Talk:Never Mind the Ballots

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Fair use rationale for Image:Chumbaballots.jpg
Image:Chumbaballots.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 21:14, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

"the pun"
I linked this phrase to Never Mind the Bollocks but it was almost instantly reverted by User:Martin451. I believe that either a link or an explanation of the pun in question is necessary if the pun is going to be referenced as it is - one cannot assume that people will get it.

Undoubtedly interesting but utterly unsourced
For over a decade, this article has had an (entirely deserved) “unreferenced” tag at its top, thanks in large part to the fact that it contains an awesome amount of information with nary a citation in sight. It’s clear that some Chumbawamba fan put a lot of time & effort into this — and I don’t doubt its accuracy — but as we know, Wikipedia doesn’t take original research... and if this isn’t original research, I don’t know what is. Most of the article consists of song summaries, observations of recurring themes, and even speculation regarding whom the album’s fictional candidates are modeled after.

On the very off chance that any of this happens to be extracted from a credible, non-primary source, by all means, add it back in. But until then, I think the best place for it is here, on the Talk page.

Best, Historical-idealist (talk) 05:09, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Analysis
The lyrics to all the songs are direct, largely undisguised political commentary describing at the same time the futility of democracy in general and the political situation of the three major parties in Britain at the time of recording. This piece, like the band's earlier album, Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records, is all based on a single theme, rather than confronting a range of themes, issues and ideas as was typical of their later albums. In terms of style, lyrical content and political focus, it was a follow up to the earlier album and is more similar to it than any subsequent work by the band.

Characters
To about the same extent as their earlier record, the album features "characters" that the vocalists assume for certain songs. The two most prominent characters are "The Candidates". The Candidates appear together on two tracks, "Always Tell The Voter What the Voter Wants to Hear" and "The Candidates Find Common Ground" (as well as in the Epilogue on the cassette version). The male candidate, or at least a character very much like him and also played by Danbert Nobacon, appears on "Today's Sermon." The female candidate, played by Alice Nutter, appears alone singing some parts of "The Wasteland."

The male and female candidate are shown to be two equally uncaring political candidates who seem to have opposing view on subjects at first, but essentially want the same things. This issue is discussed in "The Candidates Find Common Ground" where the two discuss how their means of solving a problem may differ, but they seek the same ends; for example, while one candidate wants "conventional weapons, to kill people nicely," the other candidate wants "nuclear weapons, to keep the peace". In the end they reason that they need "weapons, definitely; either way, [they] must defend [them]selves."

Imagery
The artwork used in the promotion of the album, its liner notes and its cover, was based on artwork designed by French artists in the late 1960s. The image on the front cover pictured above is similar to that which appears on the alternate cover, although the alternate cover features a starker image (closer to the one used on T-shirts) with the higher hand being identical, but nearer the lower hands, which are pointed straight up; the alternate cover also uses black and white as opposed to black and cream.

The slogan especially used on T-shirts promoting the album read (alternately in French and English) "THE VOTE CHANGES NOTHING! THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES!" or "LE VOTE NE CHANGE RIEN LA LUTTE CONTINUE". The liner featured other French images with slogans connected with anti-capitalist movements, including: "Continuons la lutte le capitalisme sombre" [Let us continue the fight the capitalism is sinking], Retour a la normale" [Return to the normal], Brisons les vieux engrenages [Let us break the old gears] and many others.

This imagery was used prominently in performances by the band and the concept of the "Cross in the box" (as seen in two promotional images and referenced in the lyrics of Always Tell The Voter What the Voter Wants To Hear) was used heavily. One photograph taken at a concert depicts Alice Nutter, blindfolded (the blindfold has a red "X" on it), wearing a blue prize ribbon and a red "X" T-shirt.

Title
The album's title is a parody of the Sex Pistols' album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.

Cassette demo version, Un Toast A La Democratie
This version of Never Mind The Ballots, recorded as a live set, was released under the title Un Toast A La Democratie in 1986, the year before the more widely known LP version was finished. The production quality is very amateur, and, while not recorded at a concert, people speaking and shouting are audible in the background of side A track 5.

(Significant differences from vinyl/CD release are noted in italics)

Side A
 * 1) "Prologue" (omitted from other versions)
 * 2) "Always Tell the Voter What the Voter Wants to Hear"
 * 3) "Come on Baby"
 * 4) "The Wasteland"
 * 5) "Today's Sermon"

Side B Here's The Rest Of Your Life is absent from the cassette version
 * 1) "Mr. Heseltine" (Ah-Men and the first part of Mr. Heseltine Meets His Public)
 * 2) "Us & Them" (The second half of Mr. Heseltine Meets His Public)
 * 3) "The Candidates Find Common Ground"
 * 4) Epilogue (Generally included on other releases as the ending to The Candidates Find Common Ground)