# Fun Boy Three

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English new wave pop band

Fun Boy Three Left to right: Terry Hall, Neville Staple, Lynval Golding Background information Origin United Kingdom Genres New wave pop[1] Years active 1981 (1981)–1983 (1983) Label Chrysalis Spinoff of The Specials Past members Terry Hall Lynval Golding Neville Staple June Miles-Kingston Bethan Peters

**Fun Boy Three** were an English [new wave](/source/New_wave_music) [pop](/source/Pop_music)[1] band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers [Terry Hall](/source/Terry_Hall_(singer)), [Neville Staple](/source/Neville_Staple) and [Lynval Golding](/source/Lynval_Golding) after they left [the Specials](/source/The_Specials). They released two albums and had seven UK top 20 hits.

## History

Fun Boy Three reduced the [ska](/source/Ska) sound that they and [Jerry Dammers](/source/Jerry_Dammers) had crafted with great success with [the Specials](/source/The_Specials) and initially took a more minimal approach with the focus on percussion and vocals.[2] For their second album they assembled a six-piece backing group including a [cellist](/source/Cello) and a [trombone](/source/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 "[It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)](/source/T'ain't_What_You_Do_(It's_the_Way_That_You_Do_It))", "[Tunnel of Love](/source/The_Tunnel_of_Love_(Fun_Boy_Three_song))" and "[Our Lips Are Sealed](/source/Our_Lips_Are_Sealed)".[3] They created two albums of which the eponymous [debut](/source/Fun_Boy_Three_(album)) was the more commercially successful. The follow-up album *[Waiting](/source/Waiting_(Fun_Boy_Three_album))*, produced by [David Byrne](/source/David_Byrne), was well-received critically.[4][5][6]

Following the trio's last UK hit "Our Lips Are Sealed", co-written by Terry Hall and [Jane Wiedlin](/source/Jane_Wiedlin) of [the Go-Go's](/source/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.[7]

They were credited with helping launch the career in 1982 of [Bananarama](/source/Bananarama), whom Hall first saw in *[The Face](/source/The_Face_(magazine))* magazine.[8] The three women provided credited [chorus](/source/Choir) vocals on the hit "[It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)](/source/T'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](/source/Really_Saying_Something)", both reaching the top 5 in the UK.[3]

## Discography

Fun Boy Three discography Studio albums 2 Live albums 1 Compilation albums 3 Singles 9

### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected details and chart positions Title Details Chart positions Certifications (sales thresholds) UK [9][10] AUS [11] NL [12] NZ [13] US The Fun Boy Three Released: March 1982 Label: Chrysalis 7 84 10 17 — BPI: Gold[14] Waiting Released: February 1983 Label: Chrysalis 14 — 47 11 104 BPI: Silver[15] "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

### Live albums

List of live albums, with selected details Title Details Live on the Test Released: 1994 Format: CD Label: Windsong International Note recorded 1983

### Compilation albums

List of compilation albums, with selected details Title Details The Best of Fun Boy Three Released: 1984 Format: LP, CS Label: Chrysalis Really Saying Something: The Best of Fun Boy Released: 1997 Format: CD Label: Chrysalis The Complete Fun Boy Three Released: 4 August 2023 Format: 5×CD + DVD Label: Chrysalis Catalogue

### Singles

Year Title Chart positions Certifications Album UK [9][16] AUS [11] IRL [17] NL [12] NZ [13] US Club Play 1981 "The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum)" 20 43 28 — 46 — Fun Boy Three 1982 "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" (Fun Boy Three with Bananarama) 4[9] 55 5 3 37 49 BPI: Silver[15] "Really Saying Something" (Bananarama with Fun Boy Three) 5[9] 74 9 16 — 16 BPI: Silver[15] Deep Sea Skiving (Bananarama album) "The Telephone Always Rings" 17 — 29 49 — — Fun Boy Three "Summertime" 18 — 13 — — — — "The More I See (The Less I Believe)" 68 — — — — — Waiting 1983 "The Tunnel of Love" 10 — 14 38 — — "Our Lips Are Sealed" 7 — 13 — — — "The Farm Yard Connection" (Germany only) — — — — — — "–" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Allmusic_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Allmusic_1-1) [Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p4322/biography)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Green_2-0)** Green, Jim & Robbins, Ira "[Fun Boy Three](http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=fun_boy_three)", *[Trouser Press](/source/Trouser_Press)*, retrieved 27 January 2010

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-charts_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-charts_3-1) ["Fun Boy Three"](https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19346/fun-boy-three/). Official Charts.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Review](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r7880) from [Allmusic](/source/Allmusic)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-rcreview_Wait_5-0)** [Fun Boy Three](http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1944) from Christgau's website

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Robert Palmer](/source/Robert_Palmer_(American_writer)) (10 August 1983). ["The Pop Life"](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/10/arts/the-pop-life-090349.html?&pagewanted=all). *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Unterberger, Richie. ["Fun Boy Three Biography"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/fun-boy-three-mn0000187847/biography). *AllMusic*. AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Unterberger, Richie. ["Fun Boy Three Biography"](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/fun-boy-three-mn0000187847/biography). *AllMusic*. AllMusic. Retrieved 19 January 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-occ_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-occ_9-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-occ_9-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-occ_9-3) ["Fun Boy Three | Full Official Chart History"](http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/19346/fun-boy-three/). *[Official Charts Company](/source/Official_Charts_Company)*. Retrieved 19 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums_10-0)** Roberts, David (2006). *British Hit Singles & Albums* (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 216. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-904994-10-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-904994-10-5).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-aus_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-aus_11-1) [Kent, David](/source/David_Kent_(historian)) (1993). *Australian Chart Book 1970–1992* (Illustrated ed.). St Ives: Australian Chart Book. p. 119. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-646-11917-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-646-11917-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-NL_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-NL_12-1) ["charts.org.nz - Discografie Fun Boy Three"](http://dutchcharts.nl/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Nzcharts_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Nzcharts_13-1) ["charts.nz - Discography Fun Boy Three"](https://charts.nz/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 November 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-tsort82_14-0)** ["Albums in the Year 1982"](http://tsort.info/music/ay1982.htm). © 2007-9, Steve Hawtin et al. Retrieved 7 November 2009.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-BPI_15-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-BPI_15-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-BPI_15-2) ["British certificates: searchable database"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090924015932/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx). bpi.co.uk. Archived from [the original](http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx) on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_&_Albums_519_16-0)** Roberts, David (2006). *British Hit Singles & Albums* (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 519. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-904994-10-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-904994-10-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["The Irish Charts"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100126040745/http://www.irishcharts.ie/). IRMA 2006 - 2008. Archived from [the original](http://www.irishcharts.ie) on 26 January 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

## External links

- [Fun Boy Three](https://www.discogs.com/artist/Fun+Boy+Three) discography at [Discogs](/source/Discogs)

- [Fun Boy Three](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3186385/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Fun Boy Three](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fun_Boy_Three).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fun Boy Three](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_Boy_Three) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fun_Boy_Three?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.