''Don't Stop the Night'' is the fourth studio album by Scottish musician

Momus Momus (; Ancient Greek: Μῶμος ''Momos'') in Greek mythology was the personification of satire and mockery, two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables. During the Renaissance, several literary works used him as a mouthpiece for their ...

. It was released in 1989 through

Creation Records Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...

internationally, and in Germany on Rough Trade. The album featured Momus' highest-charting single to date, "The Hairstyle of the Devil", which reached No. 94 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

for the week of 30 April 1989.

Background

Following the release of 1988's '' Tender Pervert'', Momus recorded a new single, "The Hairstyle of the Devil", at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's Scarf Studio, which quickly saw success in the UK. The album's working title was ''Sexual Crimes of the Professional Classes''. Momus called it his "most British album", situating the record in the context of Thatcherite Britain, the

AIDS crisis The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual ...

, the rise of the yuppie subculture, and increased austerity.

Reception

''Don't Stop the Night'' received generally positive reviews from critics.

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

's Ian Gittins called the album "superbly realised" and "clinically crafted", praising the singer's transition to more electronic instrumentation.

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

critic and radio presenter

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

called ''Don't Stop the Night'' "Christmas come early", rating the album 9/10 and adding that "only a fool could ignore this record".

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

magazine, like other reviewers, praised the album's sexually-eccentric and highly-referential lyrics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Steve Huey ranked the album 4/5 stars, praising the album's lyrics and production but suggesting that the latter half of the album is less memorable.

Kris Kirk Kris Kirk, full name Christopher Pius Mary Kirk, (1950, in Carlisle, England – 27 April 1993) was a gay activist, journalist and author who became well known as a pop music journalist in the 1980s. He was brought up in Carlisle by Catholic pa ...

of the

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...

compared Momus' lyrics to the songs of

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

. The album's lead single, "The Hairstyle of the Devil", peaked at No. 94 on the UK Singles Chart in April to May 1989. The single also became a local hit in San Francisco, where it reached No. 32 on the

KITS Kits may refer to: * Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company *KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station *Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sci ...

end-of-year "Top 105.3 of 1989" chart. It was rated "Single of the Week" by Sounds for 4 November 1989.

Track listing

Personnel

*All songs written by Momus *Cover photography by Michael Daks *Cover design by Vici Macdonald

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums Momus (musician) albums