Fun Lovin' Criminals

Fun Lovin' Criminals are a band from New York City, and proud of it. They play a fusion of alternative hip hop with rock, pop, jazz, blues and Latin influences. The band's members are Hugh "Huey" Morgan, Brian "Fast" Leiser and Mark "Frank" Reid. Steve Borgovini is a former member.

They have long been more popular in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Their singer, Huey, is an Anglophile who lives in the United Kingdom and has made many TV and radio appearances not connected to the band. Another of their current members, Frank, is English.

Whilst they have not really had a hit since Loco in 2000, they have a loyal worldwide fanbase and Huey has kept in the public eye in the United Kingdom ever since.


 * Bruce Lee: Sampled in "My Style", which is why the song didn't appear on an album.
 * Cover Version: So many that they were able to release a covers album, Mimosa, with some alternate versions as filler. There are also a few in their later career.
 * Creator Breakdown: "We Are All Very Worried About You".
 * Early-Bird Cameo: An instrumental version of "Big Night Out" appears on their 1995 demo. "Big Night Out" was released in 1998.
 * The 1995 demo of "King of New York" contains the line "I'm the firehose and everybody knows" which would appear in Mini Bar Blues in 1998.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: The 1995 demo of "King of New York" bears no resemblance to the album version besides the chorus.
 * Executive Meddling: The reason they were unable to release new material for five years is that they had problems with their record company.
 * Face of the Band: Huey is far better known than the other band members.
 * First Installment Wins: Their first album, Come Find Yourself, is by far considered their most popular album.
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Their popularity in the United Kingdom and Europe greatly exceeds their popularity in the United States.
 * Gratuitous Spanish: Passive/Aggressive mentions "Mucho Grande" style.
 * Greatest Hits Albums: Bag of Hits, Scooby Snacks : The Collection and A's B's and Rarities.
 * Lighter and Softer: A prominent feature of their early career was the Schmoove version. This involved recording a more mellow version of a song. Mimosa collects a number of these.
 * The Mafia: Their first album, Come Find Yourself, presents them as a criminal gang who don't want to hurt people but have been known to do so on occasion. Downplayed later, but the trope makes a return on Classic Fantastic.
 * Mood Whiplash: 100% Columbian was particularly prone to this due to varying between chillout jazz-pop and guitar-based rock songs. Most egregrious example is how the tranquil and relaxing "Sugar" goes straight into the loud and raucous "Southside". The former song was about being so in love you don't have any worries, and the latter was about a murder case which couldn't be solved because the victim "had no face".
 * New York City
 * One-Hit Wonder: In many countries, Scooby Snacks.
 * Shout-Out: To John Gotti in "King of New York" and to Bruce Lee's film The Big Boss in "My Style".
 * Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Methadonia", "We Are All Very Worried About You", "Friday Night" and all of the Schmoove versions of songs.