Talk:Chumbawamba

GM Money
The thing with them and GM and the song Pass It Along is mentioned twice in different places with conflicting details.

The Discography
It is scary. Very scary. How it's set up that is. Anyone have more information than this, to help get a good, clean discography in here?

Kell 06:08, July 25, 2005 (UTC)

Hmm, I think a cleanup is in order. Just to get some confirmation, I think they are syndicalists, not just anarchists. Am I correct?Habsfannova 01:41, 2 August 2005 (UTC)


 * No Chumbawamba have always clearly described themselves as anarchists quercus robur 16:36, 2 August 2005 (UTC)
 * To second Quercus: yes, anarchists, not specifically syndicalists. --Smooth Henry 21:27, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

Sorry, but I have no clue. And, damnit, I'm such a noob. I should have thought of marking clean-up. Ah well, lesson learned. Thanks.

Kell 06:14, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

Heh. Apparently, I did mark a cleanup. But...I don't remember doing it. Eh.

Kell 06:45, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

Has this already been done? Looks good to me now. --Smooth Henry 21:27, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

Could someone expand the discography to include track listings? I mean, on another page? AlmostJinkies

Cleaned up! justjeshb

better list of band members
Can we get a better list of former and current band members? --Pathogen 00:48, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

Done! justjeshb Feb 2 2009 —Preceding undated comment was added at 21:59, 2 February 2009 (UTC).

Who is "Matt Kirsch (2000– ) – backup accordion and standard marching band snare"? I have never heard any mention of him anywhere, on studio or live records, or live videos. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Justjeshb (talk • contribs) 09:37, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Squats
The Squats link goes to a disambiguation page, but I don't know which one its intended for, anyone? Anaraug 10:01, 12 December 2005 (UTC)


 * Premises occupied without the owners permission. Fixed. TheMadBaron 13:18, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

The name
"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"...."

Firstly, I listened to the clip and it's Walford TOWN, not Walford Time. Also, what is there that suggests this is any more definitive an answer than any of the many others they have given down the years?

(It should also be noted that Google can find no record of any football team ever having existed in the UK with that name other than the fictitious one that is occasionally mentioned in EastEnders. Also, teams didn't generally have mascots in the 1930s.  I think this is just yet another wind-up......) 62.232.55.188 13:18, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Just a thought, but in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, when the Ewoks see C-3PO for the first time they all exclaim "Chumbawamba". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.24.159.213 (talk) 19:31, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

Television Appearances (USA)
Hi folks.

I just thought I'd add that Chumbawamba appeared on at least one prominent show on the NBC network when they were enjoying the success of "Tubthumping"(mid to late 90's?).

The "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (likely), "Saturday Night Live" (unlikely), or perhaps it was "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (very likely) featured a performance during which the band segued from the usual musical arrangement into a special chorus of "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal" (political prisoner in Pennsylvania, USA). With the instruments subdued (perhaps they stopped altogether?), all band members repeated this chorus several times, further emphasizing the political message of their chant. I don't recall, but I believe they segued back into the song, although the song might have ended with the chant.

The significance of this, of course, is that bands rarely, if ever, stray from their scripts when performing on American TV. And even when they do, they rarely do so to broadcast a pointed politically *progressive* message to millions of televisioin viewers. Unfortunately, most viewers were unaware of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the injustices he endured. But I suspect that politically progressive viewers around the nation applauded, as I did. Also, since NBC broadcast to the tri-state area (NY, PA, NJ), there is a very good chance that the local Pennsylvania media might have picked up on the story.

Personally, I had been turned-off by Chumbawamba's stupid Tubthumping song (with its vapid lyrics), but when I happened to see them on television chanting "Mumia Abu Jamal", it renewed my faith that the band I once loved hadn't completely gone commercial.

The only other time I can recall a deliberate, politically progressive act by a musician on NBC was when Sinead O'Connor ripped up a picture of then Pope John Paul while performing live on Saturday Night Live. I actually went to the dress rehearsal for this show, and during the dress rehearsal she simply held up an innocuous framed picture of a young boy.

