Editing Fun Boy Three

{{Short description|English new wave pop band}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Fun Boy Three
| image             = Fun Boy Three.jpg
| caption           = Left to right: Terry Hall, Neville Staple, Lynval Golding
| background        = group_or_band
| origin            = United Kingdom
| genre             = {{hlist|[[New wave music|New wave]]|[[Pop music|pop]]<ref name=Allmusic/>}}
| years_active      = {{Start date|1981}}–{{End date|1983}}
| label             = [[Chrysalis Records|Chrysalis]]
| spinoff_of        = [[The Specials]]
| past_members      = {{ubl|[[Terry Hall (singer)|Terry Hall]]|[[Lynval Golding]]|[[Neville Staple]]|[[June Miles-Kingston]]|Bethan Peters}}
}}

'''Fun Boy Three''' were an English [[New wave music|new wave]] [[Pop music|pop]]<ref name=Allmusic>[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4322/biography|pure_url=yes}} Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio]</ref> band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers [[Terry Hall (singer)|Terry Hall]], [[Neville Staple]] and [[Lynval Golding]] after they left [[the Specials]]. They released two albums and had seven UK top 20 hits.

==History==
Fun Boy Three reduced the [[ska]] sound that they and [[Jerry Dammers]] had crafted with great success with [[the Specials]] and initially took a more minimal approach with the focus on percussion and vocals.<ref name="Green">Green, Jim & Robbins, Ira "[http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=fun_boy_three Fun Boy Three]", ''[[Trouser Press]]'', retrieved 27 January 2010</ref> For their second album they assembled a six-piece backing group including a [[cello|cellist]] and a [[trombone]] player, allowing the record to feature more diverse and expansive arrangements, and also enabling them to play live instead of being a purely studio group as previously. The band enjoyed six UK top 20 singles, starting with "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" and including the top 10 hits "[[T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)|It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)]]", "[[The Tunnel of Love (Fun Boy Three song)|Tunnel of Love]]" and "[[Our Lips Are Sealed]]".<ref name="charts">{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19346/fun-boy-three/ |title=Fun Boy Three |publisher=Official Charts }}</ref> They created two albums of which the eponymous [[Fun Boy Three (album)|debut]] was the more successful. The follow-up album ''[[Waiting (Fun Boy Three album)|Waiting]]'', produced by [[David Byrne]], was well-received critically.<ref>[{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r7880|pure_url=yes}} Review] from [[Allmusic]]</ref><ref name="rcreview_Wait">[http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1944 Fun Boy Three] from Christgau's website</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/10/arts/the-pop-life-090349.html?&pagewanted=all | title= The Pop Life | author=Robert Palmer | work=[[The New York Times]]| date=10 August 1983 |access-date=2009-11-11 | author-link= Robert Palmer (American writer)}}</ref>

Following the trio's last UK hit "Our Lips Are Sealed", co-written by Terry Hall and [[Jane Wiedlin]] of [[the Go-Go's]], who had a U.S. hit with the song a year earlier, they then toured the United States and split afterwards.{{cn|date=July 2022}}

They were credited with helping launch the career in 1982 of [[Bananarama]], whom Hall first saw in ''[[The Face (magazine)|The Face]]'' magazine.{{cn|date=July 2022}} The three women provided credited [[choir|chorus]] vocals on the hit "[[T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)|It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)]]"; the Fun Boy Three later sang on the Bananarama song "[[Really Saying Something]]", both reaching the top 5 in the UK.<ref name="charts" />

==Discography==
{{Infobox artist discography
| Artist       = Fun Boy Three
| Image        = 
| Caption      = 
| Alt          = 
| Studio       = 2
| Live         = 1
| Compilation  = 3
| EP           = 
| Singles      = 9
| B-sides      = 
| Soundtrack   = 
}}

===Studio albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions
!rowspan="2"| Title
!rowspan="2"| Details
!colspan="5"| Chart positions
!rowspan="2"| [[Music recording sales certification|Certifications]]<br /><small>([[List of music recording sales certifications|sales thresholds]])</small>
|-style="font-size: smaller;"
!width="30"| [[UK Albums Chart|UK]]<br /><ref name=occ>{{cite web|title=Fun Boy Three {{!}} Full Official Chart History|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19346/fun-boy-three/|website=[[Official Charts Company]]|access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{Cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 216}}</ref>
!width="30"| [[Kent Music Report|AUS]]<br><ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives|year=1993|pages=119|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}</ref>
!width="30"| [[Dutch Album Top 100|NL]]<br /><ref name="NL">{{Cite web|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three
| title=charts.org.nz - Discografie Fun Boy Three| publisher=Hung Medien| access-date=2011-09-09}}</ref>
!width="30"| [[Official New Zealand Music Chart|NZ]]<br /><ref name="Nzcharts">{{Cite web|url=https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three
| title=charts.nz - Discography Fun Boy Three| publisher=Hung Medien| access-date=2009-11-07}}</ref>
!width="30"| [[Billboard 200|US]]
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Fun Boy Three (album)|The Fun Boy Three]]''
|
*Released: March 1982
*Label: [[Chrysalis Records|Chrysalis]]
| 7
| 84
| 10
| 17
| —
|align="left"|
*[[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]]: Gold<ref name="tsort82">{{Cite web|url=http://tsort.info/music/ay1982.htm
| title=Albums in the Year 1982| publisher=© 2007-9, Steve Hawtin et al| access-date=2009-11-07 }}</ref>
|-
! scope="row" |''[[Waiting (Fun Boy Three album)|Waiting]]''
|
*Released: February 1983
*Label: Chrysalis
| 14
| —
| 47
| 11
| 104
|align="left"|
*BPI: Silver<ref name="BPI">{{cite web|title=British certificates: searchable database |url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx |publisher=bpi.co.uk |access-date=30 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924015932/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx |archive-date=24 September 2009 }}</ref>
|-
|colspan="8" style="font-size: 85%"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
|}

