Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba
Neil Ferguson, Lou Watts, Boff Whalley, Jude Abbott and Phil Moody at the TFF Rudolstadt (2012)
General information
founding	1982
resolution	2012
Website	http://www.chumba.com/
Founding members
Vocals , guitar	Boff Whalley
Vocals, keyboard	Danbert Nobacon
singing	Midge (until 1985)
Last occupation
Vocals, keyboard	Lou Watts (since 1982)
Vocals, guitar	Boff Whalley
bass	Neil Ferguson (since 1986)
Singing, trumpet	Jude Abbott (since 1996)
Vocals, accordion	Phil Moody (since 2007)
former members
Singing, trumpet	Mavis Dillon (1984 to 1995)
Singing, percussion	Alice Nutter (1983 to 2004)
Vocals, keyboard	Danbert Nobacon (1982 to 2004)
Drums	Harry Hamer (1984 to 2004)
singing	Dunstan Bruce (1982 to 2004)

Chumbawamba [ ˌtʃʌmbəˈwɑːmbə ] was a British alternative rock band from Burnley . Originally coming from punk , her music combines rock , pop and folk elements with anarchic lyrics. One of her best-known pieces is tubthumping ("I get knocked down! But I get up again; you're never gonna keep me down") , which was often played in the context of the 1998 World Cup . In July 2012, the band announced their breakup.

history

Chumbawamba 1985

Danbert Nobacon 1986

The band was formed in 1982 by Boff Whalley , Danbert Nobacon and a person named "Midge". In this composition they released a title on the sampler Bullshit Detector 2 on the label Crass Records operated by the band Crass . That same year, Lou Watts and Dunstan Bruce joined the band.

Her first single was released on her own label Agit-Prop. British radio host John Peel played them on his show and offered the band two sessions. Her first album Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records was also released on Agit-Prop. When the label became a financial burden for the band, they broke it up. A short time later, Chumbawamba moved to the independent label One Little Indian Records under the direction of Derek Birkett, ex-bassist of the punk band Flux of Pink Indians . Her most political album, Anarchy (1994), which takes a stand against fascism with songs like Enough is Enough or Mouthful of Shit , was released there.

When Mavis Dillon left the group in 1995, he was replaced by Jude Abbott. In 1997 they switched to the major label EMI . Here their commercially most successful album Tubthumper was released , which finally helped them achieve their breakthrough.

Style and politics

The style of Chumbawamba developed from initially very strong punk influences to a greater variety of sounds with influences from rock, pop and folk music. The texts, however, remained with a strong criticism against capitalist and imperialist forces, they are partly reminiscent of class struggle slogans . The band passes on a very left , partly anarchist political attitude in their songs : From landlords of the Middle Ages (English Rebel Songs) to Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair , “opponents of the workers” and right-wing extremists are sung about in negative, sometimes very ironic tones, where the pop-like sound often persists. Chumbawamba takes on a wide variety of musical influences: from African and English folk to American pop or English punk music, everything is represented.

Name of the band

As you can see in the FAQ on the band's official homepage, Chumbawamba doesn't mean anything special. During the time of their formation there were numerous bands with strange names.

Other explanations of the name:

• In an interview on a German website, Nutter and Whalley claimed that "Chumbawamba" was the name of a football club mascot, Walford Town, that they found in a collection of ancient facts and figures on British football (The Rothman's Yearbook). " ... And we thought that would be funny, so we used the name. "

• Whalley claims in his autobiography that the name was derived from the singing of African street musicians that he and Danbert heard in Paris. In a footnote, however, he says that this explanation is a lie, just like every other explanation the band has made about their name over the years.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1994	Anarchy	-	-	-	UK29 (2 weeks) UK	-
1995	Swingin 'with Raymond	-	-	-	UK70 (1 week) UK	-
1997	Tubthumper	DE18 (11 weeks) DE	-	CH32 (6 weeks) CH	UK19th silver (7 weeks)UK	US3 × 3 Triple platinum (43 weeks)US
2000	WYSIWYG	DE68 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	Meaning of the album title: " W hat Y ou S ee I s W hat Y ou G et "

