Curiosity Killed the Cat were a British pop band formed in London in 1984, comprising singer Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, guitarist Julian Godfrey Brookhouse, bassist Nick Thorpe and drummer Migi Drummond. The band achieved success in the UK in the late 1980s, with their debut album Keep Your Distance reaching No. 1 in 1987 and producing three top 20 hit singles in “Down to Earth”, “Misfit” and “Ordinary Day”. This was followed by Getahead in 1989, with another UK top 20 single “Name and Number”. In 1991, Thorpe left the band, with the remaining three members continuing under the shortened name Curiosity for their third and final album, 1994’s Back to Front, which included the UK top 5 single “Hang On in There Baby”. The band split in 1994 although there have been occasional temporary reunions.
The band played soulful, jazzy and funky pop music and was initially signed to Mercury Records. They first came to notice of the UK music press when they worked with Andy Warhol for the video of their 1986 single “Misfit”. This featured the band in New York City and at one point featured frontman Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot dancing down a side street whilst Andy Warhol referenced Bob Dylan’s 1965 long-form promotional film for “Subterranean Homesick Blues” by dropping pieces of white card in time to the music.
The single was initially unsuccessful but the release of their next single, “Down to Earth”, gave the band a top 3 hit in early 1987. The band’s first album, Keep Your Distance, entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1 in April 1987, and stayed in the top ten for 13 weeks. Further singles included “Ordinary Day” (UK No. 11), “Free” (UK No. 56) and a re-release of “Misfit” (UK No. 7). “Misfit” was also their only U.S. charting single, peaking at No. 42.
The band’s second album, Getahead, was released in 1989, led by the single “Name and Number” (UK No. 14), and its “hey how you doin'” refrain found itself in the top 10 two years later interpolated in the De La Soul song “Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)”. The album, however, was not as successful in comparison to their first album, peaking at No. 29. After the lacklustre performance of Getahead and its second single “First Place”, the band shortened their name to ‘Curiosity’ but were dropped by Mercury Records. Bass player Nick Thorpe then left the band. However, in 1992, the band (now a three-piece and signed to RCA Records) returned to the UK Top 3 with a cover of Johnny Bristol’s “Hang On in There Baby”. Despite this, the band’s follow up singles (covers of “I Need Your Lovin'” and “Gimme the Sunshine”) were unsuccessful, which resulted in the album Back to Front only being released in Japan and selected overseas markets in 1994. The band then split up.
In 2001, the band reformed for an appearance on a National Lottery midweek show on BBC 1, and since then Volpeliere has toured under the name Curiosity Killed the Cat, on a number of 1980s revival packages. In November 2015, a compilation album, called 80’s Recovered featured many groups. Curiosity Killed the Cat did a cover of the Doobie Brothers track “Long Train Runnin'”, with a regular version, and a remix.
