The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album)

The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Studio album by Mika
Released	18 September 2009 (see release history)
Recorded	June 2008–2009[1]
Genre	Pop, Glam rock[2]
Length	41:13[3]
Label	Casablanca, Polydor[4]
Producer	Greg Wells, Imogen Heap, Mika, RedOne[1]
Mika chronology
Songs for Sorrow (2009) The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009) The Origin of Love (2012)
Singles from The Boy Who Knew Too Much
"We Are Golden" Released: 7 September 2009 "Rain" Released: 23 November 2009 "Blame It on the Girls" Released: 15 February 2010

The Boy Who Knew Too Much^[5] is the second studio album by singer Mika. It was released on 21 September 2009,^[6] under Casablanca Records in the United States and Polydor in the United Kingdom.

Background

Mika worked with producer Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album Life in Cartoon Motion.^[1] The album was written in Olympic Studios, London, which began in June 2008. In September 2008 he moved to Rocket Carousel Studios, Los Angeles, where the album was recorded.^[1] Mika has described the album's themes as dealing with his teenage years, and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album.^[7] In contrast to his first album, which "contained innocent fairytales", Mika pitches the new album's songs as "gothic Tim Burton-esque fantasies."^[8]

The album was originally titled We Are Golden after the first single from the album, "We Are Golden". On 20 July 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was considering renaming the album, because he wanted "something a little more ridiculous."^[9] On 6 August 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would change to The Boy Who Knew Too Much.^[10] As with Mika's debut album Life in Cartoon Motion, the album artwork has been designed by Mika's sister (who works under the nom de plume DaWack), the Australian illustrator Sophie Blackall, Airside collaborator Richard Hogg and Mika himself. The artwork has been inspired by children's picture books from the 1940s to 1970s.^[11]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(70/100)[12]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[13]
The A.V. Club	(A-)[14]
Entertainment Weekly	(A)[15]
The Guardian	[16]
Los Angeles Times	[17]
The Observer	[18]
PopMatters	[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]
Slant	[21]
Spin	[22]
The Times	[23]

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 70/100 from Metacritic.^[24]

Singles

• "We Are Golden" was the first single from the album. It received its UK radio debut on BBC Radio 2 on 20 July 2009. It peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart.
• "Rain" was the second UK and German single, released on 23 November 2009 in both digital and physical format.^[25][26][27] It peaked at #72 in the UK Singles Chart, making it Mika's first UK single to miss the Top 40. In Germany it peaked at #56.^[28] It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010.^[29]
• "Blame It on the Girls" was the second American and Japanese single from the album.^[30][31] It peaked at #1 in Japan but failed to make any impact in the United States. It was released as the third UK single, on 15 February 2010.^[29] It peaked at #72.
• The song "Good Gone Girl" charted within the Romanian Top 100 on airplay only, without being released as a single.^[32]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"We Are Golden"	Mika	3:58
2.	"Blame It on the Girls"	Mika	3:34
3.	"Rain"	Mika, Jodi Marr	3:43
4.	"Dr. John"	Mika	3:44
5.	"I See You"	Mika, Walter Afanasieff	4:17
6.	"Blue Eyes"	Mika	2:50
7.	"Good Gone Girl"	Mika, Jodi Marr	3:02
8.	"Touches You"	Mika	3:19
9.	"By the Time"	Mika, Imogen Heap	3:21
10.	"One Foot Boy"	Mika, Rob Davis	2:58
11.	"Toy Boy"	Mika, Jodi Marr	2:56
12.	"Pick Up Off the Floor"	Mika	3:24

Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Lady Jane"	Mika	3:20
14.	"Lover Boy"	Mika	3:13

Japanese Bonus Track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"We Are Golden" (Acoustic)	Mika	3:08

Summer Edition Bonus Tracks[33]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
13.	"Kick Ass (We Are Young)"	Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne	3:12
14.	"Lover Boy"	Mika	3:13
15.	"Lady Jane"	Mika	3:20
16.	"Lonely Alcoholic"	Mika	3:08
17.	"Rain" (Acoustic)	Mika	3:06
18.	"Poker Face" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Session)	Stefani Germanotta, Nadir Khayat	3:09
19.	"Satellite"	Mika	4:14
20.	"Ring Ring"	Mika	2:48

Mika: Live at Sadler's Wells Bonus Disc (UK Deluxe Edition)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Grace Kelly"	Mika, Jodi Marr, John Merchant, Dan Warner	4:24
2.	"Lady Jane"	Mika	3:04
3.	"Stuck in the Middle"	Mika	6:06
4.	"Lonely Alcoholic"	Mika	3:17
5.	"Blue Eyes"	Mika	3:34
6.	"Toy Boy"	Mika, Jodi Marr	3:55
7.	"Billy Brown"	Mika	3:32
8.	"Good Gone Girl"	Mika, Jodi Marr	3:10
9.	"Over My Shoulder"	Mika	4:11
10.	"Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)"	Mika	4:12
11.	"Love Today"	Mika	3:45
12.	"Blame It on the Girls"	Mika	6:18
13.	"Happy Ending"	Mika	5:22
14.	"Lollipop"	Mika	7:08
15.	"My Interpretation"	Mika, Jodi Marr, Richie Supa	3:15
16.	"Rain"	Mika	5:07
17.	"Relax, Take It Easy"	Mika	5:38

