The Fun Lovin’ Criminals – Stalkers Guide!

How come Steve left?
Well, according to Huey, ‘Steve went nuts and moved to Peru!’. So there ya have it.

So tell me some more about the band then...
The band was formed in 1993 when Huey and Fast, were working in the Limelight Club in Chelsea, NYC. Huey was a barback and Fast was answering phones and checking coats while Steve used to hang out in the bar by night and work in HMV by day. Apparently, Huey and Fast became friends when Huey found Fast in the bathroom smoking a joint and they bonded over the herb which would later influence a great deal of their music.
Huey played blues guitar in his spare time (after parting company with a previous band on bad terms - we'll say no more), while Fast (keyboard, harmonica, trumpet) and Steve (drums) were already playing in a techno band, and had knowledge of the production and electronic side of music. Someone suggested that the three play together and the Fun Lovin' Criminals were formed, taking their name from a graffiti crew whose tag was 'Fun Lovin' Crime'. (In an early interview Huey said the crime was the graffiti and that 'FLC' was his tag, although he appears to have distanced himself from this in later interviews.) Huey and Fast started writing, while Steve assisted with the programming. The band played gigs at the Limelight when other bands pulled out - as Huey and Fast were already on the payroll, the manager didn't have to pay them extra.

So how did they get from there to the international stars they are today?
The guys got a record deal in 1994 after only six gigs when the CEO of EMI heard them play at the Limelight for a friend's birthday. He approached the guys to make a record and understandably they said, "Hell yeah!".
The band released their first EP, 'Original Soundtrack for Hi-Fi Living' in 1995. From there, the boys wrote the LP 'Come Find Yourself' and recorded the entire album in only five days; 'We thought that the record company was going to realise it had made a mistake, so we figured that if we did the album quickly, we'd at least have a record when they took back the contract.' says Huey. A legal wrangle ensued concerning the Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs sampling 'Scooby Snacks' where Quentin Tarantino demanded and received a writer's credit, something which still rankles with the boys. The album was finally released in July 1996, to critical acclaim, and was nominated for a Brit Award and won a Q Award for Best Newcomer.
The first single off the Come Find Yourself album, 'The Grave And The Constant', released in June 1996, despite having an insane video featuring a guy in a bear costume, failed to make a significant impact on the charts in the UK, reaching only number 72. Scooby Snacks, released two months later, although perceived by many to be FLC' biggest hit and undoubtedly the single which they are most associated with at this point, actually reached number 22 in the UK and did not dent the top ten at this time, as many people suggest. It's follow-up, 'The Fun Lovin' Criminal' had a video directed by Australian movie producer, Joel Pront. It reached number 26 in the UK in November 1996.
March 1997 saw the release of 'King of New York', the song which spawned a hundred predictable headlines about the boys being 'Kings of New York', with its catchy chorus imploring the authorities to free John Gotti, the King Of New York. The single peaked at number 28 in the UK and was followed up by the re-release of first 'Come Find Yourself' in June 1997 and of Scooby Snacks in July, as a double A-side with 'I'm Not In Love', a cover of the 10CC 'classic'. Scooby Snacks had been brought much more to the public's attention since its original release almost a year earlier, and the new release peaked 10 places higher than the original at number 12 in the UK charts. Huey later revealed that the inspiration for the track came from a a regular at the Limelight who worked at a pharmacy and used to bring the band what he termed 'Scooby Snacks'. In particular the song drew on an idea that Huey and Fast had while high on valium from the aforementioned regular.
Although in the UK, Fun Lovin' Criminals were receiving much positive recognition by the music industry and the public alike, the United States still had a problem categorising the New York threesome and although Scooby Snacks was a minor independent radio hit, the band was still virtually unknown outside NYC.
August 1998 became the summer of 'Love Unlimited' (sorry, but it was too good to miss!) as Fun Lovin' Criminals ode to Barry White was released and hit number 18 in the UK charts, making it the band's second biggest single, up to this point, in terms of chart position. This was swiftly followed by the release of the follow up to 'Come Find Yourself', '100% Colombian' in September of the same year. The band qualified the album's name by explaining that '100% Colombian' was a form of slang that they used when something was good. The Colombian authorities didn't seem to believe this and threatened the band with legal action as they felt that the name of the album reflected badly on the country's international image. (Well, it does now you've drawn attention to it!). 100% Colombian was nearly known as 'Roughin' Up Thugs'. This publicity helped the album to enter the UK charts at number 3 in September 1998. This album was not as well received as the Criminals' debut. The boys have since referred to the album as 'The Mistake' and 'the album that should never have been made', but more of that later.
