Was anyone’s politics changed by “Tubthumping”?

There's a lot of great jams throughout their mid-90s imperial period, though a bit out of place musically nowadays and I'm not a huge fan of the hey-nonny-nonny elements but yeah, some really good songs. The politics frequently works - ie. gets you pissed off and/or riled up.

Interviewed them maybe around the release of "Tubthumping", they were lovely people, and funny too. They introduced a couple of striking workers from some part of the Man Group iirc during the subsequent gig and let them explain to a bunch of bemused students why they were striking and ask for donations for the support fund. I don't care whether stuff like that is corny tbh, it's better than not doing it.

^^^

The book (which I think has all different "reviews" than the blog) is one of the crown jewels of the Drag City library.

strong cosign

I'm cool w/ Chumbawamba but any jeremiad of that nature invoking "boy bands" in 2007 deserves some funpoking

it’s called “tubthumping”

― maxwell’s silver hang suite (bizarro gazzara), Wednesday, January 30, 2019 8:37 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The album was called Tubthumper.

I'm Kilgore Trout
By Kurt Vonnegut
You're never gonna keep me down

^^ this post changed my politics

The album was called Tubthumper.

I've always preferred the Simpsons lyrics.

I drink a lager drink
I drink a chocolate drink
And when I need to pee
I use the kitchen sink

In the early 90s I spent a miserable week in a cold damp cottage in Kerry with a girlfriend who played their English Rebel Songs cassette constantly. Put me off for life, obv.

lose points for appropriating "rebel songs"

?? the term was def used in UK history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Straw_(rebel_leader)

or did you mean the tunes themselves? I like that release but it would not hold up well to repeated listens in a short timeframe

being a little facetious but i mean that specifically the term "rebel songs" in Britain and Ireland has the connotation of referring to Irish rebel music

I've long thought the Mekons must rue the day they were never able to write a pop song like this.

xp ah, gotcha, agreed

as far as the Mekons, "Millionaire" comes close but it doesn't have a shouty pub chorus

"tubthumping" changed everyone's politics! the album tubthumper did not because no one actually listened to any of it beyond "tubthumping" and maybe two other tracks.

speaking of the album. it had a bunch of interludes, intros/outros, other nonsense like that. the one at the front end of "tubthumping" has a terrific bit of distorted speech, apparently sampled from the 1996 film brassed off:

The truth is, I thought it mattered. I thought that music mattered. But does it? Bollocks. Not compared to how people matter.

it drops right into the track and is quite effective. it's the people that matter! i didn't know it until i was 7 years old and heard (the album version of) this song.

Why was the thread title fixed?! The original version was perfecto

hello yes I would just like to say that no, despite the fact that I was of a most impressionable age at the time this particular song was put out into the world, that no, my personal political ideologies were not affected in any way by this musics, and nor have they been affected in any way since then, but thank you very much for asking

I've long thought the Mekons must rue the day they were never able to write a pop song like this.

― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 31, 2019 7:59 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Where Were You?"

as far as the Mekons, "Millionaire" comes close but it doesn't have a shouty pub chorus

― sleeve, Thursday, January 31, 2019 8:04 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Happy days recalled, playing that single for Amber and Alice, and they would shout "NO!" at the end of each line in the last verse..

Not really, come to think of it.

speak for yourself, buddy

Tried a cider for the first time because of it, if that counts.

fond memory: DJing an Earth First "Wild Cascadia" party for lawyers and activists in 1999-2000, spinning a bunch of stuff from Anarchy and Tubthumping, at some point a lawyer dude comes up and is like "it is imperative that you play more Chumbawamba"

also milo that is excellent, do you like cider now?

He likes a cider now
He likes a vodka now..

Big fan of dry ciders

The Brassed Off sample at the start of this has at times genuinely made me reconsider the things in my life that I prioritise, and reminded me to get my head out of my computer and to try to actually do a better job of connecting with the people in my life. So, kinda?

was really curious about this album when I was 13 but could not bring myself to buy it with that godawful cover

They Might be Giants covered this song for AVClub and they actually did a pretty good job with it. fits right into their style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QbWHQUzKGs

that rules

agreed

I heard them once or twice described as "one of the Crass bands" so I assumed they shared a band member or two. I just did a quick 60 second Google search and it looks like they have an indirect crossover. They're on a few of the same comp releases, probably played shows together at some point.

TIL napalm death, another one of the crass bands, played their first gig with chumbawamba

whose path ended up changing more hearts and minds? idk

aiui "Crass bands" refers to bands who were on the label - a lot of bands put out one release and then formed their own labels after, I think that may have been a deliberate label policy

also good q about who changed more people, I love 'em both but Chumbawamba has an emotional impact for me that Crass doesn't.

the left has certainly "pissed away" the good will it built up in the post-trump, post-brexit era, when people felt open to alternatives to the neoliberal status quo. the moment has passed, tubthumping again becomes the most prescient song of the era or something.

there is the outline of a tweet thread here, for sure.

I have no idea what you are talking about

lol

great revive

Wait.

ffs

previously I was not going to get up again, but this song convinced me that I should

aiui "Crass bands" refers to bands who were on the label - a lot of bands put out one release and then formed their own labels after, I think that may have been a deliberate label policy

yes, although one they (Crass) kind of circumvented by having another label they put out subsequent records on (Corpus Christi), and there were a few bands that had more than 1 record on Crass records - Dirt, Poison Girls, KUKL

first they came for the Tubthumpers, and I did not speak because I got knocked down but couldn't get up