Chumbawamba playing live at Luton Library, May 1985
By the mid
1980s Chumbawamba had progressed to releasing their material using
vinyl format on their own
Agit-Prop record label. 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. By the late 80s 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Jesus H Christ!, this album had to be withdrawn and re-recorded due to
copyright issues) and
Anarchy! (
1994) lyrically remained as politically uncompromising as ever, continuing to address issues such as
homophobia, 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.
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, going so far in 1989 to being involved with a compilation LP called Fuck EMI. However, the band argued that this move brought with it the opportunity to communicate their message to a far wider audience, although ironcally their biggest chart hit, "Tubthumping", features what are probably the most apolitical of any of their lyrics. It was also during this period that Chumbawamba gained some degree of notoriety when male vocalist Danbert Nobacon[?] poured a jug of water over politician John Prescott at a music awards ceremony.
Chumbawamba parted from EMI in 2001, and in 2002 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 aquaintances of the band.
- See also: Anarchism in the arts, The Ex[?].
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