Phase 1 of Gorillaz lasted from 2000-2002 and is named after their debut self titled album, Gorillaz (the name Celebrity Take Down is the name of the DVD covering the self titled album).
On the 15th of August, 1997, Murdoc Niccals decided to crash his car into Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium, a keyboard store, so he could steal some keyboards. Previously, he had been in several bands, none of which were succesful because he was the frontman (who was a bad singer and not conventially attractive). Stuart Pot worked at the organ shop, and he was their best salesman. But Murdoc's car crashed straight into Stuart's face, which knocked one of his eyes out and put him into a coma. Murdoc was arrested, and sentenced to 30,000 hours of community service. As part of his service, Murdoc had to look after Stuart, so Murdoc took him to a carpark and did donuts in his car, which he crashed again. Stuart finally got out of his coma when he went flying through the windscreen of Murdoc's car, which took out his other eye. When Stuart stood up again, Murdoc thought that he looked like the perfect singer to be the frontman of his new band. Murdoc gave Stuart the nickname "2-D," standing for 2 dents, after the new holes in his face. Gorillaz and fans now call the date which Murdoc met 2-D "D-Day".
Murdoc decided that the music studio for his new band would be Khong Mansion (renamed Kong Studios): a building built on top of an old cemetery which housed bodies from the the Great Plague of London (1665-1666). Kong's previous owners, a group of Hells Angels (a motorcycle gang) who called themselves "The Nomads," hosted a party there in 1993 with thousands of other members. Someone mysteriously locked all of the doors, and a fire started when the party got chaotic. Every biker died in the fire, leaving Kong Studios to be haunted.
Murdoc almost had a full band. He was the bassist, 2D was the singer, and Paula Cracker (2D's girlfriend) was the guitarist. All he needed was a drummer. Murdoc was familiar with Russel Hobbs, having heard of the Hip Hop Machine that he made. So, Murdoc set out to Big Rick Black's Record Shack, Russel's workplace. Murdoc kidnapped Russ by putting a bag on his head and taking him to Kong Studios. After hearing some of the band's demos, Russel decided to stay.
Murdoc got in trouble when Russel caught him in the Kong Studio toilets with Paula. Russ broke his nose five times, and the band kicked Paula out. They needed a new guitarist, so Murdoc put an advertisement in NME magazine for one. Minutes later, a FedEx crate arrtived at the door. Out of it came a little Japanese girl, who said something in Japanese, and then played a sick guitar solo. She ended her playing with a karate kick and said the only English word she knew: Noodle. The band was immediately impressed, and their new guitarist's name became Noodle. Noodle could not remember any of her past because she had amnesia.
The band adopted the name "Gorillaz" (chosen by Noodle). Murdoc sent a copy of their first single, Ghost Train (recorded before Noodle joined the band), to EMI, and Gorillaz played their first live show in Camden Brownhouse. EMI agreed to sign Gorillaz, and at the record label signing party, the band met the musician Damon Albarn, who has since worked closely with Gorillaz. But, that party also devolved into a food fight, which resulted in 2D's front teeth getting knocked out. Afterward, Gorillaz purchased new music equipment and started work on their self titled album in Kong Studios.
Gorillaz' producer for phase 1 was Dan the Automator. For their song "Clint Eastwood," he suggested that Murdoc's vocals be replaced with a rap verse. His words caused Del, one of Russel's friends who posessed him, to emerge from Russel's head as a ghost. Del recorded the rap verses for the song, and Dan moved the band to Jamaica to finish recording the album.
For their music videos, Gorillaz originalky hired the director Paulo Skinbacio. However, his videography skills were rubbish. So, Damon Albarn reccomended that his flatmate, Jamie Hewlett, direct Gorillaz' music videos. He helped make the music video for Tomorrow Comes Today, and has been Gorillaz' video director ever since. On the 27th of November, 2000, Gorillaz released their debut EP Tomorrow Comes Today.
Gorillaz released the single Clint Eastwood on the 5th of March, 2001. This single was an immediate hit. It was the song that brought Gorillaz into the mainstream, and today it is their second most known song.
On the 26th of March, 2001, Gorillaz released their debut self-titled album, Gorillaz. Their music, which they referred to as "zombie hip hop," was a huge success, but Murdoc wasn't happy. On the same day, Dr. Wurzel from EMI stole his Winnebago. Dr. Wurzel had a GeoCities website on which he leaked Ghost Train and an early picture of Gorillaz. Gorillaz started an online campaign to find Murdoc's Winnebago, which he got back by the end of the year.
Gorillaz released the single 19-2000 on the 25th of June, 2001. They played a show in Japan as part of their tour, but while they were there, Noodle began to have nightmares about her past, which she still knew nothing about. To make her happier, Russel bought Noodle a jetpack.
Gorillaz released the single Rock the House on the 22nd of October, 2001.
Gorillaz released the single 911 on the 7th of December, 2001, as a response to the terrorist attakcs of September 11th. The song features the band D12, who Gorillaz let stay with them because they were stuck in a London airport after the attacks.
Gorillaz released a B-Sides album, G Sides, to Japan on the 12th of December, 2001. Gorillaz made G Sides specifically to get more Japanese followers, because they realized that they did not have many Japanese fans while they toured in Japan.
In 2002, Gorillaz played at the BRIT awards. They received six nominations. On the 26th of February, 2002, Gorillaz released G Sides to the United States. Gorillaz began a North American tour.
When the band was on tour, 2D forgot to lock up Kong Studios. A band of chimps called Spacemonkeyz, with the members D-Zire, Dubversive and Gavva, got into Kong. They took the recordings of Gorillaz: self titled album, and created a remix album. On the 1st of July, 2002, Gorillaz feat. Spacemonkeyz released the album Laika Come Home. They released the single Lil' Dub Chefin on the 22nd of July.
During Gorillaz' tour, Murdoc got arrested, but he paid bail. Unfortunately, a show they played in Mexico went horribly and ended in kids getting trapped under a huge inflatable gorilla. The band ceased their touring there, and started to work on a Gorillaz movie instead, which they would call "Celebrity Harvest". They befriended many big names in Hollywood and decided on a director, but he kept changing the script that Gorillaz originally wanted, so they fired him and decided to start again. The band got into a huge fight after they all failed to come up with any good movie ideas. In the end, Murdoc got up and left, quitting Gorillaz and ending the band.
The real co-creators of Gorillaz are Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Before Gorillaz, Albarn was a musician known for being the fring of the band Blur, and Hewlett was a cartoonist known for his work on the comic series Tank Girl. The two shared an flat, and once while they were watching MTV, they complained about how fake and manufactured the pop bands they saw were. So, they decided to create a cartoon band, one that was 100% manufactured.
The Gorillaz website is a core part of the band, due to its virtual nature. Beginning in phase 1, the Gorillaz website let fans explore Kong Studios, play games, and interact with Gorillaz members and their music. When Dr. Wurzel stole Murdoc's Winnebago, the Gorillaz website hosted the competition for fans to find it. Kong Studios appearance also changed when the band got into a fight, and when the DVD released.
On the 25th of December, 2001, Gorillaz started releasing animated shorts called G Bitez, or Gorillaz Bitez. These animations show snippets of the band members' lives (you can watch them below, the last 2 are from phase 2 not phase 1).
The Gorillaz DVD, Phase One: Celebrity Take Down, released on the 18th of November, 2002. It includes various Gorillaz phase 1 media. The DVD's story takes place when Gorillaz were writing scripts for their movie. The viewer/player acts as an investigator in Kong Studios, looking into its haunted behaviour.
