Betty Boo

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Betty Boop, Betty Boop (band), Betty Who, or Betty Boothroyd.
"Alison Clarkson" redirects here. For the Vermont politician, see Alison H. Clarkson.

Betty Boo
pop-rap
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
Years active1987–present
Labels

Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970 in

the Beatmasters on the song "Hey DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)". Between 1990 and 1992 she had a successful solo career, which spawned a number of chart-placing singles, most notably "Doin' the Do", "Where Are You Baby?", and "Let Me Take You There
".

Career

1987–1999: Betty Boo

Clarkson studied

Dusun and Scottish ancestry,[2][3] she had an unusual, striking Emma Peel-like look,[1] dressed in mildly revealing outfits and proved to be an influential pop music figure whose "sassy, powerful music and image launched a thousand wannabe's [sic]".[4] Writing for The Guardian in August 1990, Lucy O'Brien noted the difference between the "quietly spoken" Clarkson and her "lovable toughie" pop star alter-ego, describing the latter as "a cartoon combination of Betty Boop, Barbarella and Buck Rogers".[3]

Whilst still at school, Boo began her musical career in

Public Enemy,[3] who encouraged her to pursue a solo career.[4] Commenting on her time spent supporting Public Enemy on tour in the US, as well as working with Professor Griff in the recording studio on the song "Give It A Rest",[3] Boo revealed that things did not go as expected: "They were producing our single and I thought it would sound like their stuff, but it didn't at all. And some of the crowds were hostile to us. They didn't throw anything, no, but they wanted to see Public Enemy and they just weren't interested in us."[6]

Her big break came when she appeared as a guest vocalist on the 1989 number 7

A Rage in Harlem.[9]

Her career suffered a setback when in July 1991, while touring Australia, Boo was revealed to be lip-synching at a concert rather than performing live. The 21st Century Dance Club in Frankston, Australia received "hundreds of complaints" after her performance, during which Boo fled the stage after dropping her microphone, revealing she was miming to a backing track.[10] The incident was widely reported, and Boo cancelled the remainder of her tour, citing influenza and fever.

Boo returned with a new

Maverick Records,[4]
and in 1999 a Best Of compilation album—effectively an expanded version of Boomania with extra remixes and a different running order—was released and sold moderately well.

2006: WigWam

In 2006, Clarkson formed a pop duo called WigWam,[2] with Alex James, bassist from Blur. Together, they worked with music producer Ben Hillier, along with former Boo collaborators The Beatmasters.[4] Despite working to create "an album of experimental yet accessible 21st century pop",[4] just one single emerged from their musical partnership, the self-titled "WigWam" released on 3 April 2006 via Instant Karma Records.[2]

2007: Collaboration with Jack Rokka

In August 2007, she released a new single titled "

Jack Rokka and, as such, is much more dance-orientated than her previous work. She went on to perform the collaboration in a live set at Manchester Pride in 2007, along with some of her other songs. The video sees Betty Boo's trademark look resurrected and even features the 'Boosters' – Betty Boo's backing dancers, who always appear with identical hair and outfits to hers – and the Betty Boo spiral. Clarkson appeared on ITV's Loose Women on 16 October 2007 to promote the single, and has also appeared as an interviewee on BBC Three
's The Most Annoying Pop Songs... show, passing comment on several songs that made the Top 100 list.

2009: England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton

In July 2009, historian

Emma Hamilton.[11]

2011: The Feeling

In June 2011, Clarkson featured as Betty Boo (and is credited) on the track "Virtually Art" by The Feeling on the double-album edition of their 2011 release, Together We Were Made (disc 2 track 2).