Sorry for the rambling, but can anyone confirm the details of this nationally broadcast Chumbawamba performance?

UPDATE: OK, after google -ing, it appears that my memory was faulty. Chumbawamba performed this song on David Letterman, who by that time was with CBS, not NBC. At least I was very close :)

esteban 66.229.13.37

Oh, please. They're not anarchists, they just play them on TV. (While selling their "anarchist" stuff to Disney to be used in Airbud 2!) Come on, it's like believing in professional wrestlers' story lines. Profhum (talk) 00:39, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

I believe that Chumbawumba was the name of a cartoon African in an early Mickey Mouse feature.

The Day the Nazi Died/Enough is Enough
Could someone add info on their release of the song "The Day the Nazi Died," and their re-release/re-mix of "Enough is Enough" to protest the election of a Nazi apologist Prime Minister in Austria (?). -Danspalding 07:02, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Done! justjeshb

Tracks named after villages?
They also addressed the poverty of pit villages in the 1990s by naming tracks after Fitzwilliam, West Yorkshire and Frickley, which they mistakenly took to be a South Yorkshire village when it was just a pit in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire.

Could someone clarify what tracks this refers to, as I don't know of any tracks the band have recorded with the names of those villages in the title........... ChrisTheDude 13:40, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi Chris, Fitzwilliam was a track on a miners benefit album Chumbas contributed to back in 1984, never heard of a track called 'Frickley' though, although when I stayed with them years ago I think it was the name of their cat??? The sentence is a bit naff and obscure though, I'd be inclined to edit it out... quercus robur 17:30, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

The name (again!) and Ewoks
I removed this bit from the section on the name: * In the movie Return of the Jedi, right after the group has fallen through the Ewoks' food trap that enticed Chewbacca, C-3PO gets up and one of the Ewoks is clearly heard saying "Chumbawamba". Return of the Jedi wasn't released anywhere in the world until May 1983, approximately a year after the first release credited to Chumbawamba, so there's no way a line in the film could have inspired the name, nor have the band ever claimed it to be so (the section in question covers explanations which the band themselves have cited).

If an Ewok can genuinely be heard saying "chumbawamba" in the film, then it must be down to either:
 * 1) A sly reference by a film crew member who was familiar with the already-existing band (highly unlikely given their status at the time)
 * 2) Wishful thinking by the viewer/the viewer distorting the syllables in their own head to hear the band's name
 * 3) Sheer coincidence

ChrisTheDude 10:26, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Politics mentioned in the lede
I haven't looked at this article for a few months, but it used to mention their anarchism in the lede. It doesn't now, which I think is odd because pretty much everything they do is driven by and centred around their politics. What were the arguments for and against leaving this in? The Wednesday Island 18:20, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

What copyright reasons?
"the accompanying liner notes (removed from the US release of the Tubthumper album for copyright reasons)" - the precise reason is not explained in this article, nor in Tubthumper, nor in Tubthumping. Please fix this. 86.132.142.246 (talk) 01:45, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

I worked on the US release. The version submitted had tons of copy from something by John Lennon, I forget the exact source, but it was all word for word as I recall. The band refused to change it, so the compromise is what you see in the US release.

Fair use rationale for Image:Luddite1.png
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BetacommandBot (talk) 20:56, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use images
I did quite a trim; use of images like this could only be justified on the articles on the recordings, or here if there was some evidence that the images themselves were noteworthy, as opposed to the recordings they accompanied. I'd be sympathetic to either approach, but prior to my edits it looked a little like a fair use gallery, which is specifically deprecated. Sorry. --John (talk) 06:34, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Songs in media
I've changed the text underneath the 'Songs in media' header as it stated that Tubthumping appeared in Fifa 98 - Road to world cup, when in fact it actually appeared in the game World Cup '98, which was released a year later. Both games are by EA, so whoever wrote this probably got it confused. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.53.233.115 (talk) 09:56, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

