Chumbawamba is a British musical group who have, over a career spanning nearly three decades, played
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
,
popPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-influenced music,
world musicWorld music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, and
folk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
. Their vocal anarchist politics exhibit an irreverent attitude toward authority, and the band have been forthright in their anti-racist, socialist,
anti-warAn anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
, and feminist social stances.
The band are best known for their song "
Tubthumping"Tubthumping", informally known by its prominent lyric "I Get Knocked Down", is the title of a song released by the Anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba on 11 August 1997 through Universal Records and EMI Electrola. It was their most successful single, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart...
." Other singles have included "
Amnesia"Amnesia" is the second single from Chumbawamba's album Tubthumper. It was released through EMI Electrola and Universal Records in January 28, 1998. The song's lyrical content addressess the sense of betrayal that English leftists felt during the rise of New Labour...
", "
Enough Is EnoughEnough Is Enough is an anti-fascism single from Chumbawamba & Credit to the Nation, on Chumbawamba's album Anarchy. It reached #56 on UK charts in 1993 and was supported by a music video, which can be seen ....
" (with
MC FusionCredit to the Nation are an English hip hop outfit, who had chart success in the 1990s.-Career:Formed by Matthew David Hanson aka MC Fusion , with his dancers, Tyrone and Kelvin , Credit to the Nation released their first single through Chumbawamba's label Agit Pop in September 1991 entitled "Pay...
), "
Timebomb"Timebomb" is a single from Chumbawamba's album Anarchy. It reached #59 on UK Charts in 1993. It was supported by a music video which can be seen...
", "
Top of the World (Ole, Ole, Ole)"Top of the World " is a stand alone single from Chumbawamba. It was released in June 1998, and the single reached the number 21 in the UK Singles Chart...
", and most recently, "Add Me".
Early years
Chumbawamba formed in
BurnleyBurnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
in 1982 with an initial line-up of Allan "Boff" Whalley, Danbert Nobacon (born Nigel Hunter), Midge and Tomi, all four previously of the band Chimp Eats Banana, shortly afterwards joined by Lou Watts. The band made their live debut in January 1982. Their first vinyl release was a track ("Three Years Later") on the
Crass RecordsCrass Records is an independent record label which was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass.-Overview and history:Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial House based Exitstencil Press...
compilation album
Bullshit DetectorBullshit Detector was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their Crass Records label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band...
2. They were initially inspired musically by bands as diverse as The Fall,
PiLPIL may refer to:* Private International Law* Carlos Miguel Jiménez Airport , in Pilar, Paraguay* Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport , in Port Isabel, Texas...
,
WireWire are an English rock band, formed in London in October 1976 by Colin Newman , Graham Lewis , Bruce Gilbert , and Robert Gotobed...
, and
Adam and the AntsAdam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
and politically by the anarchist stance of
CrassCrass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
. One of the band's earliest releases was under the name "Skin Disease", parodying the
Oi!Oi! is a working class subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads and other working-class youths ....
bands of the time so successfully that they were included on 'Back On The Streets', an Oi! compilation EP put together by Sounds magazine journalist
Garry BushellGarry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Oi! band The Gonads and manages the New York City Oi! band Maninblack. Bushell's recurring themes are comedy, country and class...
. By the end of 1982, the band had expanded to include
Alice Nutter-Early life:She was born Anne Nutter in Burnley, Lancashire and attended Towneley High School.-Writing:Nutter is currently a scriptwriter for theatre, radio and TV. Her theatre work includes Foxes at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Where's Vietnam? for Red Ladder theatre company at West...
(of Ouch, My Hair's on Fire but no-one's bothered) and Dunstan Bruce (of Men in a Suitcase) and were living in a
squatSquatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....
in
ArmleyArmley is a district in the west of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It starts less than a mile from Leeds city centre. Like much of Leeds, Armley grew in the industrial revolution and had several mills, one of which is now the Armley Mills museum...
,
LeedsLeeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, with Harry "Daz" Hamer and Dave "Mavis" Dillon joining soon after. Stalwarts of the
cassette cultureCassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...
scene, the band were featured on many compilations. Chumbawamba were at the forefront of the 1980s
anarcho-punkAnarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
movement, frequently playing benefit gigs in squats and small halls for causes such as
animal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, the
anti-warAn anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
movement, and community groups. The band's collective political views are often described as
anarchistAnarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. They made several songs about the UK miners' strike, including the Common Ground cassette and a song dedicated to the
pit villageA pit village is a term used in the UK for the village serving a deep coal mine.Many of the workers lived in houses that were provided by the colliery. Many villages have experienced depopulation after colliery closures forced people to move to other towns and cities where there are jobs for them...
of
FitzwilliamFitzwilliam is a small village on the edge of West Yorkshire, England. It is located in the City of Wakefield district. Technically, it is part of the town of Hemsworth and governed by Hemsworth Town Council as well as Wakefield M.D.C., but the Land Registry and Post Office recognise Fitzwilliam...
, which was one of the worst cases of economic decline following the strike.
