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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 , 1986, supporting Conflict ]] Originally called ''The Mirror Boys'', Chumbawamba was formed in 1982 from two other bands based in Yorkshire , ''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 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. THE NAME Over the years, the band has been asked many times what "Chumbawamba" really means. While there are many speculations, the band generally answers 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 80's) 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 were a good band but it's lucky for them that Thatcher 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 {Link without Title} . On an episode of BBC2 's pop music quiz '' Never Mind The Buzzcocks '' there was a question about where Chumbawamba get their name. The correct answer (according to Mark Lamarr ) was they got it from what a monkey wrote on a type writer when an experiment took place involving monkeys and type writers (as in the Infinite Monkey Theorem , so presumably it was to see if they will re-create the complete works of Shakespeare ). A definitive answer has appeared: In an interview on a German website with Alice and Boff, the members said that the "Chumbawamba" was the mascot of a football team, Walford Time 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". The interview, in its entirety is available here: http://www.ohrendroehner.de/material/chumbawamba/20020910-4.mp3 LINEUP The band membership has varied over the years. The longtime members are:
]] PARTIAL DISCOGRAPHY (Original releases dates and labels given. Some material has been re-issued on other labels in the US .) 1980 - 1985
1986 - 1990
1991 - 1995
1996 - 2000
2000 - 2005
CHUMBAWAMBA SONGS IN FILM ''A partial list of films featuring songs by the band.''
CHUMBAWAMBA SONGS IN MULTIMEDIA ''A partial list of multimedia contents featuring songs by the band.''
FURTHER READING/REFERENCES
SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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