Editing World Party (section)

=== ''Private Revolution'' ===
The first World Party album, ''[[Private Revolution]]'', was recorded in a dilapidated former rectory in [[Woburn, Bedfordshire|Woburn]], which Wallinger had moved into after quitting both London and The Waterboys.<ref name="kwobituaryguardian" /><ref name="mojo337" /> Inspired by [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], Wallinger recorded the majority of the instruments (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, samplers) by himself, as well as singing lead vocals and handling programming and production. There were guest appearances on the record by two Waterboys members, saxophonist [[Anthony Thistlethwaite]] and fiddle player [[Steve Wickham]]. To create the illusion of a full band, Wallinger credited his own instrumental parts to a variety of imaginary players with whimsical names, including "Millennium Mills", "Rufus Dove" and "Will Towyn". During this time, he also worked on [[Sinéad O'Connor]]'s debut album ''[[The Lion and the Cobra]]'',<ref name=Risen>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/12/arts/music/karl-wallinger-dead.html|title=Karl Wallinger, Who Sang With World Party and the Waterboys, Dies at 66|last=Risen|first=Clay|date=12 March 2024|accessdate=12 March 2024|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url-access=limited}}</ref> and she in turn sang backing vocals on the song "Hawaiian Island World"<ref name="kwobituaryguardian" /><ref name="Pop Graham">{{cite web |last1=Graham |first1=Cheryl |title=World Party's 'Private Revolution' Tackled Environmental Concerns 35 Years Ago |url=https://www.popmatters.com/world-party-private-revolution-atr35 |publisher=PopMatters |access-date=14 March 2024 |date=1 March 2022}}</ref> as well as appearing in the promotional video for the album's title track.

Wallinger's efforts rapidly drew further music business attention. "They'd heard there was a dumb kid in Woburn writing hits," Wallinger recalled in 2021. "There was this beauty-parade of visiting managers." Wallinger signed a management deal with Prince's manager Steve Fargnoli: "I was a sucker for Prince. I was like, "Take me to Minneapolis. Take me to your leader."<ref name="mojo337" />

''Private Revolution'' was released in 1986 and displayed Wallinger's eclectic mastery of rock, pop, [[Folk music|folk]], and [[funk]].<ref name="Ceremony Private">{{cite web |last1=Davey |first1=Ryan |title=Private Revolution: A Retrospective of World Party |url=https://ceremonymusic.ca/home/worldparty |publisher=Ceremony |access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> The album's first single "[[Ship of Fools (World Party song)|Ship of Fools]]", reached a modest number 42 in the British charts but did much better outside the UK – it reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 21 in New Zealand, and No. 27 in the US, in the process becoming the act's only major international hit. "Private Revolution" was also issued as a single, but only charted in the UK (at No. 107).<ref name="The Great Rock Discography" /><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/>

{{Quote box
| quote="I'm not retro. I'm writing songs about now – in fact, the songs I wrote back then are even more relevant now than they were when I wrote them. I wasn't trying to be ahead of the curve, I was just writing about things that seemed obvious to me at the time, and we still haven't done anything about it."
| source = Karl Wallinger, 2012<ref name="guardian12032024" />
| width = 30%
| align = right
}}