World Party - Ship of Fools

World Party are essentially a one-man band, formed by Welsh multi-instrumentalist Karl Wallinger in 1986.  Wallinger created World Party after leaving The Waterboys; he had been the keyboard player for that band from 1983 to 1986 (so he did play on the classic "The Whole of the Moon," which was previously featured on this blog.)

Wallinger recorded World Party's debut album, Private Revolution, at his home studio.  He also wrote and performed most of the instruments on the album, although he did use a few studio musicians, including a then-unknown Sinéad O'Connor.  Private Revolution was a psychedelic, retro-sounding pop album, and it did surprisingly well -- the LP hit #39 on the U.S. charts, while "Ship of Fools" clocked in at #27.

While World Party's 1990 follow-up, Goodbye Jumbo did not do as well (peaking at #73), it contains two great pop songs -- "Way Down Now" and "Put the Message in the Box" and it is recommended listening.  Wallinger continues to be active both as World Party, and with other musicians, although he did have a hiatus in the early 2000s due to a brain aneurysm (he has since fully recovered).  And for those keeping score at home, "Ship of Fools" was World Party's only top 40 U.S. hit.

Cool trivia fact:  While Wallinger did work with a few studio musicians on Private Revolution, he also listed multiple pseudonyms on the albums credits, including:  Delahaye, Rufus Dove, Will Towyn, Martin Finnucane, Ahmed Gottlieb and Millennium Mills.