluxe edition listing
2. ^Cherry Red Records, Boomania (Deluxe Edition) listing.
3. ^Amazon, Doin' the Do: The Best of Betty Boo listing

External links[edit]

• Boomania at Discogs (list of releases)
• Official Charts CompanyBoomania entry at the OCC

Betty Boo – Boomania

___________

I am starting a new feature…

that shines a light on the albums that were underrated at the time of their release, deserve wider acclaim now, or have aged better as the years have progressed. There are a couple of reasons why I am featuring Boomania as the first album of this feature. For a start, the woman behind the Betty Boo alter ego is Alison Clarkson. She is fifty today (6th March), and Boomania turns thirty later this year. I also remember Boomania fondly when it came out. I was seven when the album came out, and Boomania, to my young ears, was an exciting and exceptional addition to 1990. At the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s, there was this wave of great Dance, Club, and Pop music that was defined by its anthemic, fun, and catchy tone. This feature from Louder than War, published in 2016, talks about what was happening in 1990:

'It's 1990. Pop/Rock Music was in flux. Madchester! Soul II Soul. Rock was ‘Dead' – apart from in the USA where punk was ‘breaking'. I was still young (at 26) and my musical identity was somewhat in-flux too. Goth had become a joke. The Mary Chain were repeating themselves. The Pixies were the only band that mattered until the fledgling Manics emerged… so even I resorted temporarily to Pop Music as a source of tacky disposable joy.

Neneh Cherry was cool -due to her associations with the Slits and Co -and was the Queen of Pop – peerless and majestic rap/pop which never sounds nothing more than joyful.

Salt'n'Pepa had appeared on the Tube as early as 1987 (My Mic Sound Nice, Check One, My Mic Sound Nice Check Two, Are. You. Ready!) pre-major label make-over and were inspirational and a gap must've appeared in the market for a UK equivalent.

Deee-Lites Groove is in the Heart was the party record of 1990 but Betty Boo just looked fabulously right and we wanted her to be Grrrreat!'.

I was just musing, when thinking about Betty Boo/Alison Clarkson, about another British talent who released her debut album in 1990. Monie Love was born a few months after Clarkson; both are London artists and, in terms of their rapping style, there are some similarities. If Monie Love's debut, Down to Earth, was better reviewed – and she and Betty Boo were very different in terms of their backgrounds -, I think there was something in the air in 1990. Maybe it was a continuation of the 1980s' gold, but 1990 was a stunning year for music. Maybe Betty Boo got overlooked when you consider we had Soul II Soul and Deee-Lite owning the airwaves. What I love about Betty Boo is how she mixed elements of the cartoonish with the serious. Clarkson, as a twenty year old, was sassy and mature, but there was a sense of the throwaway and camp in her videos. That mix of the sassy and flirty can be heard in big hits like Doin' the Do and Where Are You Baby?

These are the two songs that we all remember from the album, but there is huge quality throughout. 24 Hours and Don't Know What to Do are classic Pop gems and, throughout Boomania, there is plenty of energy and vitality. Like all good albums, there is emotional blend and balance – Boomania would be too exhausting were it all wild jams and giddy choruses! Although some feel Boomania has not aged well and was very much a product of its time, I feel it is an underrated album that warrants a second spin. Other albums I will include in this feature have fared better through the years and are regarded more fondly, but one cannot dismiss the big moments and confidence that runs through this 1990 debut. This article from 2012 digs deeper into Betty Boo's Boomania:

'Although Boo's biggest hit was the slightly kitsch and commercial ‘Where Are You Baby?', which reached #3 back in 1990, the remainder of the album is full of brassy raps delivered over hip-hop beats, matched with infectious pop choruses. Her initial break came courtesy of a collaboration with Beatmasters in 1989, appearing as the guest vocalist on the #7 hit, ‘Hey DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)'. This single was rightfully included on Boomania, and was a great introduction to the Boo persona.