Sky and Trees and Agit-Prop Records
By the mid-1980s Chumbawamba had begun to release material using the vinyl format on their own
Agit-PropAgit-Prop Records was an independent record label founded in 1985 by the members of the then-peace punk band Chumbawamba.-History:Before starting the label in '85, Chumbawamba had distributed their records and tapes using the Sky and Trees label...
record label, which had evolved from an earlier project,
Sky and Trees RecordsSky and Trees Records is a record label set up by United Kingdom band Chumbawamba in 1983. The band used the label to release and distribute a number of cassettes and booklets by themselves , including their early demo recordings Be Happy Despite It All , Another Year Of The same Old Shit and the...
. The first release was the Revolution
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in 1985, which quickly sold out of its initial run, and was repressed, reaching #4 in the
UK Indie ChartThe UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered...
, and staying in the chart for 34 weeks. The first LP,
Pictures of Starving Children Sell RecordsPictures of Starving Children Sell Records was the first full-length album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba, released in 1986 on Agit-Prop Records...
(1986) was a critique of the
Live AidLive Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
concert organised by
Bob GeldofRobert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
, which the band argued was primarily a cosmetic spectacle designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger.
The band toured Europe with The Ex, and a collaboration between members of the two bands, under the name Antidote, led to the release of an EP, Destroy Fascism!, inspired by hardcore punk band
HeresyHeresy were a hardcore punk band from Nottingham, England, formed in 1985 and active until late 1988. They released three albums and recorded three sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show...
, with whom they had also toured.
Chumbawamba's second album,
Never Mind the Ballots...Here's the Rest of Your LivesNever Mind the Ballots is an album by Anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. Most of the songs centre around lying politicians and their search for more voter control...
, was released in 1987, coinciding with the general election, and questioning the validity of the British democratic system. The band adopted another disguise with the "Let It Be" release under the name Scab Aid, a song mocking the charity version of the Beatles song by the popstar supergroup Ferry Aid, which aimed to raise money for victims of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.
Their 1988 album
English Rebel Songs 1381–1914English Rebel Songs 1381–1984 is a 2003 studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was originally released in 1988 with a slightly different tracklist as English Rebel Songs 1381–1914...
was a recording of traditional songs from that period, and was very different from their preceding work. It became their biggest selling record in Germany.
One Little Indian Records
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chumbawamba had begun to absorb influences from techno music and rave culture. The band members quit their day jobs to begin concentrating on music full-time as they could now guarantee sales of 10,000 and they moved away from their original anarcho-punk roots, evolving a pop sensibility with releases such as
Slap!Slap! is a 1990 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was a radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude. The songs now inspired dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics were celebratory as opposed to victimist.-Track listing:...
(1990) and the
sampleIn music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
-heavy
ShhhShhh is a 1992 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was originally recorded and written as "Jesus H. Christ," an album that relied heavily on samples. A number of the musicians whose material had been sampled objected, and the album was largely re-worked to defend artistic intent and...
(1992) (originally intended to be released as Jesus H Christ!, this album had to be withdrawn and re-recorded because of
copyrightCopyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
problems). They also toured the United States for the first time in 1990.
When
Jason DonovanJason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
took
The FaceThe Face was a British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan.-1980s:Logan had previously created the teen pop magazine Smash Hits, and had been an editor at the New Musical Express in the 1970s before launching The Face in 1980.The magazine was influential in...
magazine to court that same year for claiming he was lying by denying he was
gayHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, Chumbawamba responded by printing up hundreds of 'Jason Donovan – Queer As Fuck' T-shirts and giving them away free with the single "
Behave" Behave" is a single from Chumbawamba, different version than the song "Behave" off of their album Shhh, with full lyrics, a faster tempo and no trumpet or samples....
".
On 18 May 1993 Chumbawamba played in
UngdomshusetUngdomshuset was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying autonomen and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007 when—after prolonged conflict—it...
in
NørrebroNørrebro is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is northwest of the city centre, beyond the location of the old Northern Gate , which, until dismantled in 1856, was near the current Nørreport station.-Geography:...
,
CopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
on the eve of the infamous night when Danish voters voted yes to the
Maastricht TreatyThe Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
referendum and violent riots lead to the Danish police firing at civilians for the first time since World War II, injuring 11 demonstrators and firing a total of 113 bullets.
After signing to the independent
One Little IndianOne Little Indian Records is a London-based independent record label that rose from the ashes of punk record company Spiderleg Records. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarchist punk bands, and managed by ex-Flux of Pink Indians Derek Birkett. The first success came with A.R. Kane and...
record label,
AnarchyAnarchy is a 1994 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Many of the tracks address specific social problems, such as homophobia, strikes or fascism....
(1994) lyrically remained as politically uncompromising as ever, continuing to address issues such as
homophobiaHomophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
(see song "
Homophobia"Homophobia" is a song from Chumbawamba's album Anarchy, concerning the topic of modern homophobia. It has remained a regular part of Chumbawamba's live set since it was first released, usually in an a cappella version, and is still performed by the current five-person acoustic version of the band...
", the
music videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of which features the
Sisters of Perpetual IndulgenceThe Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence , also called Order of Perpetual Indulgence in Australia and elsewhere, is a charity, protest, and street performance organization that uses drag and Catholic imagery to call attention to sexual intolerance and satirize issues of gender and morality...
), the
Criminal Justice ActThe Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the existing law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights and in greater penalties for certain "anti-social" behaviours...
and the rise of
fascismFascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
in the UK following the election of a
British National PartyThe British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
councillor in south-east London in 1993.
