At Brisco we want to celebrate the best of British culture. Sometimes the artists are famous, sometimes not. Karl Wallinger was not an international superstar, not like Lennon, McCartney, Bowie… But he was a wonderful singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. And he has passed away, at the young age of 66..
So who was Karl Wallinger? He was a member of The Waterboys, and then he became the leader of World Party. He produced some of the best pop music of the past 40 years. Karl's music was a really sweet blend of four big influences: the melodic beauty of (Rubber Soul / Revolver) Beatles, the vocal harmonies of the Beach Boys, the lyrical genius of Bob Dylan, and Tamla Motown rhythms of Stevie Wonder.
Here are four great songs written (one co-write) and produced by Karl Wallinger: (Listen to them on YouTube)
1. "The Whole of the Moon" (The Waterboys, 1985, co-written, bass and keyboards by Karl Wallinger)
2. "Is it Like Today?" (World Party, 1993)
3. "Put the Message in the Box" (World Party, 1990)
4. "Big Blue Ball" (with Peter Gabriel, 1993)
World Party released five albums in a short career, including the very wonderful Goodbye Jumbo (1990). Karl was worried about the environment twenty five years before it became the big issue it is today:
"I was crossing African plains, an elephant's graveyard, a bone dry place, I was wondering why there was no more rain..", he sang, 'Is it Too Late?' (1990).
Karl was one of the good guys in life. You won't hear any negative comments about him. It's a little sad that his life was rather short, but how wonderful that he left behind such beautiful heartfelt music.