''Little Kix'' is the third album by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Mansun Mansun were an English alternative rock band, formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. It was announced ...

, released on 14 August 2000 and was the band's last studio album to be completed and released before their dissolution in 2003.

Overview

The album was recorded aboard the Astoria, a boat that housed a recording studio owned by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, and marked a departure from the band's previous way recording in that bandleader Draper had been removed from his position of producer by the record company and was replaced by

Hugh Padgham Hugh Charles Padgham (born 15 February 1955) is an English record producer and audio engineer. He has won four Grammy Awards, for Producer of the Year and Album of the Year for 1985, Record of the Year for 1990, and Engineer of the Year for 199 ...

, formerly a producer for Phil Collins,

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...

and

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

, to ensure more "independent local radio friendly" sound. Draper also stated that the working method was greatly different from his work on the former two albums: "''Little Kix'' was the only album I had to make demos for, the rest I just made up as I went along". Record label interference extended further than the choice of producer, with

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

imposing several limitations that Draper felt restricted their creativity: " were battered into being a pop group with 'Little Kix'... We were told absolutely definitively 'You are not allowed to have any prog rock elements in the album', so that's why the album fades in and it's one second longer than ''

Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of t ...

'', just to piss the record company off (laughs)". In the liner notes of '' Legacy: The Best of Mansun'' Draper provided an example of the dysfunction that existed between the band and its label that centred on the track "

Fool Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to: *A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes *An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...

". After reading a book on song writing by Jimmy Webb he claimed it "inspired me to write an ironic song that is now my least favourite Mansun track. Bowie intro, comical chorus lyrics and guess what? The label wanted it as a fucking single! I couldn’t believe it". Draper credits the album's gestation process as part of what ultimately led to the end of the band: "What's left is an odd story, people have spoken to me about writing books about it, I don't think I'll ever go on the record and tell the true story, there are one or two people that know. At the end of the day people always say bands split over musical differences but they never do. It's all to do with money and drugs and all sorts of shit."

Release

''Little Kix'' was released in August 2000. Early album titles include ''Magnetic Poetry'' and ''The Trouble with Relationships''. ''Little Kix'' did not match the popularity of the group's previous albums and reflected a continuing decline in commercial fortunes for the group. It peaked at #12 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and was certified Silver by the BPI. Three singles were released from the album. The first, "

I Can Only Disappoint U "I Can Only Disappoint U" is a song by the English alternative rock band Mansun. The song was written by band-leader Paul Draper with lead guitarist Dominic Chad. It was recorded and produced by Hugh Padgham and co-producer Michael Hunter during ...

" became one of the group's most successful singles peaking at #8 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 ...

in the run up to the album's release. " Electric Man", the second single was released in November and peaked at #23. The final single "

" charted at #28.

Track listing

Personnel

B-sides

Charts

References

External links

''Little Kix''
at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 2000 albums Mansun albums Albums produced by Hugh Padgham Parlophone albums