'Big Night Out', the story of a friend's trip to LA's notorious club, The Viper Room, co-owned by Johnny Depp was released in October 1998 to much speculation about what the 'D' in the 'Supermodel on my 'D'' chorus actually was, with suggestions ranging from 'duvet cover' (Jayne Middlemiss, TOTP Radio Show) to 'donkey' (Phil Jupitus, on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Christmas 1998). The band have never actually confirmed anything but have hinted that the obvious answer is indeed the correct answer on this occasion.
The final single off Fun Lovin' Criminals second album was 'Korean Bodega' in May 1999, which introduced the US slang for a shop into the Brit vernacular (and my then 22-month-old cousin to the band - how about that? Learning to dance to Korean Bodega on TOTP! The boy's got a great future ahead of him!). However, not all FLC' roads were through flowers (Thomas Hardy reference there!). 100% Colombian had experienced poor sales in the US, and with the Colombian government getting all het up combined with some trouble Steve O got in for making some 'phone calls' to a gym in Leeds ('The worst thing was that he got pinched in a red Adidas track suit. What an outfit to get pinched in!' - Fast), Fun Lovin' Criminals lost their US record deal and distribution contract, despite their profile-raising 1998 stint supporting U2 on the latter's Popmart tour.
As if this wasn't enough, there were tensions within the band, with Steve feeling he had other priorities before the band's constant touring. A wrist injury meant Steve left the band temporarily and was replaced by Maxwell 'Mackie' Jayson who was recommended to Huey and fast by a mutual friend, (who may or may not have been Barre 'Skills' Duryea, Huey's guitar tech who had previously worked with the Cro-Mags, with whom Mackie was the drummer). Mackie was at the time playing with his own band, AM60, who supported FLC at a gig they did. He was asked to join our boys and did so with the blessing of his bandmates in AM60. That summer also saw Huey spend a night in a 5x5 in Manhattan after being caught smokin' some on a street (perhaps that's where S Club 7 got the idea!?). There were mentions of aggravated assault which Huey has played down and Fast has taken the piss out of ever since.
It was confirmed that Steve had left the band permanently in August 1999 just before FLC' UK festival performances at V99, Reading and Leeds. As to what actually happened to Steve, the 'official' story is that he went 'nuts and moved to Peru' and is now working as a farmer. Others say that he wanted to spend more time with his girlfriend and start a family. Whatever the truth is, Mackie was now a permanent FLC fixture.
December 1999 saw the release of the band's 'pay for Christmas' record ("If Celine Dion can do it, why can't we?" commented Huey at the time), a mixture of covers and B-sides, 'Compiled by the band for you and yours, God bless'. the band explained that they 'sometimes felt they'd like to be the lounge band at the Holiday Inn and Huey later asserted that they wore lame in the studio whilst recording; 'You can't really tell from the album'.
Then in March 2001 the band released Loco, 'The album we should have made after Come Find Yourself. With 100% Colombian, we were doing what we thought was expected of us and not what we wanted to do.' commented Fast. It was preceded by Loco, the single, which was the band's highest charting single in the UK, hitting number 5 in March 2001, something no doubt helped by the band's appearance on a commercial for Miller Genuine Draft, which unleashed the single on the public on December 1st 2000, two months before its release. Some of the music press accused the band of 'selling out', to which they responded in an interview at the time:
'Fun Lovin' Criminals sell out every ticket of every concert, of every night, in every town, in every country they play.' - Matteo/Mateo DiFontaine [not strictly true, but a good response]
'Yeah, we're not gonna sell Coke or Pepsi or any of that shit, but y'know this is beer. And beer is good for you.' added Fast [also not strictly true but a good response!]
Undoubtedly the Loco video increased the single's profile, as it featured women in skimpy bikinis cavorting, with each other, on a yacht with FLC in the ocean off Sydney, Australia, with censorship by DiFontaine. All Fast's idea, apparently because 'There are two things boys wanna see on TV. And we gave them those two things.' (See Skill's site, Prophet-Omega for some more adult -themed videos Fast recommends!)
The band will hope to emulate the success of Loco with the double A-side release of Bump and a new mix of Run Daddy Run, set for release mid-August 2001, and with a video featuring supermodel Jodie Kidd, Mackie in a hair net and Fast in an afro wig!
Some suggest FLC are past their peak and more known through the gossip columns of tabloids than for their music, but 2000 onwards has seen a new side to the band, who appear to be more willing to do promotion and be seen as mainstream, rather than the cult act status they enjoyed in the early days. Whatever the future holds for Fun Lovin' Criminals, you can be sure that the music industry will remember them for producing great music, without the precious attitude of some of their contemporaries. Oh and maybe their -obsession with afro wigs!