The album was the band's biggest success to date reaching the top 30 in the UK and the singles "Timebomb" and "Enough Is Enough" both entering the low end of the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The latter featured
Credit to the NationCredit to the Nation are an English hip hop outfit, who had chart success in the 1990s.-Career:Formed by Matthew David Hanson aka MC Fusion , with his dancers, Tyrone and Kelvin , Credit to the Nation released their first single through Chumbawamba's label Agit Pop in September 1991 entitled "Pay...
's rapper MC Fusion. The live shows to support the album were recorded and went to make up their first live album
Showbusiness!Showbusiness! is a 1994 live album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was recorded on the 18 and 19 August 1994 at the Duchess of York in Leeds....
, released in 1995.
One Little Indian also decided to re-release Chumbawamba's back catalogue, which meant that the first three albums were released on
CDThe Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
format for the first time. The first two, Pictures Of Starving Children Sell Records (1985) and Never Mind The Ballots (1987) were repackaged as one disc under the title First 2.
Chumbawamba parted with One Little Indian after he got the order wrong, whilst they were recording the 1996 album
Swingin' With RaymondSwingin' with Raymond is a 1995 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba.The first half , entitled "Love It", features soft, sweet folk-styled songs in an optimistic, romantic vein, sung by Lou Watts and featuring acoustic guitars and violin...
, although they did release one last CD entitled Portraits Of Anarchists which came with copies of Casey Orr's book of the same name. (Chumbawamba guitarist Boff had married Orr the previous year). According to the band, One Little Indian heard the advance tapes of what would become the
TubthumperTubthumper is an album by the band Chumbawamba, and is the album that catapulted them into the mainstream, released by EMI Electrola GmbH and in the US by Universal Records...
album and insisted on it being remixed by 'outside' producers. The band refused, and left the label. (Chumbawamba always produced their own records and designed their own sleeves).
The band members then took 9 to 5 day jobs again, but they also had a communal kitty out of which they paid themselves £60 a week for the next year as they finished recording what would become 'Tubthumper.
EMI Records
Chumbawamba signed to
EMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
in Europe in 1997. They had been involved with a compilation LP called Fuck EMI in 1989. The anarcho-punk band
Oi PolloiOi Polloi are an anarcho-punk band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are generally associated more with the anarcho-punk genre. More recently the band have become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre...
(with whom Chumbawamba had previously toured and worked with on the 'Punk Aid' Smash the
Poll TaxA poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
EPAn EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
) released an 'anti-Chumbawamba' EP, Bare Faced Hypocrisy Sells Records (Ruptured Ambitions 1998). The band argued that EMI had severed the link with weapons manufacturer
ThornThorn Electrical Industries, Limited was an electrical engineering business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange but it merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979...
a few years previously, and that experience had taught them that, in a capitalist environment, almost every record company operates on capitalist principles; "Our previous record label One Little Indian didn't have the evil symbolic significance of EMI but they were completely motivated by profit." They added that this move brought with it the opportunity to make the band financially viable as well as to communicate their message to a wider audience.
Band politics and mainstream success
In 1997, Chumbawamba's biggest chart hit, "
Tubthumping"Tubthumping", informally known by its prominent lyric "I Get Knocked Down", is the title of a song released by the Anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba on 11 August 1997 through Universal Records and EMI Electrola. It was their most successful single, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart...
" (UK #2, US #6), was followed up with "Amnesia", which reached #10 in the UK. During this period Chumbawamba gained some notoriety when, provoked by the
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
government's refusal to support the
Liverpool Dockworkers StrikeThe Liverpool Dockers' Strike lasted from 1995 to 1998.Although referred to as a strike it was strictly a dispute because the employers, the MDHC had actually used the opportunity to sack the dockers who were caught up in a separate dispute.The Liverpool dockers refused to cross a picket line set...
, they performed "Tubthumping" at the 1998
BRIT AwardsThe Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
with the lyric changed to include "New Labour sold out the dockers, just like they'll sell out the rest of us", and vocalist Danbert Nobacon later poured a jug of water over
UK Deputy Prime MinisterThe Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a senior member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices...
John PrescottJohn Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
, who was in the audience.
A few weeks later Nutter appeared on the American political talk show
Politically IncorrectPolitically Incorrect is a late-night, half-hour political talk show hosted by Bill Maher that ran from 1993 to 2002. It premiered on Comedy Central from 1993 to 1997, and later on ABC in 1997, which cancelled it in 2002....
and advised fans of their music who could not afford to buy their CDs to steal them from large chains such as
HMVHis Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
and Virgin, which prompted Virgin to remove the album from the shelves and start selling it from behind the counter.
EMI released the band's first collection album which featured a mix bag of songs from between 1985 and 1998 under the title Uneasy Listening.
Also in 1998 came a Japan-only mini album entitled Amnesia, consisting of country and western style versions of recent hits "Tubthumping" and "Amnesia" alongside old favourites like "Mouthful Of Shit".
As a millennium present, Chumbawamba sent out a limited edition single to everyone on their mailing list. The song was a shoop shoop style ballad entitled "
Tony Blair"Tony Blair" is a single by Chumbawamba which was made available exclusively to the UK mailing list as a Christmas present in 1999. The song is an attack on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, performed in a 1950's doo-wop style...