Other tracks released from Boomania were ‘Doin' The Do' and the superb ‘24 Hours'. The former was her first solo single and opened with the lines ‘It's me again / Yes, how did you guess? / ‘Cause the last time you were really impressed' – Boo certainly started as she meant to go on. The latter (embedded below) was the final single to come from her début, sadly and undeservedly reaching a paltry #25 on the UK charts. It wouldn't be until Craig David's ‘7 Days' that the days of the week would again be used so well in a song's chorus.

The great thing about her début album is how it mixes up the pace perfectly. Boo handles up-tempo and mid-tempo equally well, even throwing in the occasional curveball such as the striking and rather haunting ‘Valentine's Day'. A particular highlight for me though is the quirky funk of ‘Mumbo Jumbo' which sees Boo in 100% fierce mode, sending a lover packing for two-timing her. The attitude overflows here, beginning with her yelling, ‘You're a damn liar!', followed by the sound of a door slamming'.

I think there is some interesting Pop music coming through now that takes from what was around in 1990, whether it was Betty Boo, Madonna, or The Sundays. I think there is a relative lack of joy in Pop. Do people look back and feel albums like Boomania are too twee and gleeful? Unlike some of her contemporaries, I think Betty Boo managed to bring plenty of attitude and class to the party.

Although Betty Boo burned brightly for a short time – Boomania's 1992 follow-up, GRRR! It's Betty Boo, was not as successful as her debut; she is yet to release a third album -, I think Boomania is a great album that deserves more respect. Last year, Classic Pop caught up with Alison Clarkson and asked her about that debut album and how she got into music:

'Growing up, pop music and football were Alison Clarkson's twin obsessions. Cyber2day. Duran Duran (John Taylor in particular) would battle it out with Glenn Hoddle and Garth Crooks for space on her bedroom wall, but it was Adam Ant who was the adolescent Clarkson's biggest musical crush. 'His videos were like mini films,' she coos. 'I think they probably had a huge impact on when I started making records, that I wanted videos to be a bit more fun.'

Betty Boo Where Are You Baby

The arrival in the mid-80s of a tornado of searingly provocative, lyrically inventive hip-hop bands would however prove the catalyst for Clarkson to strike out as a musician. She devoured the work of Public Enemy, EPMD, LL Cool J and Erik B & Rakim before forming the Salt-N-Pepa-inspired She Rockers with chums Donna McConnell and Dupe Fagbesa while still at school. Keen to make her own records, she signed on for a sound engineering course, only to drop out after a year. 'It was far too technical,' she winces, 'I just wanted to get on and make music'.

'Though she succumbed to Rhythm King's desire to hire a seasoned producer to sprinkle some professional fairy dust over her bedroom-demoed tracks, it's clear that Clarkson, for all her diffidence, had a steely determination to remain in control of her artistic output. The Betty Boo persona wasn't committee-cooked or crafted by a gaggle of image consultants, it was 100% Alison Clarkson. A long-time fan of The Avengers TV show, she'd been inspired by that series' Emma Peel, the feminine, kickass superspy played with flirtatious relish by Diana Rigg. 'The way she looked, the catsuits, it was so simple, but so powerful,' enthuses Clarkson. In the Doin' The Do video, she's there, strutting imperiously around a school in a leather jacket and hotpants, topped by her iconic black bob ‘do. As videos go, it feels electrifyingly rebellious'.

I do miss some of those Pop artists from the 1980s and 1990s and wonder, if they arrived now, would they fit in? 1990 was a brilliant year for music, and Betty Boo was part of a Pop/Rap wave that managed to blend the fun with the strong. She was not a marketed and committee-spun Pop artists that one might have found on Top of the Pops at the time. Will we ever see another Betty Boo album?