The article mentions they had been "banned" in Germany for around a year after performing nude. That cannot be true, there is no law in Germany that would allow someone to get banned from TV, neither allow a musician's music to be banned as a result from a TV act. Only "banning" of specifically defined songs or albums is possible by law (called "Indizierung"). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.88.74.58 (talk) 18:03, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

Why no mention?
Why isn't it mentioned they are gay? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.118.182.129 (talk) 15:11, 5 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Says who? Of the current line-up, Boff and Lou are certainly both in long-term relationships with members of the opposite sex, as are/were former members, Danbert, Alice and Harry, so it's certainly not accurate to characterise the whole band as gay.... -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 15:20, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

"Hardcore punk"?
Hardcore punk should be removed. Never seen any sources call them that, and even back when they played anarcho-punk it wasn't hardcore. Should be removed. --BlackMath77 (talk) 21:22, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Discography
It's very long. I propose that everything be split off onto a new article, Chumbawamba discography, and just the official albums and possibly singles duplicated here. Thoughts.....? -- ChrisTheDude (talk) 12:11, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Done! justjeshb Feb 2 2009 —Preceding undated comment was added at 22:01, 2 February 2009 (UTC).

Associated acts
Any justification for Notsensibles being listed as an "associated act"?--Michig (talk) 11:54, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
 * No justification provided, so I'm removing it.--Michig (talk) 09:50, 21 March 2009 (UTC)

English/British
The band seems to identify as English (i.e. their fondness for English folk music) rather than British, but this was recently changed from the former to the latter. Thoughts? Lapsed Pacifist (talk) 21:26, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Only Stupid Bastards (Conflict)
Removed the following section of text;


 * "British anarcho-punk band Conflict released a similar condemnation of the band: a live album entitled "Only Stupid Bastards Support EMI", which included an open letter to the band condemning the move, and ridiculing their excuse of EMI being a tool to better "spread their message"."

'Only Stupid Bastards...' was released in 1985 (12 years before Chumbawamba signed to EMI!) and was directed as a critisism at New Model Army, being a play on their slogan 'Only Stupid Bastards Use Heroin', so not really relevant to this article, fine album though it is! 92.232.113.122 (talk) 11:03, 27 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Good catch! Not sure which album you mean by "fine", though I'd have to agree as I've been both a Conflict and NMA fan at various points ;-) TFOWR 12:47, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

General Motors
In two sections of the article are two conflicting phrases about how much money Chumbawamba received from GM. One source says $100,000, the other $70,000. Shouldn't this be clarified?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumbawamba#Televised_performances

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumbawamba#MUTT_Records

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.66.98.6 (talk) 16:05, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Platform
Not only is this article too long and full of excessive trivial detail, but it seems to be acting as a platform for the band's politics. ...Encyclopedia, not soapbox... 92.234.49.22 (talk) 04:28, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Banned from German television
This can hardly be true. There is no law or institution that could ban a complete act from television in Germany. Certain stations could have put them on an internal ban list, but that's about it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.134.37.244 (talk) 16:33, 18 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Errr, yes there is. There are a variety of laws in Germany which could be used to ban such acts. Plus there is an entire government department which polices music, video games, etc. Maybe you should Wiki BPjM (Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.151.186.118 (talk) 19:08, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon and Cobie Laan
Was Simon Commonknowledge a member? He seems to have been a lot more enduring than other people we list as guests, and sometimes credited as a member - as far as I can see Revolution credited him as a member, but Pictures as a guest, then English Rebel Songs 1381-1914 and Slap! as a band member, then back to being an additional musician (alongside Neil Ferguson until Neil actually joins in 1999).

Cobie Laan is also credited as a member on the original English Rebel Songs, and on Slap! though on the latter for recording rather than as a musician, so it may be more justifiable to view her as a one-off collaborator if ERS was her only appearance as a musician. TSP (talk) 17:47, 31 December 2023 (UTC)