", which read like a heartbroken letter to an ex-lover who had broken all his promises. The band would send another free single out two years later, this time a re-worked version of
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' song "Her Majesty" to coincide with the Queen's Golden Jubilee, with lyrics denouncing royalty.
Chumbawamba released the album
WYSIWYGWYSIWYG is a 2000 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of...
in 2000 which included a cover of the early
Bee GeesThe Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
song "New York Mining Disaster". The single "
She's Got All The Friends That Money Can Buy"She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy" is the only single from Chumbawamba's album WYSIWYG.A version by former Eurovision Song Contest entrants, and fellow West Yorkshire band Black Lace was also recorded in response to UK's BBC Radio 1 declining to play the original "too pop" version...
", was backed by "Doomed Flight 1721", a song that listed all of the people that, at the time, Chumbawamba would like to see disappear. The list of unfortunates included Tony Blair,
Ally McBealAlly McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
and
BonoPaul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
. Chumbawamba parted from EMI in 2001. The band later said that they got what they wanted from the deal with EMI: "we released some great records, we travelled all over the world, appeared on all these TV programmes, and we made loads of money, a lot of which we gave away or ploughed into worthwhile causes".
To celebrate their 20 years together, the band made a documentary based on footage that they had recorded over the past two decades. Originally intended to be simply a compilation of their videos, the result was entitled Well Done, Now Sod off. The title was taken from an early review of a Chumbawamba record and the film included both lovers and haters of the band.
MUTT Records
In 2002, Chumbawamba formed their own record label, MUTT, for UK releases.
Under MUTT, Chumbawamba released their eleventh official album,
ReadymadesReadymades is Chumbawamba's first release on their own label MUTT. It continues the eclectic mix of techno, rock and folk of their former albums, albeit to a less ambitious scale than WYSIWYG...
, which mixed samples of
folk musicFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
with dance beats. For the U.S Readymades was repackaged under the title Readymades And Then Some, the extended title referring to a second disc – a DVD which featured clips from Well Done Now Sod Off and remixes of "Tubthumping", one being a remix by the band Flaming Lips. Under the MUTT label the band also produced Sic – Adventures in Anti-Capitalism, a
paperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
book of political and musical writings by friends and acquaintances of the band.
General Motors paid Chumbawamba $100,000 to use the song "Pass It Along" from the WYSIWYG album, for a
PontiacPontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
VibeThe Pontiac Vibe is a compact hatchback car that was produced in Fremont, California, in the United States by NUMMI , a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, and marketed under General Motors' Pontiac brand...
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
advertisement in 2002. Chumbawamba gave the money to the anti-
corporateA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
activist groups
IndymediaThe Independent Media Center is a global participatory network of journalists that report on political and social issues. It originated during the Seattle anti-WTO protests worldwide in 1999 and remains closely associated with the global justice movement, which criticizes neo-liberalism and its...
and
CorpWatchCorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...
who used the money to launch an information and environmental campaign against GM.
The same year Chumbawamba provided an original soundtrack to
Alex CoxAlexander Cox is a British film director, screenwriter, nonfiction author and sometime actor, notable for his idiosyncratic style and approach to scripts...
's film adaptation of
Revengers TragedyRevengers Tragedy is a film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy . It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fellow Liverpudlian, Frank Cottrell Boyce...
. Chumbawamba released the
full soundtrackRevengers Tragedy is a 2003 album by Chumbawamba which served as the soundtrack to the 2003 film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy.-Track listing:All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba# Liverpool: Drive with Care - 5:13...
in 2003.
The band also revisited their a capella 1988 album English Rebel Songs 1381–1914 and felt that as they were now more confident singers, they should re-record it and bring it up to date. And so English Rebel Songs was re-released in 2003 with the added track "Coal Not Dole" bringing the record up to 1984.
In 2004, the band released an album called
UnUn is a Chumbawamba album released in mid 2004, and features major influences from both electronic and folk music, containing many samples from world music. It serves as a bridge between the band's earlier electric sound and the current acoustic sound...
. While less synth driven than Readymades or the Revengers Tragedy soundtrack, the album relied heavily on samples, from tribal chants to
Frank ZappaFrank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
interview quotes. The album opens with one of the earliest recordings of a human voice, that of
Thomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
reciting
Mary Had A Little Lamb. The album gave an inkling of the
folkFolk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
sound that Chumbawamba would move towards on their next releases.
No Masters Records
In 2005 Chumbawamba took a hiatus from full-scale touring and recording projects, but a trimmed-down acoustic line-up of Boff Whalley, Lou Watts, Jude Abbot and Neil Ferguson continued to tour the UK and Europe throughout 2005 and 2006. It was this line-up that recorded the album
A Singsong and a ScrapA Singsong and a Scrap is a Chumbawamba album released in 2005. It shows more folk influence than their previous album Un and features guest appearances from folk musicians such as Coope Boyes and Simpson, Andy Cutting and John Jones and Ian Telfer of Oysterband...