--- Copyright TOFLK/PFLC 17/07/01. If you wish to use any of this, please email me.

How about the guys – what do you know about them?
Ok – here goes!
With thanks to Viki

Huey was born on 6th August 1968, and is half Puerto Rican, half Irish 'Irish Hoodlum as I like to say' - Huey) and 100% New York. He even has a tattoo reading 'New York City' on his left inner fore-arm, as well as a U.S. Marine Corps tattoo on his right bicep. A member of the band since the beginning, he previously worked as barback (busboy) at the Limelight. Before that, Huey served as a US Marine for two-and-a-half years and fought in the Gulf War, which affected him immensely, and is something he tries not to talk about.
He is the vocalist ('Huey had the deepest voice, so we made him the singer.' - Fast), guitarist, co-writer, frontman and usually spokesperson for FLC, as well as being continually haunted by tabloid tales of his alleged conquests and his general 'cool'-ness.
Huey is a fan of old disco music, something evidenced on his Planet Groove compilation, released in 2000. Worryingly he has recently begun to display a fondness for velour - a particularly hideous beige and cream velour leisure suit springs to mind. And to think he's known to many for his sense of style!

Have you read an FLC interview and wondered who the hell Fisty (nuts) is? Well, it's just one of Fast’s many nicknames. Why Fast? Because of his lack of speed when answering phones at the Limelight. Why Fisty? A nickname Huey and Steve O came up with for Fast when he goes mental. The song 'Fisty Nuts', the hidden track on 100% Colombian was something Huey and Steve O made up when Fast was in one of his mental phases, to take the mickey out of him.
Fast was born 29th March 1972 on the Annapolis Naval Base in Maryland (his dad was in the Navy). He went to college on a trumpet scholarship, discovered the herb and left after one term. Fast plays trumpet, flugel, bass, harmonica and keyboards in the band as well as co-writing and programming.
He is a HUGE Star Wars fan and his first FLC advance went on a home cinema system - he's into DVDs etc big-style. He has an alter-ego 'Wayne Lazar' who recently interviewed Fast for MTV.

(Maxwell Jayson)

Mackie is a similar age to Huey (32 at March 2001), beyond that he's Mystery Mackie. He doesn’t say much, ('It's not in my contract.'), but what he does say doesn't tend to get him into trouble. Mackie is FLC’s drummer (since mid-1999) and a former member of Cro-mags, Charles and Eddie (once known as 'Charles and Eddie and Mackie'), UK one-hit wonders with their song 'Would I Lie To You?' and Bad Brains 'a seminal New York punk outfit'. Immediately before FLC, he was playing with his own band AM60.

FLC’s ex- drummer and co-programmer. He was in the band 1993-1999 and appears not to be on good terms with the remaining members of the band.

Brief Discography

FLC Remixes

• Cypress Hill – Dr. Greenthumb
• Dust Junkys – Livin’ it Up
• Dangerman – Let’s Make a Deal
• Finley Quaye – It’s Great When We’re Together
• Garbage - You Look So Fine
• G. Love and Special Sauce – Stepping Stone
• Sade – King Of Sorrow

Remixes of FLC Tracks by Other Artists

• Korean Bodega – Garbage remix feat. Shirley Manson

• Scooby Snacks–Shaggy Remix

Other Stuff They've Done:

Lounge-A-Palooza, Universal, October 1997

NOTE: Available in the UK on import only.

1. Miniskirt - Combustible Edison And Esquivel!
2. This Guy's In Love With You - Fastball
3. She Don't Use Jelly - Ben Folds Five
4. A Rose Is A Rose - Poe Danielewski
5. Black Hole Sun - Steve & Eydie Cornell
6. The Girl From Ipanema - Pizzicato Five
7. Zaz Turned Blue - Polly Jean Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman
8. I'm Not In Love - Fun Lovin' Criminals
9. Whichita Lineman - Glen Campell & Michelle Shocked w/ Texas Tornados
10. Witchcraft - Edwyn Collins
11. Love Will Keep Us Together - Jimmy Scott & Flea
12. Music To Watch Girls By - The James Taylor Quartet
13. The Good Life - Cassandra Wilson
14. Robert Goulet (On The River Nile) - Chris Ballew (Of Pres. Of The USA)