The Boy Who Didn't Know Enough: Bonus DVD (American Deluxe Edition)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"We Are Golden" (The Making of the Video)	Mika	3:00
2.	"We Are Golden" (Video)	Mika	4:02
3.	"Making the Parc Des Princes Show" (Video)	Mika	15:00
4.	"Grace Kelly" (Live from Parc Des Princes)	Mika, Jodi Marr, John Merchant, Dan Warner	4:35
5.	"Lollipop" (Live from Parc Des Princes)	Mika	6:22
6.	"Love Today" (Live from Parc Des Princes)	Mika	7:08

B-Sides & Rarities Bonus Disc (Asian Deluxe Edition)[34][35]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Kick Ass (We Are Young)"	Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne	3:14
2.	"We Are Golden" (Calvin Harris Remix)	Mika	6:58
3.	"Rain" (Benny Benassi Remix)	Mika	6:10
4.	"Blame It On the Girls" (Not On the Starsmith Remix)	Mika	6:53
5.	"Poker Face" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge Session)	Stefani Germanotta, Nadir Khayat	3:05
6.	"Kick Ass (We Are Young)" (Cutmore Remix)	Mika, Jodi Marr, RedOne	3:53
7.	"Relax, Take It Easy" (Ashley Beedle's Castro Vocal Discomix)	Mika	6:18
8.	"Grace Kelly" (Tom Neville Full Vocal Remix)	Mika, Jodi Marr, Dan Warner	9:03
9.	"Love Today" (Switch Remix)	Mika	5:31
10.	"Happy Ending" (Kleerup Mix)	Mika	6:31
11.	"Rain" (P Zombies Remix)	Mika	6:34

The Best of Life in Cartoon Motion Bonus Disc (Summer Deluxe Edition)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Any Other World"	Mika	4:19
2.	"Grace Kelly"	Mika, Jodi Marr, Dan Warner	3:07
3.	"Lollipop"	Mika	3:03
4.	"My Interpretation"	Mika, Jodi Marr	3:35
5.	"Relax, Take It Easy"	Mika	3:44
6.	"Love Today"	Mika	3:55
7.	"Happy Ending" (The LA Edit)	Mika	3:54
8.	"Over My Shoulder"	Mika	4:45

Personnel

• Mika – vocals, piano, keyboards, background vocals, background violin

Additional musicians

Walter Afanasieff – percussion, keyboards The Andrae Crouch Choir – background vocals Lorna Bridge – background vocals Paul Buckmaster – strings Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion Andrew Dermanis – additional vocals Gary Grant – horns Jerry Hey – horns Imogen Heap – drums, background vocals, keyboard Dan Higgins – horns Alex Millar – background vocals Audrey Moukataff – background vocals Chris Nicolaides – background vocals

Cherisse Osei – drums Owen Pallett – violin Tim Pierce – guitar Fortune Penniman – background vocals Paloma Penniman – background vocals, additional vocals Zuleika Penniman – background vocals Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns Dan Rothchild – bass, background vocals Fabien Waltmann – keyboards Martin Waugh – guitar, background vocals Greg Wells – keyboards, drums, bass, percussion, guitar Ida Falk Winland – background vocals Lyle Workman – guitar

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2009) Peak position Argentine Albums Chart[36] 6 Australian Albums Chart[37] 10 Austrian Albums Chart 9 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[38] 3 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[39] 3 Canadian Albums Chart 19 Danish Albums Chart 24 Dutch Albums Chart[40] 5 French Albums Chart[41] 1 German Albums Chart[42] 6 Greek Albums Chart 45 Irish Albums Chart[43] 14 Italian Albums Chart[44] 10 Mexican Albums Chart[45] 29 New Zealand Albums Chart 30 Norwegian Albums Chart[46] 29 Portuguese Albums Chart[47] 17 Spanish Albums Chart 7 Swedish Albums Chart 14 Swiss Albums Chart 2 UK Albums Chart[48] 4 US Billboard 200 19 US Billboard Top Electronic Albums 5

Year-end charts Chart (2009) Position European Top 100 Albums[49] 49 French Albums Chart[50] 12 Swiss Albums Chart[51] 60 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Canada (Music Canada)[52] Gold 40,000^^ Belgium (BEA)[53] Platinum 30,000^* France (SNEP)[54] 3× Platinum 300,000^* Italy (FIMI)[55] Platinum 60,000^* Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[56] Gold 15,000^x ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Date
Hong Kong (Digital Version)[57]	5 September 2009
Netherlands	16 September 2009
France	18 September 2009
Australia
Germany
Italy
Ireland
United Kingdom	21 September 2009
Argentina[58]
Mexico
South Korea (Regular & Deluxe Edition)[59]
United States	22 September 2009
Brazil
Canada
South Korea (Korean Special Edition)[60]	27 May 2010
Hong Kong (Asia Tour Edition)[61]	2 June 2010