, released late in 2005 on
No MastersNo Masters is a British record label, based in the north of England, specialising in folk with a political edge.The label was founded in 1990 by John Tams and Jim Boyes. Originally working as singer, John Tams is now famous as an actor in the TV series "Sharpe". He does much of the production work...
records. They followed this up with a second live album, entitled
Get On With ItGet on with It is a live Chumbawamba album released in 2006. It features recordings made at Chumbawamba shows throughout England in 2006, covering songs from all throughout their musical career....
, recorded during 2006 at various venues throughout Britain.
In 2006 Nutter wrote the musical drama Love and Petrol which played for a week in
BradfordBradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
during June. Hamer wrote the music. Both continue to work in theatre, with Nutter writing Foxes for West Yorkshire Playhouse 2006 and Where's Vietnam? for Red Ladder theatre company in 2008 – again Hamer wrote the music. Nutter has since moved into radio and TV, writing for
Jimmy McGovernJimmy McGovern is a BAFTA award-winning English television scriptwriter from Liverpool.-Early career:McGovern started his career working on Channel 4's soap opera Brookside in 1982, tackling many social issues such as unemployment.-Successes:...
's BAFTA-winning drama,
The StreetThe Street is a British television drama series created by Jimmy McGovern and produced by Granada Television for the BBC. The series follows the lives of various residents of an unnamed street in Manchester and features an all-star cast including Timothy Spall, Jim Broadbent, Jane Horrocks, Bob...
and for
CasualtyCasualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
. In 2007 Danbert released his second solo album Library Book Of The World, his first being The Un-fairy Tale in 1985. The Un fairy-tale was re-released in 1997.
In 2007, Chumbawamba played at the
Glastonbury FestivalThe Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
. In early 2007, the band announced via their website that a new album was in the works, stating that "the new album will be acoustic and probably won't sound like A Singsong and a Scrap".
The result was
The Boy Bands Have WonThe Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
, released on 3 March 2008 in the UK and 14 March in mainland Europe. The record contained 25 tracks, some of them full length songs, some of them no more than a minute long and was again acoustic folk in style. The album features the
OysterbandOysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
,
Roy BaileyRoy Bailey may refer to:*Roy Bailey , Canadian Progressive Conservative politician from Saskatchewan*Roy Bailey , British socialist folk singer...
and Barry Coope amongst others.
In late 2009 Chumbawamba toured northern England in their self-penned pantomime, a comedy musical entitled Riot, Rebellion & Bloody Insurrection with the Red Ladder Theater Company. In late February 2010 they released their 15th album, titled
ABCDEFGABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
.
After leaving Chumbawamba vocalist Dunstan Bruce founded 'Dandy films', an independent film and video company whose projects have included a 'video blog' of The Levellers UK tour during 2010 and
Sham 69Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
's tour of China.
In September 2011, past and present band members protested when the UK Independence Party used "Tubthumping" at their annual conference.
Origin of name
Over the years, the band have been asked many times what "Chumbawamba" really means. While there are many speculations, the band generally answer that it's a gibberish word, meaning nothing. According to Chumbawamba's official FAQ :
- Chumbawamba doesn't mean anything. At the time we formed (early '80s) there was a rush of bands with obvious names. It was the time of ‘peace punk' and you couldn't get across a youth club dance floor without bumping into a Disorder, a Subhumans, a Decadent Youth or an Anthrax t-shirt. We liked the sound of Chumbawamba because it wasn't nailing ourselves down. Thatcher On Acid
Thatcher On Acid are an anarcho-punk band from the United Kingdom. They formed in Somerset during 1983. Their name is a satirical reference to former U.K. prime minister, Margaret Thatcher...
were a good band but it's lucky for them that ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
stayed in power for 11 years. If her influence had only lasted 18 months Thatcher On Acid's sell-by date would have come and gone a lot sooner. We wanted a name which wouldn't date.
Other explanations which have been given include the following:
On an episode of BBC Two's pop music quiz
Never Mind the BuzzcocksNever Mind the Buzzcocks is a comedy panel game television show with a pop music theme, currently without a permanent presenter. It stars Phill Jupitus and Noel Fielding as team captains. The show is produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC, and is usually aired on BBC Two...
the answer to the question was that they got it from what a monkey wrote on a typewriter when an experiment took place involving monkeys and typewriters (as in
the infinite monkey theoremThe infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare....
).
In an interview on a German website with Alice and Boff, the members claimed that the "Chumbawamba" was the mascot of a football team, Walford Town, which they found in the Rothman's Yearbook, a collection of old facts and figures about British football. Boff said:
"...And we just thought it was funny, so we used the name". There has never been a team in English football called Walford Town, although the name has occasionally been used to represent the local team in the BBC soap opera EastEnders."
In Boff's autobiography he claims that the name was derived from the chanting of African street musicians which he and Danbert heard while busking in Paris. However, in a footnote he goes on to state that this is a lie, as is every other explanation that the band have given over the years.
According to a Pop-Up Video on VH1, the name "Chumbawamba" is derived from a dream that one of the members had, wherein men were called "chumbas" and women "wambas".
Line-up
The band's membership has varied over the years, with the line-up and musical assignments in the early years being especially fluid (members were known to switch instrument between, or even during, gigs). This list is drawn mainly from the credits of their releases since 1985. Major long-term contributors are in
bold.