2014: Penn Festival and Let's Rock

In July 2014, Betty Boo performed on stage at the Penn Festival, while in 2021 she was announced as one of the artists performing as part of the Let’s Rock retro music festival line-ups, at various dates throughout the UK.[12][13]

2022: Return

On 10 January 2022, the artist announced the release of the single "Get Me to the Weekend".[14] The second single "Shining Star", was released on 12 May 2022. Her first album in 30 years, Boomerang, was released on 14 October 2022.[15][16][17]

On 14 June 2024, Betty Boo released the single "It Was Beautiful" (featuring HEX) from her upcoming fourth album Rip Up the Rulebook.

Songwriter

After her solo career effectively ended when her mother contracted terminal cancer in the early 1990s,[18] Clarkson turned to songwriting, at the request of Chris Herbert,[8][18] who was in the process of forming a new, all-girl group. Herbert asked her to contribute to the project after revealing that she was his inspiration in forming one of his previous projects, the Spice Girls:[4] "He told me that when they were auditioning for the Spice Girls, they were looking for five Betty Boos – larger-than-life cartoon characters. He asked me to get involved in this other band he was putting together, Girl Thing, because he wanted this signature Betty Boo sound, a bit of hip-hop."[18]

Clarkson went on to co-write a number of songs for

manufactured pop process which created them.[18]

Clarkson has also written songs for

The Tweenies[18] and for Sophie Ellis-Bextor's fourth studio album.[19]

Awards and Nominations

Award Year Nominee(s) Category Result Ref.
Brit Awards 1991 Herself British Breakthrough Act Won [20]
British Female Solo Artist Nominated
"Where Are You Baby?" British Video of the Year Nominated
Ivor Novello Awards 2002 "Pure and Simple" Best Selling UK Single Won [21]
NME Awards 1991 Herself Object Of Desire Won [22]

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
sales thresholds
)
UK
[7]
 AUS
[23]
GER
[24]
NED
[25]
NZ
[26]
Boomania
  • Released: September 1990
  • Label: Rhythm King
 4 68 — 88 25
GRRR! It's Betty Boo
  • Released: October 1992
  • Label: WEA International
 62 — 97 — —
Boomerang
  • Released: 14 October 2022[28]
  • Label: Betty Boo Records
 45 — — — —
Rip Up the Rule Book
  • Scheduled: 30 August 2024 [29]
  • Label: Betty Boo Records
 TBA

Compilation albums

Title Album details
Doin' the Do: The Best of Betty Boo
  • Released: 1999
  • Label: BMG, Camden

Video albums

Title Album details
Boomania – The Boomin Vids
  • Released: 1990
  • Label: Virgin Music Video

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Certifications Album
UK
[7]
 AUS
[23] 		BEL
(FL)
[30]
GER
[31]
 IRE
[32] 		NED
[25] 		NZ
[26] 		SWE
[33] 		SWI
[34] 		US
[35] 		US Dance
[36]
1989 "Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)"
(The Beatmasters featuring Betty Boo) 		7 88 35 93 17 14 10 — — — 8 Boomania
1990 "Doin' the Do" 7 3 8 — 9 9 4 — — 90 1
"Where Are You Baby?" 3 19 — 29 6 16 11 — 13 — —
"24 Hours" 25 94 — 32 17 74 — — 10 — —
1992 "Let Me Take You There" 12 97 — 50 13 61 — 38 18 — — GRRR! It's Betty Boo
"I'm on My Way" 44 — — — — — — — — — —
"Thing Goin' On" (US only) — — 5
1993 "Hangover" 50 — — — — — — — — — —
"Catch Me" (US only) — — 14
2007 "Take Off" (
Jack Rokka
vs Betty Boo) 		92 — — — — — — — — — — Non-album single
2022 "Get Me to the Weekend"[38] – — — — — — — — — — — Boomerang
"Shining Star"[39] – — — — — — — — — — —
"Boomerang"[40] – — — — — — — — — — —
"Right By Your Side"(featuring David Gray)[41] – — — — — — — — — — —
"Miracle" (featuring Chuck D)[42] – — — — — — — — — — —
2024 "It Was Beautiful" (featuring Hex) – — — — — — — — — — — Rip Up the Rulebook
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

