I first heard about Chumbawamba while watching the Rosie O'Donnell show in summer of 1997 when Chumba were promoting their biggest hit "Tubthumping." She introduced the band as anarchists and said "I don't even know what that means."
I knew about anarchy from the circled "A" I had seen on so much punkrock clothing. When I first saw Chumbawamba on TV my favorite bands were Depeche Mode and Slayer so clearly I was being pulled in multiple directions.
I didn't really look into the band until years later but Chumbawamba has also been pulled in all sorts of directions. They do whatever they damn well please. Whether it is making obscure punk, choral, world, or pop music - Chumba can do it. Rosie was right. They are anarchists.
The following is a brief write up about each of their albums with a link to a song on youtube. I embedded a few on my favorite songs to take away your excuse for not listening.
0.5) Chumbawamba started out in the DIY anarchist punkrock scene along with the legendary Crass (who much like Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys, are perhaps more well known by the pop-punk masses today for their logo than anything else). The band started in 1982 and put out their first EP in 1985 and called it Revolution. The EP featured songs like "Stagnation" and "Liberation."
1) Although they had been a band for over three years their first album, Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records came out in 1986. It was a response to artists cashing in other people's misery and using it as a publicity stunt (such as the Live-Aid concert of 86). The album runs continuously as if it is just two tracks (one for both sides of the vinyl). The song "Unilever" appears on the album. Criticizing the food and soap conglomerate for exploitative behavior.
2) Chumbawamba's next album was recorded very quickly. When the English Parliament called for an election in 1987 Chumbawamba had six weeks to write, record, and distribute an album to influence the vote with their album Never Mind the Ballots... Here's The Rest of Your Life. Just like their first album it was imprinted with continuous sound with no breaks between tracks. This album had even more melodic punkrock sound similar to the Clash. It is my favorite Chumbawamba album. The first three tracks of "Nevermind the Ballots" can be heard here. The rest of the album can be heard by following the youtube links.
3) Proving they are really anarchists who do whatever they please musically, Chumbawamba went from recording a chaotic punkrock record with all the rock and roll instruments to recording an album of traditional a cappella music entitled English Rebel Songs 1381–1984 (released in 1988). My favorite song on the album is the WW1 era traditional "Hanging On the Old Barbed Wire."
4) Their next album, released in 1990, was Slap! -- which went in more dancey jazz direction. Not my favorite Chumbawamba album but it is perhaps their most lyrically optimistic album. The song "Cartrouble" celebrates the life of Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
5) In 1992 Chumbawamba released the album Shhh and it was full of samples and synths but still had a punkrock edge. "Snip Snip Snip" is another example of a Chumbawamba song that must be impossible to recreate live.
6) Chumbawamba embraced the 'Anarchy' label in 1994 and released an album entitled just that: Anarchy. It was even more full of synths than the predecessor and sounds like it could be a Erasure album at times. The album's cover featured a close-up of a baby's head coming out of a vagina. The best song on the album is the anthemic "Homophobia."
7) 1995's Swingin' With Raymond is really two albums in one because the first half of the mellow is soft gentle folk songs and the second half of the album are hard rocking angry songs. The first song on the album is the soft and tender"This Girl" and the last song on the album is the raucous " Ugh! Your Ugly Houses."
8) After living at borderline poverty level for most of their careers the band decided to both experiment with pop music and attempt to release an album that would make them financially stable and able to live a little more comfortable and do as they please artistically. Just like Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springsteen, or the Clash, it would also allow them to reach a wider audience with their message. They signed to a major label in 1997 and out came Tubthumper. The biggest hit on the album is actually an anthem for the working class who keep getting fucked over by 'the man' every day and drink it off in the night to keep sane. The band broke some TV rules and went off script when they performed "Tubthumping" on Letterman that year. They even attacked attacked the Deputy Prime Minister of Britain, pouring a jug of water on him during a TV performance on the BBC.
8.5) At the height of their fame from their hit album Chumba contributed "Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé)" as England's soccer anthem for the 1998 World Cup.
9) Since they had their money from the success of their previous album the band tried to distance themselves from their record label and in the year 2000 released WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get). The album had 23 tracks and, since this was a CD now, it ran with continuously uninterrupted audio like their first two albums. The only radio single from the was the rather musically adventurous and catchy "She's Got All the Friends That Money Can Buy."
10) Chumbawamba started MUTT, their own record label, in 2002 with their album Readymades which features a lot of samples and trip-hop electronic beats but also folk influence. The song "Salt Fare, North Sea" is an electronic yet ethereal incorporation of an originally a cappella choral song.
10.5) Film Director Alex Cox, of Repo Man and Sid and Nancy fame, asked Chumbawamba to score the music to his film, Revenger's Tragedy (an adaptation of a 17th century Jacobean ear play). Chumba, in turn, adapted a song from their previous album and included "Don't Try This At Home" on the soundtrack.
11) In 2004 the band went in a world music direction and released Un. Not only are the highly political lyrics included in the album (as is always the case for the band's album sleeve) but each song includes an explanation. The song "On eBay" details how Iraqi historical items were being plundered and sold on eBay during the American occupation.
12) Released on the 'No Masters' folk label, A Singsong and a Scrap is mostly a highly political yet mellow folk album but my favorite song on the album is Chumbawamba's rendition of "Bella Ciao."
13) Continuing in their folk vein the band released The Boy Bands Have Won in 2008. The actual title is much longer (as in the Guinness Book of World Records longest album title ever). The album has several a cappella songs and soft tender songs. "Compliments of Your Waitress" is about people unnecessarily being mean to restaurant servers.
14) Chumbawamba's most recent album, ABCDEFG was released in 2010 and it is lyrically about music. On the song "Torturing James Hetfield" they actually very cutely make fun of their own place in music history.
So after over 28 years in the music business and the band is still highly unpredictable. They do as they damn well please. People may make fun of them as one hit wonders but that is one more hit than 99.9% of other bands have.