For current tours and the newest album the band has solidified around a 5-person base:
- Lou Watts (1982– ) – vocals, guitar, percussion and keyboards
- Boff Whalley
Allan Mark "Boff" Whalley is the lead guitarist for the band Chumbawamba.-Early life and education:Whalley was born Allan Mark Whalley in 1961 in Burnley, Lancashire...
(1982– ) – vocals, guitar, ukelele and clarinet
- Jude Abbott (1996– ) – vocals, recorder and trumpet
- Neil Ferguson (1999– ) – vocals, guitar and bass
- Phil Moody
Phil 'Ron' Moody is a member of British anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. He joined the group in 2007 as the accordionist. He has, since, however, played a number of instruments. Jude Abbott has described Moody as "Doing all the little funny bits", such as comedy one-liners and re-enacting certain...
(2007– ) – accordion and vocals
Other longtime members have been:
- Dunstan Bruce (1982–2004) – vocals, bass, sax, turntables and percussion
- Danbert Nobacon
Danbert Nobacon was a vocalist and occasional keyboard player in the Leeds based anarchist band Chumbawamba...
(1982–2004) – vocals and keyboards
- Alice Nutter
-Early life:She was born Anne Nutter in Burnley, Lancashire and attended Towneley High School.-Writing:Nutter is currently a scriptwriter for theatre, radio and TV. Her theatre work includes Foxes at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Where's Vietnam? for Red Ladder theatre company at West...
(1983–2004) – vocals and percussion
- Harry Hamer (1984–2004) – vocals, drums, programming and percussion
- Paul Greco
Paul Greco was an American actor and musician, best known for his role as Sully, the leader of the Orphans, in the 1979 film The Warriors...
(1992–1999) – bass (replaced by Neil Ferguson)
- Mavis Dillon (1984–1995) – vocals, trumpet, french horn and bass (replaced by Jude Abbott)
Frequent contributors and special guest artists have included:
- Neil Ferguson – producer, engineer, guitar & keyboards (promoted to full band member in 1999)
- Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon – vocals, keyboards, piano and accordion
- MC Fusion
Credit to the Nation are an English hip hop outfit, who had chart success in the 1990s.-Career:Formed by Matthew David Hanson aka MC Fusion , with his dancers, Tyrone and Kelvin , Credit to the Nation released their first single through Chumbawamba's label Agit Pop in September 1991 entitled "Pay...
– vocals on ShhhShhh is a 1992 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was originally recorded and written as "Jesus H. Christ," an album that relied heavily on samples. A number of the musicians whose material had been sampled objected, and the album was largely re-worked to defend artistic intent and...
and AnarchyAnarchy is a 1994 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Many of the tracks address specific social problems, such as homophobia, strikes or fascism....
- Cobie Laan – vocals, live recording
- Jimmy Echo – vocals on some versions of "Timebomb" and "Amnesia"
- B.J. Cole – slide guitar on WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is a 2000 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of...
- Folk vocal trio Coope, Boyes & Simpson
Coope, Boyes and Simpson are an English vocal folk trio, formed around 1990. Their sound is rich and often has unusual vocal harmonies.The group comprises singers Barry Coope, Jim Boyes and Lester Simpson, and almost all of their music is sung entirely a capella, although they have occasionally...
on A Singsong and a ScrapA Singsong and a Scrap is a Chumbawamba album released in 2005. It shows more folk influence than their previous album Un and features guest appearances from folk musicians such as Coope Boyes and Simpson, Andy Cutting and John Jones and Ian Telfer of Oysterband...
, Get On With ItGet on with It is a live Chumbawamba album released in 2006. It features recordings made at Chumbawamba shows throughout England in 2006, covering songs from all throughout their musical career....
! and The Boy Bands Have WonThe Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
- The Charlie Cake Marching Band on The Boy Bands Have Won
The Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
and ABCDEFGABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
- Members of Oysterband
Oysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band formed in Canterbury in or around 1976.-Early history:...
on "Goodbye to the Crown", A Singsong and a ScrapA Singsong and a Scrap is a Chumbawamba album released in 2005. It shows more folk influence than their previous album Un and features guest appearances from folk musicians such as Coope Boyes and Simpson, Andy Cutting and John Jones and Ian Telfer of Oysterband...
, The Boy Bands Have WonThe Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
and ABCDEFGABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
- Roy Bailey
Roy Bailey MBE , is a British socialist folk singer. Roy began his singing career in a skiffle group in 1958.Colin Irwin from the music magazine Mojo said Bailey represents "the very soul of folk's working class ideals.....
and Robb JohnsonRobb Jenner Johnson is a British musician and songwriter, who has been called "one of the last genuinely political songwriters", and is known for his mix of political satire and wit...
– guest lead vocals on The Boy Bands Have WonThe Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
- Jo Freya – saxes on The Boy Bands Have Won
The Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
and ABCDEFGABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
- Belinda O'Hooley
Belinda O'Hooley is a British singer-songwriter and pianist with Irish roots, who was born in Leeds and went to university in Huddersfield,where she is now based...
- piano on ABCDEFGABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
- Michelle Plum - vocals on "Sewing Up Crap" on Readymades
Readymades is Chumbawamba's first release on their own label MUTT. It continues the eclectic mix of techno, rock and folk of their former albums, albeit to a less ambitious scale than WYSIWYG...
and live vocals/keyboards from 2001 - 2004
Discography
- Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records
Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records was the first full-length album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba, released in 1986 on Agit-Prop Records...
