Musicians - Chumbawamba

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	Musicians - Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba is a band from the UK who play pop music with influences of folk, punk, dance and other styles of popular music. They use their music to promote anarchist ideas. They only had one mainstream success, with the single Tubthumping, although they have maintained an underground following.

Band history

Originally called The Mirror Boys, Chumbawamba was formed in 1982 from two other bands based in Yorkshire in the North of England, The Passion Killers and Chimp Eats Banana. Inspired musically by The Fall and the anarchist politics of Crass, Chumbawamba's activities in their early years were based around a communal house in Armley, Leeds. Stalwarts of the cassette culture scene, the band featured on many compilations. Chumbawamba were at the forefront of the 1980s anarcho-punk movement, frequently playing benefit gigs in squats and small halls for causes such as animal rights, the anti-war movement, and community groups.

Sky and Trees and Agit-Prop Records

By the mid-1980s Chumbawamba had begun to release their material using the vinyl format on their own Agit-Prop record label, which had evolved from an earlier project, Sky and Trees Records. Their first LP, Pictures Of Starving Children Sell Records (1986) was a scathing and articulate critique of the then current Live Aid concert organised by Bob Geldof, which they argued was primarily a cosmetic spectacle designed to draw attention away from the real political causes of world hunger.

One Little Indian Records

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chumbawamba (now signed to the larger but still independent One Little Indian record label) had begun to absorb influences from techno music and dance culture. Moving away from their original anarcho-punk roots and evolving a pop sensibility, releases such as Slap (1990), the sample-heavy Shhh! (1992) (originally intended to be released as Jesus H Christ!, this album had to be withdrawn and re-recorded because of copyright problems) and Anarchy! (1994) lyrically remained as politically uncompromising as ever, continuing to address issues such as homophobia (see song "Homophobia", the music video of which features the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence), the Criminal Justice Act and the rise of fascism in the UK following the election of a British National Party candidate in south-east London in 1993.

EMI controversy

Chumbawamba drew criticism from their original following in 1997 when they signed to the major label EMI, particularly as much of their earlier output had explicitly attacked this corporation and they had even been involved with a compilation LP called Fuck EMI in 1989. However, they pointed out that EMI had severed the controversial link with weapons manufacturer Thorn 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." The band added that this move brought with it the opportunity to make the band financially viable (all members were up until then working in other jobs to make a living) as well as to communicate their message to a far wider audience.

Their biggest chart hit, "Tubthumping", features what, without the context of the accompanying liner notes (removed from the US release of the Tubthumper album for copyright reasons) appear to be one the most apolitical of any of their lyrics. It was also during this period that Chumbawamba gained some notoriety when male vocalist Danbert Nobacon poured a jug of water over the UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at the 1998 Brit Awards.

Chumbawamba parted from EMI in 2001.

MUTT Records

In 2002, Chumbawamba formed their own record label, MUTT, for UK releases.

Under MUTT, Chumbawamba released their eleventh official album, Readymades, as well as Sic- Adventures In Anti-capitalism, a paperback book of political and musical writings by friends and acquaintances of the band.

General Motors paid Chumbawamba $100,000 to use their song "Pass it Along" for a Pontiac Vibe television advertisement in 2002. Chumbawamba gave the money to the anti-corporate activist groups Indymedia and CorpWatch.

In 2004 they released an album of 'world music' influenced songs entitled Un, which addressed such current concerns as the looting of the museums in Iraq (On eBay) and Buy Nothing Day.

In 2005 Chumbawamba opted to take a temporary 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 Scrap, released late in 2005.

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