More albums

• 1982: Another Year of the Same Old Shit
• 1984: Be Happy! Despite It All ... (Demos) (with Passion Killers )
• 1986: Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records: Starvation, Charity and Rock & Roll - Lies & Traditions
• 1986: Un Toast a la Democratie
• 1987: Never Mind the Ballots
• 1988: English Rebel Songs 1381-1914
• 1989: Be a Rebel, Raise Some Heck
• 1990: Slap!
• 1992: Shhh
• 1993: Live in Armley
• 1994: show business!
• 1998: Japan Only mini-album - Amnesia
• 2002: Readymades
• 2003: Revenger's Tragedy
• 2004: Un
• 2004: A Singsong and a Scrap
• 2006: Get On with It - Live
• 2008: The Boy Bands Have Won
• 2010: ABCDEFG

Compilations

• 1994: First 2
• 1998: Uneasy Listening
• 1998: Uneasy Listening & Tubthumper (2 CDs)
• 2003: Shhhlap! (2 CDs)
• 2008: Un & A Singsong and a Scrap (2 CDs)

EPs

• 1996: i - Portraits of Anarchists
• 1999: The ABCs of Anarchism (with Negativland )
• 2013: In Memoriam: Margaret Thatcher (only for subscribers to the Chumbawamba newsletter - recorded in 2005, CDs sent on April 8, 2013, the anniversary of Thatcher's death )

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1993	Enough Is Enough Anarchy	-	-	-	UK56 (2 weeks) UK	-	with Credit to the Nation
	Timebomb Anarchy	-	-	-	UK59 (1 week) UK	-
1997	Tubthumping Tubthumper	DE11 (21 weeks) DE	AT14 (12 weeks) AT	CH14 (14 weeks) CH	UK2 platinum (20 weeks)UK	US6 (31 weeks) US
1998	Amnesia Tubthumper	DE83 (5 weeks) DE	-	-	UK10 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: 1997
	Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé) Tubthumper ( Reissue 1998 )	-	-	-	UK21 (3 weeks) UK	-
2000	She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy WYSIWYG	-	-	CH73 (1 week) CH	-	-

More singles

• 1985: revolution
• 1986: We Are the World?
• 1988: Smash Clause 28! / Fight the Alton Bill!
• 1992: I Never Gave Up
• 1992: (Someone's Always Telling You How To) Behave
• 1994: Homophobia (with Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence )
• 1994: Give the Anarchist a Cigarette
• 1994: Criminal Injustice (Chumbawamba meets DIY )
• 1995: Ugh! Your Ugly Houses!
• 1995: Just Look at Me Now
• 1997: Drip Drip Drip
• 1998: Mouthful of Shit
• 1999: Tony Blair
• 2000: Enough Is Enough (Kick It Over) (limited, only for subscribers to the Chumbawamba newsletter)
• 2002: Her Majesty
• 2002: Home with Me
• 2002: Salt Fare, North Sea
• 2002: Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name)
• 2002: God Save the Queen (Enemy Within)
• 2004: The Wizard of Menlo Park
• 2004: On eBay
• 2005: Fade Away (I Don't Want To)
• 2009: Bo (red) Humo (red) (mp3 single)

Video albums

• 2000: Well Done. Now Sod Off
• 2012: Going, Going - Live at Leeds City Varieties

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Sweden 1997: for the single tubthumping Platinum record  New Zealand 1997: for the single tubthumping  Norway 1997: for the single tubthumping

2 × platinum record  Australia 1997: for the single tubthumping 4 × platinum record  Canada 1997: for the album Tubthumper

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Australia (ARIA)	-	-	2 × platinum2	140,000	aria.com.au
Canada (MC)	-	-	4 × platinum4th	400,000	musiccanada.com
New Zealand (RMNZ)	-	-	platinum1	15,000	nztop40.co.nz
Norway (IFPI)	-	-	platinum1	10,000	ifpi.no
Sweden (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	15,000	sverigetopplistan.se
United States (RIAA)	-	-	3 × platinum3	3,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	silver1	-	platinum1	660,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	silver1	gold1	12 × platinum12

literature

• Boff Whalley: Notes * on Chumbawamba and more , Verlag Edition AV , 2009, ISBN 978-3-86841-021-1 .

swell

1. ^ Message on the band's homepage
2. ↑ Explanation of the band name on the band's homepage ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Interview of the band with www.ohrendroehner.de (MP3; 3.6 MB)
4. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums US1 US2
5. ↑ ^{a b} Gold / Platinum databases: UK US

Web links

Commons : Chumbawamba  - collection of images

• official page
• Chumbawamba at Allmusic (English)
• Chumbawamba at Discogs (English)
• Chumbawamba at laut.de