Fun Lovin Criminals

Fun Lovin' Criminals
Fun Lovin' Criminals live in 2005
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Alternative rock Hip hop Alternative rap Jazz rap Funk Blues Jazz Mafioso rap
Years active	1993–present
Associated acts	Huey and the New Yorkers, Radio Riddler, Cro-Mags
Website	http://www.funlovincriminals.co
Members	Huey Morgan Brian Leiser Frank Benbini
Past members	Steve Borgovini Maxwell Jayson

Fun Lovin' Criminals are a band from New York City. Their musical style is eclectic, covering styles such as hip hop, rock, blues, jazz, R&B, punk, and funk. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing vocal group. Their songs often focus on life in New York City, as well as urban life in general. Their lyrics can be gritty or existentialist in nature, touching on topics such as organized crime and urban violence, but they are just as often humorous or satirical. The band gained a large following internationally, notably in north-west Europe, around the release of their first two albums in the late 1990s.

The band was formed in 1993 by Huey Morgan, Brian "Fast" Leiser and Steve Borgovini after Leiser, who was already friends with Borgovini, met Morgan at the club where they both worked. They started playing together and would provide the entertainment for the club when a booked act failed to show up. It was during one of these stand-in gigs that they came to the attention of EMI and they were offered a record deal.

Come Find Yourself, the band's first album, was released in the summer of 1996 by Capitol Records and followed their single, "The Grave And The Constant" (UK No. 72), which was released a month earlier, into the UK charts. The album also featured the UK Top 40 hits, "Scooby Snacks" (UK No. 22), "The Fun Lovin' Criminal" (UK No. 26) and "King Of New York" (UK No. 28). The subject of latter touched on the imprisonment of Italian-American mafioso John Gotti, the wannabe gangsters emulating his style, and his fans and followers in his community that maintained his innocence. The biggest hit, "Scooby Snacks", features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino and a guitar sample from Tones On Tail song "Movement of Fear", interspersed with rap verses and a sung, anthemic, chorus. Come Find Yourself had a slow rise up the UK Albums Chart, finally peaking at No. 7 and spending well over a year in the chart, however it failed to make any impact in the US. The success of the album prompted the re-release of "Scooby Snacks" as a single, alongside a cover of the 10cc classic "I'm Not In Love", which this time reached UK No. 12.