Betty Boo

Boo worked across singer, songwriter, rapper and musician. The registers place that work in dance-pop, hip-hop and pop rap. This article rests on 27 catalogued compositions, 27 issued recordings, 2 digitised documents and 1 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Betty Boo • Birth Name — Alison Moira Clarkson • Born — 6 March 1970 • Birthplace — Kensington, London, England • Genre — * Dance-pop • hip-hop • pop-rap • Occupation — * Singer • songwriter • rapper • Years Active — 1987–present • Label — * Music of Life • Rhythm King • Sire • Instant Karma • Website — officialbettyboo.com

Clarkson studied sound engineering at the Holloway School of Audio Engineering before having several hits between 1989 and 1992. Originally nicknamed "Betty Boop" for her similarity to the cartoon character, she changed it to avoid trademark disputes. Of mixed Dusun and Scottish ancestry, she had an unusual, striking Emma Peel-like look, dressed in mildly revealing outfits and proved to be an influential pop music figure whose "sassy, powerful music and image launched a thousand wannabes". Writing for The Guardian in August 1990, Lucy O'Brien noted the difference between the "quietly spoken" Clarkson and her "lovable toughie" pop star alter-ego, describing the latter as "a cartoon combination of Betty Boop, Barbarella and Buck Rogers". Whilst still at school, Boo began her musical career in hip-hop groups such as Hit 'N' Run and the She Rockers, the latter act who were signed to the British independent record label Music of Life. The She Rockers' success led her to New York and work with Public Enemy, who encouraged her to pursue a solo career. Commenting on her time spent supporting Public Enemy on tour in the US, as well as working with Professor Griff in the recording studio on the song "Give It a Rest", Boo revealed that things did not go as expected: "They were producing our single and I thought it would sound like their stuff, but it didn't at all. And some of the crowds were hostile to us. They didn't throw anything, no, but they wanted to see Public Enemy and they just weren't interested in us." Her big break came when she appeared as a guest vocalist on the 1989 number 7 UK hit single, "Hey DJ – I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)" by the Beatmasters, which was included in original form on their album Anywayawanna. Boo's first solo single, "Doin' the Do", followed and was also a UK singles chart number 7 success for her in 1990, selling 200,000 copies and reaching number one on Billboard's dance chart in the United States. One year later, the song was used as the title tune for Magic Pockets video game by the Bitmap Brothers. Boomania, her platinum-selling debut album, was largely self-written and self-produced in her bedroom. Her second solo single, "Where Are You Baby?", which reached number 3 in August 1990, is her biggest solo hit to date. "24 Hours" was the third and final single to be issued from Boomania, and although it was a hit, it was less so than previous releases, stalling at number 25 in December 1990. Her initial success was compounded at the 1991 BRIT Awards ceremony where she was voted that year's best British Breakthrough Act. In 1991, her "Why, Oh Why?" 1950s-style love ballad featured on the soundtrack of the American film A Rage in Harlem. Her career suffered a setback when in July 1991, while touring Australia, Boo was revealed to be lip-synching at a concert rather than performing live. The 21st Century Dance Club in Frankston, Australia received "hundreds of complaints" after her performance, during which Boo fled the stage after dropping her microphone, revealing she was miming to a backing track. The incident was widely reported, and Boo cancelled the remainder of her tour, citing influenza and fever. Boo returned with a new record deal in 1992 having signed to WEA. Her follow-up album, GRRR! It's Betty Boo, suffered very disappointing sales in the UK, peaking at number 62 on the albums chart. It did, nevertheless, spawn another UK hit single titled "Let Me Take You There", which reached number 12 in August 1992. A further single, "I'm on My Way", featured a musical quote from the Beatles' "Lady Madonna" which, unusually, was not a sample—the song's brass riff was re-created using all the original players. However, the single did not sell well and entered the chart at number 44 in October 1992. Her next single, "Hangover", fared even worse, barely scraping the Top 50 upon release in April 1993. Following the release of GRRR!, Clarkson turned down an offer to sign with Madonna's Maverick Records, and in 1999 a Best Of compilation album—effectively an expanded version of Boomania with extra remixes and a different running order—was released and sold moderately well.

