The masterplan was to follow The Best Of with a new album before the end of 1998. Whilst touring with The Best Of, James already had the seeds of twenty songs started by Saul at his house in Scotland, taken to Mark’s in Leeds for further work and then presented to the rest of the band.

The first public airing of this new material was at Oxford Brookes University, host to James Glastonbury warm-up show in June where Surprise and I Know What I’m Here For were unveiled. By this time, the album was already behind schedule and the projected release had been put back until early 1999.

The arena tour in December 1998 saw seven tracks from the Millionaires sessions unveiled – Surprise, I Know What I’m Here For, Fred Astaire, Confusion, I Defeat, We’re Going To Miss You, Vervaceous and Shooting My Mouth Off. Indications were now that the album was almost finished with a final studio session pencilled in before Christmas with Steve Osborne to rerecord Fred Astaire and finish off a couple of other tracks. The bands were still hoping to release the album in April 1999 at this stage.

Unhappy with the mixes, Millionaires was not finally completed until May 1999, the band surviving a scare when some of the digital master tapes appeared to have been wiped but were fortunately recovered. Saul explained the delay as “there’s a let’s be the best band in the world feeling about it now.”

With the album complete, James then had to contend with the record company’s wish for the release not to coincide with the label’s other major artist Texas whose album was due in June. The annual lull in sales in the summer and the high expectations for the album saw October pencilled in finally as the release date, a whole year behind the original schedule.

I Know What I’m Here For was released as the first single in July in between triumphant performances at T In The Park and Guildford Festival, both of which were to provide live tracks for the bonus CD given away with initial copies of the album.  Despite the Radio 1 A-listing for the single and the band’s most frequent rotation on MTV to date, the single peaked at a rather disappointing number 22.

The second single Just Like Fred Astaire followed on October 4, a week before the album.  Hopes of a major hit single were dashed when the single entered the charts at a rather disappointing 14.

Millionaires followed the week after with the aforementioned bonus live CD of tracks from T In The Park, Guildford Festival and an industry-only acoustic show at the Glasgow Lighthouse club plus the CD-ROM videos of the two singles.  The band played two low-key gigs at Norwich UEA and London Embassy Rooms and headlined BBC2’s Later With Jools show.  Mercury arranged special playback nights at record shops and nightclubs with giveaways and competitions to promote the album.

Disappointingly, the album only sold 34,000 copies in the first week, well short of displacing Shania Twain from the top of the charts.

Press reaction to the album was again mixed, it was either loved or loathed. Q described the album as one of the best of the 90s and Melody Maker bemoaned the fact that the success of the Best Of meant that James would be around forever. The main criticism appeared to be that the album was overproduced in the quest for perfection, losing some of the band’s intimacy in the process.

The arena tour in December 1999 failed to revive the album’s fortunes, the third single, a rerecorded We’re Going To Miss You was released at the end of the tour and stumbled to number 48, James worst chart placing for a single since 1989.  By the time the band played Shepherds Bush in May 2000, only four Millionaires tracks remained in the setlist and only one was played at the Chelmsford V2000 show.

The album was released for the first time on vinyl in 2017. Read about the 2017 reissue on EvenTheStars.

• Afro Lover :1999
• Crash :1999
• Destiny Calling :1998
• Dumb Jam :1999
• Hello :1999
• I Know What I’m Here For :1999
• Just Like Fred Astaire :1999
• Shooting My Mouth Off :1999
• Someone’s Got It In For Me :1999
• Strangers :1999
• Surprise :1999
• Vervaceous :1999
• We’re Going To Miss You :1999