'But what about new Betty Boo material? With her back doing the live thing, is there any hunger to finally put out that long-waited-for third album? It's not even like ‘Betty Boo' has ever gone away. It's never just been a professional alter ego. Even today, most of her mates call her ‘Boo'. And that famous black bob with the flipped-up sides is comfortingly intact, three decades on. 'It just does that,' she smiles. 'Because I play a lot of tennis I try not to get it cut too often. It was flat when I left the house, then it just went whoop!'

As regards that new music then…?

Salt'n'Pepa had appeared on the Tube as early as 1987 (My Mic Sound Nice, Check One, My Mic Sound Nice Check Two, Are. You. Ready!) pre-major label make-over and were inspirational and a gap must've appeared in the market for a UK equivalent.

Deee-Lites Groove is in the Heart was the party record of 1990 but Betty Boo just looked fabulously right and we wanted her to be Grrrreat!'.

I was just musing, when thinking about Betty Boo/Alison Clarkson, about another British talent who released her debut album in 1990. Monie Love was born a few months after Clarkson; both are London artists and, in terms of their rapping style, there are some similarities. If Monie Love's debut, Down to Earth, was better reviewed – and she and Betty Boo were very different in terms of their backgrounds -, I think there was something in the air in 1990. Maybe it was a continuation of the 1980s' gold, but 1990 was a stunning year for music. Maybe Betty Boo got overlooked when you consider we had Soul II Soul and Deee-Lite owning the airwaves. What I love about Betty Boo is how she mixed elements of the cartoonish with the serious. Clarkson, as a twenty year old, was sassy and mature, but there was a sense of the throwaway and camp in her videos. That mix of the sassy and flirty can be heard in big hits like Doin' the Do and Where Are You Baby?

These are the two songs that we all remember from the album, but there is huge quality throughout. 24 Hours and Don't Know What to Do are classic Pop gems and, throughout Boomania, there is plenty of energy and vitality. Like all good albums, there is emotional blend and balance – Boomania would be too exhausting were it all wild jams and giddy choruses! Although some feel Boomania has not aged well and was very much a product of its time, I feel it is an underrated album that warrants a second spin. Other albums I will include in this feature have fared better through the years and are regarded more fondly, but one cannot dismiss the big moments and confidence that runs through this 1990 debut. This article from 2012 digs deeper into Betty Boo's Boomania:

'Although Boo's biggest hit was the slightly kitsch and commercial ‘Where Are You Baby?', which reached #3 back in 1990, the remainder of the album is full of brassy raps delivered over hip-hop beats, matched with infectious pop choruses. Her initial break came courtesy of a collaboration with Beatmasters in 1989, appearing as the guest vocalist on the #7 hit, ‘Hey DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)'. This single was rightfully included on Boomania, and was a great introduction to the Boo persona.

Other tracks released from Boomania were ‘Doin' The Do' and the superb ‘24 Hours'. The former was her first solo single and opened with the lines ‘It's me again / Yes, how did you guess? / ‘Cause the last time you were really impressed' – Boo certainly started as she meant to go on. The latter (embedded below) was the final single to come from her début, sadly and undeservedly reaching a paltry #25 on the UK charts. It wouldn't be until Craig David's ‘7 Days' that the days of the week would again be used so well in a song's chorus.

The great thing about her début album is how it mixes up the pace perfectly. Boo handles up-tempo and mid-tempo equally well, even throwing in the occasional curveball such as the striking and rather haunting ‘Valentine's Day'. A particular highlight for me though is the quirky funk of ‘Mumbo Jumbo' which sees Boo in 100% fierce mode, sending a lover packing for two-timing her. The attitude overflows here, beginning with her yelling, ‘You're a damn liar!', followed by the sound of a door slamming'.

I think there is some interesting Pop music coming through now that takes from what was around in 1990, whether it was Betty Boo, Madonna, or The Sundays. I think there is a relative lack of joy in Pop. Do people look back and feel albums like Boomania are too twee and gleeful? Unlike some of her contemporaries, I think Betty Boo managed to bring plenty of attitude and class to the party.

