Gorillaz

Gorillaz is an animated Britpop collective or supergroup and virtual band, comprising four animated band members: 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel. The band was created by Damon Albarn (of Blur) and Jamie Hewlett, the creator of Tank Girl.

History

Early career (1998-2000)

Gorillaz formed as a band in April 1998. The first song they recorded was "Ghost Train" (2000), later released as a B-side on their single "Rock the House". The band's first release was the EP Tomorrow Comes Today, which was very well received in the UK underground music scene, generating a lot of word-of-mouth advertising, as well as a large shroud of mystery over who was behind Gorillaz and what could be expected from the band in the months to come. A promotional booklet was circulated through promo outlets to promote the backstory behind the band. The band's official website, www.gorillaz.com, was a virtual representation of Kong Studios, the band's fictional studio and home, in the fullest sense of the word: inside, you could browse through each member's bedroom, their recording environment and even the hallways and bathrooms. Each room also had bonus surprises and games to play: for example, the lobby had a remix machine, the cafeteria contained the message board on the wall and Murdoc's Winnebago (accessible only by using the enhanced section of the first album) contained a voodoo doll of 2D. Each member also had their own computer which contained pictures, sound bits from various takes of songs and their e-mail inboxes. Because of the nature of the site, an official fansite, fans.gorillaz.com, was created to hold the standard band website information, including news, a discography and the band's touring schedules.

Related Topics:
B-side - Rock the House - EP - Tomorrow Comes Today - UK - Word-of-mouth - Message board - Enhanced section

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Phase One: Celebrity Take Down (2001-2002)

The band's first single, "Clint Eastwood", was released on March 5 2001. The blend of raw hip-hop, cheesy horror music and a haunting melodica solo struck chords around the world, thrusting Gorillaz into the global limelight. Due to this, the fictional band members' Hotmail accounts were abandoned (and later hacked) and the inboxes on the site were never updated. Later that same month, their first full-length album, the self-titled Gorillaz was released, producing four singles: "Clint Eastwood", "19-2000", "Rock the House" and "Tomorrow Comes Today". Each of the singles' videos contained humorous and often ridiculous storylines and imagery, though "Clint Eastwood" and "19-2000" were the only singles to break through the American music scene. "19-2000" became popular after being featured in an Icebreakers commercial. The only time the video for "Tomorrow Comes Today" was played in the States was when Toonami broadcasted a "Midnight Run" special where they played animated music videos from Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and Kenna.

Related Topics:
Single - Clint Eastwood - March 5 - 2001 - Hotmail - Self-titled - Gorillaz - 19-2000 - Rock the House - Tomorrow Comes Today - American - Icebreakers - Toonami - Daft Punk - Kenna

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Around this time, a half-hour TV mockumentary entitled Charts Of Darkness was released, which follows Channel 4 news reporter Krishnan Guru-Murthy attempting to track down Albarn and Hewlett after they were placed in an insane asylum. The special also interviews Rachel Stevens of S Club 7 fame and a few of the band's voice talents, who had been given roles to play. The end of the year brought the song "911", a collaboration between the Gorillaz and rap artists D12 (sans Eminem) and Terry Hall about the September 11, 2001 attacks. Meanwhile G-Sides, a compilation of the B-sides from the first three singles was released in Japan and quickly followed with international releases in early 2002. The new year also saw a spectacular performance at the 2002 Brit Awards, featuring the band in 3D animation, weaving in and out of each other on four large screens along with rap accompaniment by Phi Life Cypher. Finally, Laika Come Home, a dub remix album, containing most of the tracks from Gorillaz reworked by Spacemonkeyz, was released in June 2002. The single to follow, "Lil' Dub Chefin'", contained an original track by the Spacemonkeyz titled "Spacemonkeyz Theme".

