I stated listening to Jamiroquai pretty soon after the release of their first album because one of my mates had it and she bought it when it had just come out. She used to play the album over and over and it just kinda grew on me. We used to skip college and get drunk, listen to music while she sang to me and had some good times listening to the album.
Jamiroquai are an English Acid Jazz/Electronica group and the name is a mix of Jam (Jam sessions) and iroquai (named after the Native American tribe Iroquois). The lineup has changed a lot over the years but the founder was Jason “Jay” Kay and he decided to form his own group after he failed the audition for singer with the Brand New Heavies. Jay Kay is also well known for his scuffles with paparazzi and also his flamboyant hats.
Emergency On Planet Earth, their debut album was released in 1993 and was a massive UK and Us hit. The success of the album is partly due to the singles Blow Your Mind and Too Young To Die. The album smashed the chart and went to #1. The album is based around self consciousness and world issues.
When The Return Of The Space Cowboy was released in 1994 it was another massive hit in the charts, attaining a position of #2 in the UK. The single Space Cowboy is also believed to be a praise song to cannabis with the lyrics, At The Speed Of Cheeba…You And I Go Deeper…Maybe I’m Gonna Gave To Get High Just To Get By…(Cheeba meaning cannabis) and the term Space Cowboy is also a name for someone who smokes cannabis.
Their first major success in the US came with their third studio album, Travelling Without Moving which was released in 1996 and reached #24 and #2 in the UK. The album is reported to have sold over 11.5 million copies worldwide. Virtual Insanity was the most popular single from the album and has been used in many TV adverts. Jay Kay is also famous for his love of sports cars and this is reflected in the Ferrari style logo on the album cover.
Synkronized was released in 1999 and again was a huge success in the UK, reaching #1 and also reached #24 in the US. The single Canned Heat is a classic song and was also a #1 hit. The lyrics on the song King For A Day are about Stuart Zender, Jamiroquai’s bass player on their earlier albums but who left the band during the making of the album. The bonus track Deeper Underground was also used on the remake of the classic movie Godzilla.
In 2001 A Funk Odyssey was released and the songs are a combination of funk, disco and electronica. The album reached #1 in the UK and also in the US and is the first of their albums not to feature the Buffalo Man logo. Their popularity peaked at this point and a massive world tour followed to support the album.
Dynamite, released in 2005 is the latest offering from Jamiroquai and reached #3 in the UK and went one place higher a #2 in the US. The album features a wide range of styles, from electronic to disco, house and acoustic. The video fro the single (Don’t) Give Hate A Chance features an animated Buffalo Man, wearing sunglasses, horned hat and a tracksuit.
Jamiroquai’s music has been used on many TV adverts, movies and computer games. They also played at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow, Russia at the launch of the new Audi A4 car in February 2008 and they are currently recording a new album which is yet to have a release date.
My Top 10 Jamiroquai Songs are:
01. Stillness In Time
02. Space Cowboy
03. Music Of The Mind
04. Light Years
05. High Times
06. Little L
07. Blow Your Mind
08. Do You Know Where You’re Coming From
09. Cosmic Girl
10. Destitute Illusions
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by Andy Jackson
