Born Alison Moira Clarkson on 6 March 1970, the Betty Boo persona began life as a member of underground Hip Hop trio the She-Rockers. After being asked to do a guest vocal on The Beatmasters’ ‘Hey DJ/I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing’, she then signed to Rhythm King as a solo artist. Her first two solo singles went top 10, followed by the album Boomania, which quickly flew up to #4 in the UK.
Boomania is such an undeniably classic album & really made a big mark. Both NME and Select magazines included it in their lists of “The Top 50 Albums of 1990”.
Release Date: 10 September 1990
UK Chart Position: #4 (BPI certified Platinum-seller)
Singles
Hey DJ/I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing
UK Chart Position: #7
Doin’ The Do
Chart Positions: UK #7 Australia #3 (ARIA certified Gold seller) US Billboard Dance Club Songs #1 US Billboard Dance Singles Sales #1 Canada Dance/Urban #2 New Zealand #4 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) #7 Netherlands (Single Top 100) #9 Belgium #8 Ireland #9 Spain #9 Eurochart Hot 100 #20
Where Are You Baby?
Chart Positions: UK #3 (BPI Silver-certified seller) Ireland #7 Eurochart Top 100 #7 Spain #10 New Zealand #11 Netherlands (Single Top 100) #16 Australia #19 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) #23 Germany #29
24 Hours
Chart Position: UK #25
Betty Boo’s classic, Platinum-selling debut album Boomania hit record stores on Monday 10 September 1990 (I remember the date so clearly as it was the day after my 11 birthday and I made sure I bought the album the exact day it came out).
A wonderfully creative collage of sounds, Boomania offers some surprising detours along the way. Delightfully kitsch, quirky and immense fun, there’s quite a lot of variety going on with an amalgamation of sounds ranging from funky hip hop, house, 60s, psychedelic and even a few tinges of classic soul & Motown vibes creep in on some. While it all firmly remains in the pop cateogry, there are definitely echoes of her credible underground roots on some of these tracks. The Betty Boo persona, however, seemed larger than life and that was part of the appeal.
The album kicks off on a perfect note with the bubbly ‘Where Are You Baby’, Betty Boo’s highest-charting single to date. This is an instantly alluring number with Supremes-like sounds running through the track. Then there’s Betty’s sassy, spiky rap delivery coating the bouncy, 60s-like arrangement (and not to mention the accompanying video clip for the song featuring Betty Boo and her Boo-ettes in a spaceship). Released as her second solo single, this did even better than ‘Doin’ The Do’, flying into the UK Top 3 and rapidly being certified a Silver-seller by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry).
In Garry Mulholland’s book This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco, he aptly wrote:
“A GIGGLY RUSH OF ’60S TRASH CULTURE REFERENCES, POUTY LIPS AND HELIUM RAPPING, WHERE ARE YOU BABY IS BOTH A PREVIEW OF THE SPICE GIRLS AND GIRL POWER AND A FUNNIER MORE REBELLIOUS PROPOSITION ALL TOGETHER, WITH ITS UNASHAMED TRASH AESTHETIC AND UTTER REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THAT RAP WAS ANYTHING BUT TALKING GIBBERISH AND POP ANYTHING BUT A BAG OF CHEAP COSMETICS AND A BUNCH OF MACHINES PERMANENTLY SET ON CATCHY.“
Betty Boo carried onto the stage to perform ‘Where Are You baby’ and wins Best New Act at the Smash Hits 1990 Poll Winners Party
This leads into her collaboration with The Beatmasters from 1989 with ‘Hey DJ/I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing’. A cover version of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas late 60s single, it also features additional lyrics courtesy of Boo and members of The Beatmasters. Now doesn’t this still rock after over 30 years with its slamming, jamming hip hop beats, sharp lyrics & Betty Boo’s defiant attitude-ridden rapping. As a single, it introduced the world to Betty Boo with aplomb.
Third track ‘Boo Is Boomin” sounds like ideal material for release as a single with its witty, rebellious lyrics and a cartoon-like arrangement that meets thumping hip hop & house with happy harcore influences. Track 4 ‘Boo’s Boogie’ is an endearing instrumental which had previously surfaced as the B-side to ‘Where Are You Baby?’ It’s an enjoyable detour from the more brash and brassy material, led by a sweeping piano and using swaying electronic beats .
We’re then led into one of my favourite tracks on the album and a popular fan favourite: ’24 Hours’. Co-produced by William Orbit, renowned for his work with Madonna, this slice of New Jack Swing/Hip Hop was my jam back in the day! We get to hear Betty Boo singing through the duration of most of this with a razor-sharp rap interlude towards the end which literally adds the perfect touch. Becoming the fourth and final single from Boomania, sales of the album were well on the way to Platinum-statius at the time hence why it most likely performed disappointingly on the chart as most had the album by then. Had it been released prior to the album, I’m convinced this would have been another top ten smash.