Open in Spotify

• I Know What I’m Here For
• Just Like Fred Astaire
• We’re Going To Miss You

• Programme: UK Arena Tour (2001)
• Gott To Succeed – Manchester Evening News
• One Of The Three Interview With Andy Diagram
• Chris Martin (Coldplay) on Gold Mother – NME
• James Prepares To Get Its Money Back – Yahoo
• James And Placebo Can’t Stop The Rain – Yahoo
• James New Sound – NME.com
• James Bond With Fans – NME
• James Hit The Road – Music 365
• Come Home – Ananova News
• James To Play For British Fans in October – Live Daily News
• Radio 1 Music News – B Sides Album
• V2000 Acoustic Tent – dotmusic
• “We Take More Risks Than Anybody At This Festival” – Melody Maker
• Big In China – Radio 1 News
• Beijing Evening News Article On Heineken Beat Festival
• MTV Five Night Stand Interview
• James To Play China – Music 365
• 1999: The Millionaires Era
• 11 O’Clock Show – 21st December 1999
• James Go Under For New Vid – Radio 1
• Stereophonics, Catatonia and James drummers dance with the devil – Radio 1
• TFI Friday (We’re Going To Miss You) – November 1999
• We’re Going To Miss You – Video Article
• We’re Going To Miss You – Press Release
• Interview With Tim – FHM
• Tim Interview at Q Awards – Q
• Millionaires Chart Analysis – Q
• We’re Going To Miss You Lyrics Analysis – Melody Maker
• Later With Jools – 23rd October 1999
• Top Of The Pops (Just Like Fred Astaire) – October 1999
• T4 (Just Like Fred Astaire) – October 1999
• TFI Friday (Just Like Fred Astaire) – October 1999
• CD UK (Just Like Fred Astaire) – October 1999
• MTV Live Aus Berlin Interview
• Later With Jools Interview
• Later With Jools Biography
• James Launch Millionaires – Radio 1
• Sense And Sensuality : Tim Booth – Daily Telegraph Magazine
• And The Band Goes Marching On – Daily Telegraph
• It’s So Tough At The Top – Daily Mirror A-List
• Galerias Mexico – James Por Ultimo (in Spanish)
• Galerias Mexico – James Habla Sobre Las Canciones (in Spanish)
• Galerias Mexico – Millionaires Biography (in Spanish)
• How Was It For You? – Gratis Online
• Millionaires Car Competition – The Sun
• A Song N Dance – The Sun
• Record Mart and Buyer Style Merchants
• Musik fuer Millionare – Gaesteliste – in German
• TFI Friday Biography
• Millionaires Press Biography
• Radio 1 Interview from Heaton Park
• Recording I Know What I’m Here For – SOS Publications
• Heisser Herbst – Intro.de – in German
• James Fred Astaire Single – NME News
• Fred Astaire News – Melody Maker
• In It For The Money? – Melody Maker
• Yee Hoo – Q Magazine
• Reasons To Be Cheerful – Glasgow Evening Times
• James And Their Influences – Record Mart
• Out Of The Darkness – The Sun Source Magazine
• James Just Like Fred Astaire – Radio 1
• James At The Lizard Festival – Radio 1
• James New Single And Tour – Melody Maker News
• BBC Top Of The Pops chat with Dave and Mike
• BBC Radio 1 interview with Jo Whiley
• Interview With Boyz Magazine
• Rock Gods Who Refuse To Make The Sacrifice – Sunday Express
• Guildford Festival Programme Biography
• James Want To Honour Hollywood Hero – Radio 1
• James On Britain’s Politest Rock Festival – Q
• James Lose A Dimension – Creative Review
• TFI Friday (I Know What I’m Here For) – June 1999
• Tim Booth – Faith And Music, ITV transcript
• James Reunited With Eno – Music 365
• Boyztown Millionaires Giveaway
• Programme: Millionaires Tour (1999)
• James Play Tower Of Song – NME
• James Millions Like Us – NME
• Home James – Front Magazine
• Programme: Arena Tour (1998)
• In The Shops Soon – Q Magazine
• Chelmsford V Festival – 23rd August 1998

• London Wembley Arena – 12th December 1999
• Manchester MEN Arena – 11th December 1999
• Glasgow SECC – 9th December 1999
• Newcastle Telewest Arena – 8th December 1999
• Cardiff International Centre – 6th December 1999
• Birmingham NEC – 5th December 1999
• Brighton Centre – 4th December 1999
• Dublin Olympia – 30th November 1999
• Dublin Olympia – 29th November 1999
• London Embassy Rooms – 11th October 1999
• Norwich UEA – 10th October 1999
• Glasgow Lighthouse – 14th September 1999
• Manchester Heaton Park – 12th September 1999
• Lizard Festival, Cornwall – 11th August 1999
• Sudoeste Festival, Zambujeira – 8th August 1999
• Haldern Festival – 6th August 1999
• Guildford Festival – 24th July 1999
• Blackpool Tower Ballroom – 23rd July 1999
• T In The Park – 11th July 1999
• Liverpool L2 – 9th July 1999
• Bolton Octagon Theatre – 16th May 1999