In 2006, Clarkson formed a pop duo called WigWam, with Alex James, bassist from Blur. Together, they worked with music producer Ben Hillier, along with former Boo collaborators the Beatmasters. Despite working to create "an album of experimental yet accessible 21st century pop", just one single emerged from their musical partnership, the self-titled "WigWam" released on 3 April 2006 via Instant Karma Records. In August 2007, Clarkson released a new single titled "Take Off". The song, which was playlisted on Radio 1's dance-orientated shows, was a joint project with the London-based dance act Jack Rokka and, as such, is much more dance-orientated than her previous work. She went on to perform the collaboration in a live set at Manchester Pride in 2007, along with some of her other songs. The video sees Betty Boo's trademark look resurrected and even features the 'Boosters' – Betty Boo's backing dancers, who always appear with identical hair and outfits to hers – and the Betty Boo spiral. Clarkson appeared on ITV's Loose Women on 16 October 2007 to promote the single, and has also appeared as an interviewee on BBC Three's The Most Annoying Pop Songs... show, passing comment on several songs that made the Top 100 list. In July 2009, historian Kate Williams reported on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House that she is working with Clarkson to develop a musical version of Williams' biography England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton. In June 2011, Clarkson featured as Betty Boo (and is credited) on the track "Virtually Art" by the Feeling on the double-album edition of their 2011 release, Together We Were Made. In July 2014, Betty Boo performed on stage at the Penn Festival, while in 2021 she was announced as one of the artists performing as part of the Let's Rock retro music festival line-ups, at various dates throughout the UK.

On 10 January 2022, Boo announced the release of the single "Get Me to the Weekend". The second single "Shining Star", was released on 12 May 2022. Her first album in 30 years, Boomerang, was released on 14 October 2022. On 14 June 2024, Boo released the single "It Was Beautiful" (featuring HEX) from her fourth album Rip Up the Rulebook.

• Title — Album details — Peak chart positions — Certifications (sales thresholds) • UK — UK Down. — AUS — GER — NED — NZ — SCO • Boomania — * Released: 10 September 1990 * Label: Rhythm King — 4 — — — 68 — — — 88 — 25 — 38 — * BPI: Platinum • GRRR! It's Betty Boo — * Released: 12 October 1992 * Label: WEA International — 62 — — — — — 97 — — — — — 43 • Boomerang — * Released: 14 October 2022 * Label: Betty Boo Records — 45 — 7 — — — — — — — — — 19 • Rip Up the Rule Book — * Released: 30 August 2024 * Label: Betty Boo Records — — — 59 — — — — — — — — — 40

• Title — Album details • Doin' the Do: The Best of Betty Boo — * Released: 1999 * Label: BMG, Camden

• Title — Album details • Boomania – The Boomin Vids — * Released: 1990 * Label: Virgin Music Video

• Year — Single — Peak positions — Certifications — Album • UK — AUS — BEL (FL) — GER — IRE — NED — NZ — SWE — SWI — US — US Dance • 1989 — "Hey DJ / I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing)" (The Beatmasters featuring Betty Boo) — 7 — 88 — 35 — 93 — 17 — 14 — 10 — — — — — — — 8 — Boomania • 1990 — "Doin' the Do" — 7 — 3 — 8 — — — 9 — 9 — 4 — — — — — 90 — 1 — * ARIA: Gold • "Where Are You Baby?" — 3 — 19 — — — 29 — 6 — 16 — 11 — — — 13 — — — — — * BPI: Silver • "24 Hours" — 25 — 94 — — — 32 — 17 — 74 — — — — — 10 — — — — • 1992 — "Let Me Take You There" — 12 — 97 — — — 50 — 13 — 61 — — — 38 — 18 — — — — — GRRR! It's Betty Boo • "I'm on My Way" — 44 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Thing Goin' On" (US only) — colspan="9" — — — 5 • 1993 — "Hangover" — 50 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Catch Me" (US only) — colspan="9" — — — 14 • 2007 — "Take Off" (Jack Rokka vs Betty Boo) — 92 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2022 — "Get Me to the Weekend" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Boomerang • "Shining Star" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Boomerang" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Right By Your Side" (featuring David Gray) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Miracle" (featuring Chuck D) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • 2024 — "It Was Beautiful" (featuring Hex) — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Rip Up the Rulebook • "One Day" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "Barbarella" — – — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — • "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

Betty Boo is recorded with the occupation songwriter. Recorded with the occupation musician. Recorded with the occupation singer. Recorded with the occupation rapper. Classed in the genre dance-pop. Established in Library of Congress under no2012019153. Recorded as singer, songwriter, rapper and musician. Established in Discogs under 349402. Established in Discogs under 7619. Identity and origins. She also worked under the name Betty Boo. The authorities additionally record the headings Alison Moira Clarkson and Alison Clarkson. Her recorded language was English.