Interestingly, if referring to the LP/cassette edition, the two tracks that bookend side one and side two are both stand outs due to being more sophisticated, mature productions and notable that neither features any rapping. ‘Valentine’s Day’ is actually, as punk-rock singer & writer John Robb described, quite haunting. Its divine instrumentation is relatively more sparse and there’s a real melancholy, almost poignant feel. As well as enticing hip hop beats, it even evokes a classic-soul air as Betty Boo’s lilting vocals glide beautifully along. While the vast majority of the album captures wild, animated-like music, this is far more gentle, serious-sounding and I’d even go so far to say as atmopsheric at points. It definitely serves to give the album great versatility.
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The second half of Boomania commences with the huge 90s anthem ‘Doin’ The Do’, undoubtedly one of her signature classics. Her debut solo single, this raced into the British top 10, accompanied by that famous promotional video which featured Betty alternately as a young school girl and in full-on Betty Boo mode.
While also becoming a top 10 hit in Australia, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain, it shot to the top of the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. It also gained a lot of critical praise. For instance a review for AllMusic noted that the recording has “a lot more bite and substance than the music of Vanilla Ice and Icy Blue.” Billboard magazine wrote that the contagious hip-house track “has been buzzing along the club underground as an import for a while now, thanks to Boo’s amusing rhyming and tune’s brain-imbedding chorus.”
Further praise came from Cashbox where they declared “This combination of dance grooves and silliness works very well“. Other American press reviews included the Gavin Report which wrote at the the time: “First heard about this entry a few months ago when it was the rage in England. The “Booster” is Top Three in the U.K. with her follow-up track while this clever and catchy rap ‘n pop combo is set to make an explosive debut Stateside. Song and video scream FUN!“
The pulsating opening of ‘(‘Till My Last Breath) Doin’ It To Def’ sounds like a homage to another major classic of 1990, Deee Lite’s ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ before pumping into another immediately catchy affair with arresting hooks and melodies. Another delight, ‘Don’t Know What To Do’, has an almost ethereal feel with captivating vocals by Boo and not to mention an utterly fabulous intro. I had hoped at the time that this would be the fifth single.
‘Shame’ is a lot more subdued, steadily building in tension as the track goes along. Although there are lyrics, it’s mostly an instrumental which borders on becoming hypnotic. Then there’s the kick-ass ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ on which I love the attitude from Boo; there’s no messing with her! An ode to her cheating boyfriend, the sharp and punchy music arrangement lands somewhere between classic hip hop and pop. It’s a track I’d definitely include in my list of Betty Boo favourites.
The closing track is another stand-out as it’s quite different from the rest of the album. With a classic 60s soul sound interwtined with banging hip hop beats, her kittenish, sensuous vocals (like ‘Valentine’s Day’, no rapping involved, just singing) reminds me of a young Diana Ross when she was lead singer of The Supremes; definitely get Motown vibes from this. There’s a really effective part towards the end where her wordless (operatic-sounding) vocals are synchronised, underscored by piano keys. Rounds the album off nicely and with a pleasant surprise.
Following Boomania‘s release, sales took off like a rocket, quickly passing Platinum status for exceeding 300,000 copies sold in the UK alone. It’s not, as some had predicted at the time, a collection of sound-alike singles but a well-balanced mix of kicking uptempo & mid-tempo tracks. Often hailed as one of the best albums of 1990, the fun, quirky content of the project holds up very well to this day. I must note here that I also still firmly believe her second album Grrr It’s Betty Boo! should have enjoyed equal success and it’s amazing how fresh that album still sounds 30 years later!
This video contains the Boomania Video Collection & Betty Boo’s appearance on Star Test in 1991
Some magazine covers from the Boomania era
Ian Phillips (Author): Classic TV Interviews + Music & Film 
Hi Ian.
Thanks for great blog + interview with Betty/Alison (i’m still a fan ;).
Quick question, do you know from your chats with her whether she has ever mentioned recording a track with Tim Simenon / Bomb The Bass called ‘I Can’t Stop’ ??
There was a promo only 12″ release in 1989, where Bomb The Bass had a female vocalist who sounds like her ?!.
(youtube video – posted by another Richard – not me! – they are 99% certain its a young betty singing maybe just before her solo career kicked off.!?. I can’t find any other mention of this track )
https://www.discogs.com/release/1429954-Bomb-The-Bass-I-Cant-Stop
(discog info – for Bomb The Bass Promo only 12″ . No press release / doesn’t mention who vocalist is.)
Best rgds
Richard
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Hi there, Thank you for the nice feedback. I’m pretty certain it is but will double-check on that.
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