Related Topics:
TV - Mockumentary - Channel 4 - Krishnan Guru-Murthy - Insane asylum - Rachel Stevens - S Club 7 - D12 - Eminem - Terry Hall - September 11, 2001 attacks - G-Sides - Japan - Brit Awards - 3D animation - Phi Life Cypher - Laika Come Home - Dub - Spacemonkeyz - Lil' Dub Chefin'

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Along with the November 2002 release of the DVD Phase One: Celebrity Take Down the band's website closed almost completely down, with the fictional Kong Studio no longer accessible. The DVD contains all five videos (including the abandoned video "5/4"), the "Charts Of Darkness" documentary, the five Gorilla Bites (short vignettes), a tour of the website by the MEL 9000 server and much more. The DVD's menu was designed much like the bands website and depicts an abandoned Kong Studios (only eight rooms, including the lobby, are accessible.)

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Rumors were circulating around this time that Gorillaz were busy preparing a film, but an EMI interview later revealed that plans for the film were abandoned. In an interview with Haruka Kuroda (the voice of Noodle), Kuroda stated that Jamie Hewlett rejected many scripts before giving up on the movie.

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Phase Two: Demon Days (2004-now)

On December 8 2004, the website reopened with an exclusive video entitled "Rock It" (which has not been released anywhere else as of August 2005) and the announcement of a new album on the way, including production by DJ Danger Mouse and a guest appearance by De La Soul. A contest entitled Search For A Star was also announced, allowing fans to send in a minute-long clip of video or audio they had made. The prize included collaborating with the band in some way, shape or form, as well as getting their own virtual room on the newly rebuilt Kong Studios website.

Related Topics:
December 8 - 2004 - As of August 2005 - DJ Danger Mouse - De La Soul

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Soon a second promotional booklet was issued, recapping the previously issued booklet, as well as detailing the failed movie production in Hollywood and the breakup and reforming of Gorillaz. A culture jamming project named Reject False Icons was formed to strike down modern pop figures. The new album was first reported to be released in March 2005, but was later changed to May of the same year. The name of the album was originally reported to be We Are Happy Landfill, but has been changed to Demon Days. The first release off the album was a white label 12" promotional single of the song "Dirty Harry" featuring Bootie Brown and the San Fernandez Youth Chorus. "Dirty Harry" was ineligible for the charts due to its status as a promotional single.

Related Topics:
Culture jamming - Reject False Icons - Demon Days - Promotional single - Dirty Harry - Bootie Brown - San Fernandez Youth Chorus

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The first proper single off the album was "Feel Good Inc.", released as an EP in Japan and as a CD single in Europe and Australia. The single entered the UK Singles Chart at #22, several weeks before the CD single was released, because the single was released as a 7" vinyl in April and new charts regulations included sales at online music stores, where the song had been available since March 22, if there is a physical equivalent. "Feel Good Inc." managed to reach #2 in the UK Singles Chart the week it was released, being the bands highest ever positioned single. The single stayed in the top ten for eight consecutive weeks.

Related Topics:
Feel Good Inc. - Europe - Australia - UK Singles Chart - Online music store - March 22

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The Album, Demon Days, was #1 in the Album Charts on it's first week but fell as low as #29 in just seven weeks. However, as the music video for the second single "DARE" started getting played on MTV and other music channels, Demon Days rose up to the top 10 again. "DARE" was released on August 29 2005 in the UK, where it debuted at #1. A Japanese EP followed September 7. As of September 21 2005, "DARE" has not been released in the United States.

Related Topics:
DARE - MTV - August 29 - 2005 - September 7 - September 21 - United States

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The third single off Demon Days has been confirmed as "Dirty Harry", which had already been released as a promotional single earlier that year. It has been scheduled for a November 2005 release. (This time, however, it will be eligible to chart.) A fourth single off Demon Days has been confirmed for release in early 2006, although the title of the record has not yet been revealed.

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IMDb has reported that there will be a Gorillaz movie released in 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465655/ Some of the voice talents credited for the band members are false and this is the only source to suggest a movie is in production. It is on the whole unconfirmed and only a rumor. What's likely is that IMDB heard news of the plans to make a movie, but are still unaware that those plans were cancelled over a year ago.

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