Chumbawamba

Chumbawamba was an anarcho-punk/pop group from the north of England: specifically, Burnley, Lancashire (although they first got their big break in Leeds). The band released a huge number of albums, however, they are best known for one song only: 1997's "Tubthumping", which has become famous for its supposed motivational chorus: "I get knocked down, but I get up again...", although the song isn't meant to be taken that way.

In any case, the song was a huge hit (#6 in US, #2 in UK, #1 airplay in both countries) and is remembered as a One-Hit Wonder. Despite this, they have many songs dealing with British politics, culture and economics.

The band was active from 1982 until 2012, when they announced they were breaking up. They performed their final show at Leeds City Varieties.

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Discography:

Albums:

• Another Year of the Same Old Shit (demo album, 1985, no longer available)
• Pictures of Starving Children (1986)
• Never Mind The Ballots (1987)
• English Rebel Songs (1988, re-issued 2003)
• Slap! (1990)
• Jesus H. Christ (1992)
• Shhh (1992)
• Anarchy (1994)
• Swingin' With Raymond (1995)
• Tubthumper (1997)
• WYSIWYG (2000)
• Readymades (2002)
• Un (2004)
• A Singsong and a Scrap (2005)
• The Boy Bands Have Won (2008)
• ABCDEFG (2010)

Other works:

• Revolution (single, 1986)
• Showbusiness! (live album, 1994)
• Uneasy Listening (compilation album, 1998)
• The ABCs of Anarchism (collaboration with Negativland, 1999)
• Shhhlap! (double CD, 2003)
• Revengers Tragedy (soundtrack, 2003)
• Get On With It (live album, 2006)
• Well Done... Now Sod Off (documentary, 200?)
• Going, Going (live DVD, 2012)
• In Memoriam: Margaret Thatcher (EP, 2013)
• A host of singles that were usually only released once, as part of a promotion.

Their website.

Chumbawamba provides examples of the following tropes:

• Anarchy Is Chaos: The band are proud of their anarchy, and do not intend to hold up this belief.
• Crazy Prepared: Chumbawamba recorded the In Memoriam: Margaret Thatcher EP in 2005, then released it through mail-order in 2013, once she actually did die.
• Contemptible Cover: The cover of Anarchy shows a baby being born, in profile. It was therefore packaged in plastic, and the iTunes version replaces the cover with a bunch of flowers.
• Cover Version: 'Bella Ciao', an Italian song, has been adapted to play at their shows. Also, their English Rebel Songs album is an entire Cover Album of traditional songs.
• Distinct Double Album: Not officially one, but Shhhlap! is a double CD, which packages their Shhh and Slap! albums together.
• Excited Show Title!: Showbusiness! their first live album.
• Greatest Hits Album: The band have joked that their greatest hits album would consist of only 'Tubthumping'. In any case, Uneasy Listening plays a similar role in their discography.
• Long Title: The Boy Bands Have Won has a full title of 865 characters: a world record. The full title is: [deep breath] The Boy Bands Have Won, and All the Copyists and the Tribute Bands and the TV Talent Show Producers Have Won, If We Allow Our Culture to Be Shaped by Mimicry, Whether from Lack of Ideas or from Exaggerated Respect. You Should Never Try to Freeze Culture. What You Can Do Is Recycle That Culture. Take Your Older Brother's Hand-Me-Down Jacket and Re-Style It, Re-Fashion It to the Point Where It Becomes Your Own. But Don't Just Regurgitate Creative History, or Hold Art and Music and Literature as Fixed, Untouchable and Kept Under Glass. The People Who Try to 'Guard' Any Particular Form of Music Are, Like the Copyists and Manufactured Bands, Doing It the Worst Disservice, Because the Only Thing That You Can Do to Music That Will Damage It Is Not Change It, Not Make It Your Own. Because Then It Dies, Then It's Over, Then It's Done, and the Boy Bands Have Won.
  • Also, the full title of their first album, though nowhere near as unusual: Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records: Starvation, Charity, and Rock & Roll: Lies and Traditions.
• One-Hit Wonder: 'Tubthumping' is all they're remembered for. The lead singer mocked this, wearing a 'ONE HIT WONDER' T-shirt when the band appeared on American TV.