Although Betty Boo burned brightly for a short time – Boomania's 1992 follow-up, GRRR! It's Betty Boo, was not as successful as her debut; she is yet to release a third album -, I think Boomania is a great album that deserves more respect. Last year, Classic Pop caught up with Alison Clarkson and asked her about that debut album and how she got into music:

'Growing up, pop music and football were Alison Clarkson's twin obsessions. Cyber2day. Duran Duran (John Taylor in particular) would battle it out with Glenn Hoddle and Garth Crooks for space on her bedroom wall, but it was Adam Ant who was the adolescent Clarkson's biggest musical crush. 'His videos were like mini films,' she coos. 'I think they probably had a huge impact on when I started making records, that I wanted videos to be a bit more fun.'

Betty Boo Where Are You Baby

The arrival in the mid-80s of a tornado of searingly provocative, lyrically inventive hip-hop bands would however prove the catalyst for Clarkson to strike out as a musician. She devoured the work of Public Enemy, EPMD, LL Cool J and Erik B & Rakim before forming the Salt-N-Pepa-inspired She Rockers with chums Donna McConnell and Dupe Fagbesa while still at school. Keen to make her own records, she signed on for a sound engineering course, only to drop out after a year. 'It was far too technical,' she winces, 'I just wanted to get on and make music'.

'Though she succumbed to Rhythm King's desire to hire a seasoned producer to sprinkle some professional fairy dust over her bedroom-demoed tracks, it's clear that Clarkson, for all her diffidence, had a steely determination to remain in control of her artistic output. The Betty Boo persona wasn't committee-cooked or crafted by a gaggle of image consultants, it was 100% Alison Clarkson. A long-time fan of The Avengers TV show, she'd been inspired by that series' Emma Peel, the feminine, kickass superspy played with flirtatious relish by Diana Rigg. 'The way she looked, the catsuits, it was so simple, but so powerful,' enthuses Clarkson. In the Doin' The Do video, she's there, strutting imperiously around a school in a leather jacket and hotpants, topped by her iconic black bob ‘do. As videos go, it feels electrifyingly rebellious'.

I do miss some of those Pop artists from the 1980s and 1990s and wonder, if they arrived now, would they fit in? 1990 was a brilliant year for music, and Betty Boo was part of a Pop/Rap wave that managed to blend the fun with the strong. She was not a marketed and committee-spun Pop artists that one might have found on Top of the Pops at the time. Will we ever see another Betty Boo album?

'But what about new Betty Boo material? With her back doing the live thing, is there any hunger to finally put out that long-waited-for third album? It's not even like ‘Betty Boo' has ever gone away. It's never just been a professional alter ego. Even today, most of her mates call her ‘Boo'. And that famous black bob with the flipped-up sides is comfortingly intact, three decades on. 'It just does that,' she smiles. 'Because I play a lot of tennis I try not to get it cut too often. It was flat when I left the house, then it just went whoop!'

As regards that new music then…?

'Now I feel like it's the right time,' she says, 'because even people that were before me, like Bananarama, they keep making records and I'm thinking, I've gotta do it! What's stopping me?'

What indeed? But who would the performing Betty Boo be at 49? What would a middle-aged Betty Boo rap about? 'That's the thing!' she laughs. 'Country life? Tennis? I'm hoping the spark will just come. I think I've got quite a few fans out there who'd still like a record from me and I'd do it just for them really'.

As it is Alison Clarkson's birthday today, I have been compelled to look back at the debut Betty Boo album and wonder whether people got too fixated on the two big singles – Doin' the Do and Where Are You Baby? – and ignored the rest of the album. Sure, there were stronger albums out in 1990, but I think Boomania could provide inspiration to artists/bands emerging now regarding how to write a Pop gem – in fact, 1990 in general is a year many acts should study closely. Although there are no plans for another album, I do believe Betty Boo is touring this year. Nearly thirty year after its release, the epic Boomania…