References

1. Allen, Matt (1 June 2009). "Exclusive: Mika's Second Coming", Q Magazine. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
2. Heather Phares. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much". AllMusic.
3. Phares, Heather (22 September 2009). "((( The Boy Who Knew Too Much > Overview )))". allmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
4. Business Wire (14 June 2009). "Global Pop Phenomenon, MIKA, Releases Sophomore Album, WE ARE GOLDEN, 22 September", Business Wire. Retrieved on 2009-07-14.
5. "Mika | Official Store | Merchandise, T-shirts, Tickets, Albums, MP3 Downloads, Live Album, Posters, Bags, Mikasounds.com". Mikastore.sandbag.uk.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
6. Medioni, Gilles (11 June 2009). "Exclu Mika: tout sur son nouveau CD... et sa playlist", L'Express. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
7. Mazumdar, Tulip (9 June 2009). "Mika pens 'teenage' second album", BBC Radio 1. Retrieved on 2009-07-08.
8. Youngs, Ian (21 September 2009). "Entertainment | Mika conquers his growing pains". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
9. "BBC — Newsbeat — Music — Mika promises fans 'gig at home'". BBC News. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
10. "MikaSounds / Latest News / The Boy Who Knew Too Much". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
11. "MikaSounds / Blog / YO YO! Enough marketing psychobable dish dash! Now I write". Mikasounds.com. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
12. "Critic Reviews for The Boy Who Knew Too Much - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
13. The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album) at AllMusic
14. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much · Mika · Music Review Mika: The Boy Who Knew Too Much · Music Review · The A.V. Club".
15. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
16. Caroline Sullivan. "Mika: The Boy Who Knew Too Much". the Guardian.
17. "Pop & Hiss".
18. Peter Robinson. "Mika: The Boy Who Knew Too Much". the Guardian.
19. "Mika". PopMatters.
20. "Album Reviews, Ratings, and Best New Albums". Rolling Stone.
21. Sam C. Mac. "Music".
22. "Mika, ‘The Boy Who Knew Too Much’ (CasablancaUniversal Republic)". Spin.
23. "Login".
24. "The Boy Who Knew Too Much reviews at". Metacritic.com. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
25. iTunes releases Mika's second single "Rain"
26. "Rain by MIKA: Amazon.co.uk: Music".
27. "MikaSounds / Latest News / Mika Set To 'Rain' Supreme". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
28. Archived 14 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
29. "MikaSounds / Latest News / Next Single - 'Blame It On The Girls' - Out February 15th". Mikasounds.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
30. Shepherd, Fiona (2009-09-21). "CD review: Mika — The Boy Who Knew Too Much — Scotsman.com News". Edinburgh: News.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
31. "Radio Times - TV listings guide". RadioTimes.
32. "Topul celor mai difuzate piese în România în 2010" (in Romanian). România Liberă. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
33. "Mika - Boy Who Knew Too Much (Special ed) - Amazon.com Music".
34. http://image.kyobobook.co.kr/newimages/music/large/6393/2393644.jpg
35. "YESASIA : Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2CD) (Korea Special Edition) (Korea Version) 鐳射唱片 - MIKA - 西方／世界音樂 - 郵費全免".
36. "Representando a la Industria Argentina de la Música". CAPIF. 31 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
37. "Australian Record Industry Association". Ariacharts.com.au. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
38. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
39. "Ultratop Belgian Charts". ultratop.be. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
40. Steffen Hung (6 March 2009). "Dutch charts portal". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
41. "Lescharts". Lescharts. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
42. "Madonnas Traumstart in den Album-Charts - media control". Media-control.de. 29 September 2009. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
43. ">> IRMA << Irish Charts - Singles, Albums & Compilations >>". Irma.ie. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
44. Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
45. Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". mexicancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
46. Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
47. Steffen Hung. "Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much". portuguesecharts.com. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
48. "Radio 1 - The Official Chart with Reggie Yates - The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". BBC. 24 February 2007. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
49. "European Top 100 Albums". Billboard. 31 December 2010.
50. "Le Top de l’année : Top Albums Fusionnés - Année 2009". SNEP. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
51. "Swiss Year-End Charts 2009". Media Control. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
52. "Canadian album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much". Music Canada. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
53. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2009". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
54. "French album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
55. "Italian album certifications – Mika – The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 16 November 2015. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Mika in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
56. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Mika; 'The Boy Who Knew Too Much')". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
57. http://moov.hk/moovnow/music/album/albumdetail.do?contributorid=&roleid=&albumid=VAUN00018142A
58. ":: Universal Music Argentina :: Mika :: Noticia". Universalmusic.com.ar. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
59. "HYANG MUSIC 향뮤직".
60. "HYANG MUSIC 향뮤직".
61. "YESASIA : The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Asia Tour Edition) (2CD+Tofu) 鐳射唱片 - MIKA, 環球唱片(香港) - 西方／世界音樂 - 郵費全免".

External links

• MikaSounds.com – Mika's official website
• Mika on YouTube