(1986)
- Never Mind the Ballots
Never Mind the Ballots is an album by Anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. Most of the songs centre around lying politicians and their search for more voter control...
(1987)
- English Rebel Songs 1381-1914 (1988)
- Slap!
Slap! is a 1990 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was a radical redefinition of the band's sound and attitude. The songs now inspired dancing more than moshing, and the lyrics were celebratory as opposed to victimist.-Track listing:...
(1990)
- Shhh
Shhh is a 1992 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was originally recorded and written as "Jesus H. Christ," an album that relied heavily on samples. A number of the musicians whose material had been sampled objected, and the album was largely re-worked to defend artistic intent and...
(1992)
- Anarchy
Anarchy is a 1994 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Many of the tracks address specific social problems, such as homophobia, strikes or fascism....
(1994)
- Swingin' with Raymond
Swingin' with Raymond is a 1995 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba.The first half , entitled "Love It", features soft, sweet folk-styled songs in an optimistic, romantic vein, sung by Lou Watts and featuring acoustic guitars and violin...
(1995)
- Tubthumper
Tubthumper is an album by the band Chumbawamba, and is the album that catapulted them into the mainstream, released by EMI Electrola GmbH and in the US by Universal Records...
(1997)
- WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG is a 2000 album by anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of...
(2000)
- Readymades
Readymades is Chumbawamba's first release on their own label MUTT. It continues the eclectic mix of techno, rock and folk of their former albums, albeit to a less ambitious scale than WYSIWYG...
(2002)
- Revengers Tragedy Soundtrack
Revengers Tragedy is a 2003 album by Chumbawamba which served as the soundtrack to the 2003 film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy.-Track listing:All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba# Liverpool: Drive with Care - 5:13...
(2003)
- English Rebel Songs 1381-1984
English Rebel Songs 1381–1984 is a 2003 studio album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was originally released in 1988 with a slightly different tracklist as English Rebel Songs 1381–1914...
(2003)
- Un
Un is a Chumbawamba album released in mid 2004, and features major influences from both electronic and folk music, containing many samples from world music. It serves as a bridge between the band's earlier electric sound and the current acoustic sound...
(2004)
- A Singsong and a Scrap
A Singsong and a Scrap is a Chumbawamba album released in 2005. It shows more folk influence than their previous album Un and features guest appearances from folk musicians such as Coope Boyes and Simpson, Andy Cutting and John Jones and Ian Telfer of Oysterband...
(2005)
- The Boy Bands Have Won
The Boy Bands Have Won is the common title of a Chumbawamba album released in 2008. Its full title contains 865 characters, and holds the record for the longest album title, as of August 2009. The band normally uses the shorter version when referring to the album on their website.- Background :The...
(2008)
- ABCDEFG
ABCDEFG is the 17th full-length studio LP by Chumbawamba. It was officially released on March 1, 2010, but copies ordered from the band's website arrived the week before.-Album information:...
(2010)
Televised performances
- Chumbawamba has an ethical policy that determines their involvement in multimedia products. In the late 1990s, the band turned down $1.5 million dollars from Nike
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
to use the song Tubthumping in a World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
advertisement. According to the band, the decision took approximately "30 seconds" to make. In 2002, the band donated a payment of $70,000 received from General MotorsGeneral Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
for the use of the song Pass It Along in an advertisement to activist groups CorpWatchCorpWatch is a research group based in San Francisco, California, USA. The group's mission is non-profit investigative research and journalism to expose corporate malfeasance and to advocate for multinational corporate accountability and transparency...
and the Independent Media CenterThe Independent Media Center is a global participatory network of journalists that report on political and social issues. It originated during the Seattle anti-WTO protests worldwide in 1999 and remains closely associated with the global justice movement, which criticizes neo-liberalism and its...
to mount an information campaign against GM.
- "Tubthumping
"Tubthumping", informally known by its prominent lyric "I Get Knocked Down", is the title of a song released by the Anarcho-punk band Chumbawamba on 11 August 1997 through Universal Records and EMI Electrola. It was their most successful single, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart...
" was performed on the Late Show with David LettermanLate Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
(CBS Network, USA). Shortly before performing, the band decided to replace one of the choruses with a stripped down chant of "Free Mumia Abu-JamalMumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...
", a radical black activist convicted of the murder of a police officer. While it was assumed by the band that this would be edited out of the broadcast version, it was broadcast as performed.
- "Tubthumping" was also performed on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
in August, 1997. It features choreographed "down" and "up" movements by the audience during the chorus, as well as the band in white clothes with Dunstan Bruce in a brick-pattern suit.
- The band performed Tubthumping on TFI 1998, a New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
version of TFI FridayTFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
, in December 1997. Presenter Chris Evans and a drunk Simon FowlerSimon Fowler is the lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist in Ocean Colour Scene.-The Fanatics:Simon Fowler commenced his music career as the lead singer and songwriter for Birmingham band The Fanatics, which consisted of Simon Fowler , Damon Minchella , Paul Wilkes and Caroline Bullock...
introduced the song as the "best single of the year."