See also

  • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References

  1. ^ a b c d Smith, Giles (26 July 1992). "ARTS / Show People: This Boo is made for talking". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e Smith, Neil (3 April 2006). "Pop comeback for fun-loving Betty". BBC. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f O'Brien, Lucy. "Feature: Take-off for the girl from Planet Boo". The Guardian (22 August 1990): 20.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "WigWam – Check Out My WigWam Video". Contactmusic.com. 28 February 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Betty Boo on how she made Doin' the Do". The Guardian. 21 June 2021.
  6. ^ Sawyer, Miranda. "Feature: The Spooky Double Life Of Betty Boo". Smash Hits (13–26 June 1990): 39.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j UK chart peaks:
  8. ^ a b "Where have all the newcomers gone?". BBC. 15 February 1999. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Rage in Harlem by Lloyd Price @ ARTISTdirect.com – Shop, Listen, Download". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  10. ^ "Ocala Star Banner > Betty Boo Cuts Short Tour (archived on Google News)". Imgur.com (original source published by James E. Doughton). 30 July 1991. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Kate Williams, historian and author". Kate-williams.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Let's Rock Norwich". Let's Rock Norwich.
  13. ^ "Let's Rock Liverpool 2020".
  14. ^ Sachdeva, Maanya (12 January 2022). "Betty Boo announces comeback single 30 years after retiring solo career". The Independent. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Betty Boo bounces back with long-awaited third album 'Boomerang'". Retropop. 29 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Betty Boo / Boomerang – SuperDeluxeEdition". 29 June 2022.
  17. ^ O'Brien, Steve (29 June 2022). "Betty Boo announces new album Boomerang". Classic Pop Magazine.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Petridis, Alexis (23 November 2001). "The Power Behind Pop". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  19. ^ "Ellis-Bextor 75% done". Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  20. ^ "History".
  21. ^ "The Ivors 2002 - the Ivors". Archived from the original on 22 June 2016.
  22. ^ "Rocklist.net...NME Lists readers Pop Poll Results".
  23. ^ a b Australian (ARIA) peaks:
  24. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Betty Boo – GRRR! It's Betty Boo (album)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  25. ^ a b "dutchcharts.nl > Betty Boo in Dutch Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  26. ^ a b "charts.nz > Betty Boo in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  27. ^ a b "BPI > Certified Awards > Search results for 'Betty Boo' (from bpi.co.uk)". Retrieved 26 July 2016 – via Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry).
  28. ^ "Betty Boo releases title track from comeback album Boomerang". Retropop Magazine. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  29. ^ {{cite web|url=https://retropopmagazine.com/betty-boo-announces-new-album-rip-up-the-rulebook/%7Ctitle=Betty Boo announces new album Rip Up The Rulebook|website=Retropop Magazine|date=14 June 2024|access-date=16 June 2024}
  30. ^ "Ultratop Vlaanderen > Betty Boo in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  31. ^ German singles chart peaks:
  32. ^ Irish singles chart peaks:
  33. ^ "swedishcharts.com > Betty Boo in Swedish Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  34. ^ "hitparade.ch > Betty Boo in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  35. ^ "Betty Boo Chart History > Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  36. ^ "Betty Boo Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  37. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  38. ^ "Betty Boo returns with new single 'Get Me To The Weekend'". Retro Pop Magazine. 23 January 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  39. ^ "Betty Boo returns with new single 'Shining Star'". Retro Pop Magazine. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  40. ^ "Betty Boo - Boomerang (Official Single Audio Static)". You Tube. 29 June 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  41. ^ "Betty Boo teams up with David Gray for new collaboration 'Right By Your Side'". Retro Pop Magazine. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  42. ^ "Betty Boo teams up with Public Enemy's Chuck D on new single 'Miracle'". Retro Pop Magazine. 2 September 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Betty Boo.
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