===Live albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of live albums, with selected details
! Title
! Details
|-
! scope="row" | ''Live on the Test''
|
* Released: 1994
* Format: CD
* Label: Windsong International 
* Note recorded 1983
|}

===Compilation albums===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of compilation albums, with selected details
! Title
! Details
|-
! scope="row" | ''The Best of Fun Boy Three''
|
* Released: 1984
* Format: LP, CS
* Label: Chrysalis
|-
! scope="row" | ''Really Saying Something: The Best of Fun Boy ''
|
* Released: 1997
* Format: CD
* Label: Chrysalis
|-
! scope="row" | ''The Complete Fun Boy Three''
|
* Released: 4 August 2023
* Format: 5×CD + DVD
* Label: Chrysalis Catalogue 
|}

===Singles===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;
!rowspan="2"|Year
!rowspan="2" width="250"|Title
!colspan="6"|Chart positions
!rowspan="2"|Certifications
!rowspan="2"|Album
|-style="font-size: smaller;"
!width="30"| [[UK Singles Chart|UK]] <br /><ref name="occ"/><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums 519">{{Cite book| first= David| last= Roberts| year= 2006| title= British Hit Singles & Albums| edition= 19th| publisher= Guinness World Records Limited | location= London| isbn= 1-904994-10-5| page= 519}}</ref>
!width="30"| [[Kent Music Report|AUS]]<br><ref name=aus/>
!width="30"| [[Irish Singles Chart|IRL]] <br /><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.irishcharts.ie |title=The Irish Charts |publisher=IRMA 2006 - 2008 |access-date=2009-05-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100126040745/http://www.irishcharts.ie/ |archive-date=26 January 2010 }}</ref>
!width="30"| [[MegaCharts|NL]]<br /><ref name="NL"/>
!width="30"| [[Recording Industry Association of New Zealand|NZ]] <br /><ref name="Nzcharts"/>
!width="30"| [[Hot Dance Club Play|US Club Play]]
|-
| 1981
|align=left| "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)"
| 20
| 43
| 28
| —
| 46
| —
|
|align=left rowspan="2"| ''Fun Boy Three''
|-
|rowspan="5"| 1982
|align=left| "[[T'ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)|It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)]]" <small>(Fun Boy Three with [[Bananarama]])</small>
| 4<ref name="occ"/>
| 55
| 5
| 3
| 37
| 49
| 
* BPI: Silver<ref name="BPI"/>
|-
|align=left| "[[He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'|Really Saying Something]]" <small>(Bananarama with Fun Boy Three)</small>
| 5<ref name="occ"/>
| 74
| 9
| 16
| —
| 16
| 
* BPI: Silver<ref name="BPI"/>
|align=left| ''Deep Sea Skiving'' <small>([[Bananarama]] album)</small>
|-
|align=left| "The Telephone Always Rings"
| 17
| —
| 29
| 49
| —
| —
| 
|align=left| ''Fun Boy Three''
|-
|align=left| "[[Summertime (George Gershwin song)#Other versions|Summertime]]"
| 18
| —
| 13
| —
| —
| —
|
|align=left| —
|-
|align=left| "The More I See (The Less I Believe)"
| 68
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 
|align=left rowspan="4"| ''Waiting''
|-
|rowspan="3"| 1983
|align=left| "[[The Tunnel of Love (Fun Boy Three song)|The Tunnel of Love]]"
| 10
| —
| 14
| 38
| —
| —
| 
|-
|align=left| "[[Our Lips Are Sealed]]"
| 7
| —
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| 
|-
|align=left| "The Farm Yard Connection" <small>(Germany only)</small>
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| 
|-
|colspan="10" style="font-size: 85%"| "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{discogs artist|Fun Boy Three}}
* {{imdb name|3186385}}

{{Commons category|Fun Boy Three}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:English new wave musical groups]]
[[Category:English pop music groups]]
[[Category:English musical trios]]
[[Category:Musical groups from Coventry]]
[[Category:Chrysalis Records artists]]
[[Category:British political music groups]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1981]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1983]]
[[Category:1981 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1983 disestablishments in England]]