- Chumbawamba performed a half hour set for the German television program Rockpalast
Rockpalast is a German music television show that broadcasts live on German television station Westdeutscher Rundfunk . Rockpalast started in 1974 and continues to this day. Hundreds of rock and jazz bands have performed on Rockpalast...
in 1996.
- The band were officially banned from German television in 1996 (the same year they performed on Rockpalast) after Danbert Nobacon stripped nude, wrote "PUNK" across his chest and danced in this manner in front of The Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
on a live broadcast of a rock festival. The ban seemed to have been lifted less than a year later, when Chumbawamba achieved worldwide fame with "Tubthumping".
- The band's 1997 performance in Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
was broadcast on Polish television.
Use of songs in film
A partial list of films featuring songs by the band.
- In God's Hands (1997) – "Tubthumping"
- Senseless
Senseless is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris and written by Greg Erb and Craig Mazin. The film stars Marlon Wayans, David Spade, and Matthew Lillard as college students.-Plot:...
(1997) – "Tubthumping"
- Air Bud 2
Air Bud: Golden Receiver is the 1998 sequel to Air Bud. This family film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is also the last of the Air Bud films to be released theatrically. Outside the United States the film was often titled 'Air Bud 2.' This is also the last Air Bud film to star...
(1998) – "Tubthumping"
- Dirty Work (1998) – "Tubthumping", "Amnesia"
- The James Gang (1998) – "Outsider"
- Varsity Blues
Varsity Blues is a 1999 American drama/sport film directed by Brian Robbins that follows a small-town high school football team and their overbearing coach through a tumultuous season. The players must deal with the pressures of adolescence and their football obsessed community while having their...
(1998) – "Tubthumping"
- Mystery, Alaska
Mystery, Alaska is a 1999 drama directed by Jay Roach about a fictional small-town ice hockey team that plays a game against the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. It was shot in Banff National Park and Canmore, Alberta.-Plot:...
(1999) – "Amnesia"
- Soft Fruit (1999) – "Tubthumping"
- Stigmata
Stigmata is a 1999 supernatural horror film directed by Rupert Wainwright and starring Patricia Arquette as a hairdresser from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is afflicted with the stigmata after acquiring a rosary formerly owned by a deceased Italian priest who himself suffered from the phenomena...
(1999) – "Mary Mary (Stigmatic Mix)"
- Breaking The Spell
Breaking the Spell is a 1999 anarchist documentary, directed by Tim Lewis, Tim Ream, and Sir Chuck A. Rock.Using amateur camera footage recorded by protesters at the scene of the 1999 WTO riots, it documents the riot from the perspective of the anarchists, their opinions of fellow protesters, local...
(1999) – "Timebomb"
- Dead By Monday (2000, Canada) – "Look! No Strings!", "You can't Trust Anyone Nowadays", "Behave"
- Joe Somebody
Joe Somebody is a 2001 American comedy-drama film written by John Scott Shepherd and directed by John Pasquin. The film stars Tim Allen as a man stirred into action by a workplace bully...
(2001) – "Tubthumping"
- Fired Up! (2009) – "Tubthumping"
- Fanboys (2009) – "Tubthumping"
Use of songs in multimedia
A partial list of multimedia contents featuring songs by the band.
- World Cup '98
World Cup 98 was the first official FIFA World Cup game developed by EA Sports after obtaining the rights from FIFA in 1997. Unlike the previous World Cup games, which were in 2D and showed a bird's-eye view, World Cup 98 was the first in the franchise to use a 3D engine, utilising DirectX for the...
(EA SportsEA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
, 1998) – "Tubthumping"
- Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMIX
Dance Dance Revolution 2ndMix, or 2ndMix, is the 2nd game in the Dance Dance Revolution series of music video games. It was released as an arcade game by Konami on January 19, 1999. Although only officially released in Japan, units exist worldwide...
(Konamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, 1999) – "Tubthumping"
- Samba de Amigo
Samba de Amigo is a rhythm game originally developed by Sonic Team and released in 1999 by Sega in arcades, 2000 for the Dreamcast video game console, and developed by Gearbox Software and Escalation Studios in 2008 for the Wii. The player uses controllers shaped like maracas with the goal of...
(Sega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, 2000) – "Tubthumping" (Cover by No Smoking)
- Taiko Drum Master (Namco
is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of...
, 2004) – "Tubthumping"
- Donkey Konga
is a GameCube rhythm video game starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. Instead of the standard GameCube controllers, the game is intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo drums.Donkey Konga was developed...
(Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, 2004) – "Tubthumping"
- Fifa 2003
See also
- Anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
- Anarchism and the arts
Anarchism has long had an association with the arts, particularly in music and literature. It shares this trait with other political movements, such as socialism, communism, liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism and even fascism....
- Punk ideology
Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the punk subculture. In its original incarnation, the punk subculture was primarily concerned with concepts such as rebellion, anti-authoritarianism, individualism, free thought and discontent...
Further reading
- Boff Whalley
Allan Mark "Boff" Whalley is the lead guitarist for the band Chumbawamba.-Early life and education:Whalley was born Allan Mark Whalley in 1961 in Burnley, Lancashire...
, Footnote*, Pomona Books, 2003, ISBN 1-904590-00-4 (Boff's autobiographicalAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
account of the band's history)
External links