One Hit Wondering – Chumbawamba

One Hit Wondering is a series of columns where I listen to the album of a one hit wonder, and find three songs, other than the hit, that people should hear. 

“I get knocked down, but I get up again / you’re never gonna keep me down.”

The oft-repeated refrain of Chumbawamba’s mega hit “Tubthumping” remains one of the most inspiring earworms of all-time, and in 1997 it made the British rockers with the funny name a household name a whopping 15 years after they first formed as a band.

Yes, that’s right, by the time “Tubthumping” came out Chumbawamba were a veteran band, and while their hit didn’t show it, they had a long established reputation of being extremely anti-establishment.

Chumbawamba formed in 1982 as an anarchist punk band with anarcho-communist political leanings. They had no use for authority figures, and were big on social causes. In fact, when the band signed with EMI, their original fan base labeled the group sell outs. The band, however, would prove their views were just as strong as ever.

Case in point, just as “Tubthumping” hit, Chumbawamba vocalist Alice Nutter was quoted in the British music magazine Melody Maker saying, “Nothing can change the fact that we like it when cops get killed.”

The band refused to issue an apology, despite pressure from their label. Instead, Nutter clarified her statement, saying, “If you’re working class they won’t protect you. When you hear about them, it’s in the context of them abusing people, y’know, miscarriages of justice. We don’t have a party when cops die, you know we don’t.”

Nutter found herself at the center of controversy again in 1998 when she went on the TV show Politically Incorrect and advised fans who couldn’t afford their album to steal it from major retailers. This led to Virgin Megastores removing Tubthumper from their shelves, and keeping it behind the register.

The controversy only inspired more interest in the album, which was the band’s eighth full-length release.

Led by the massive success of “Tubthumping,” which reached #6 in the U.S. (seriously, only #6? I feel like we heard it 17 times a day), Tubthumper went triple platinum.

You know what they say, the eighth time’s the charm.

Of course, when you have a hit, advertisers are going to come calling. The advertisers, however, didn’t seem to be aware of the band’s political leanings.

Nike wanted to use “Tubthumping” in a 1998 World Cup commercial, and offered the band $1.5 million.

The band immediately turned them down.

In 2002, Chumbawamba took their anti-capitalist stance to the next level, accepting a sizable sum – it was reportedly either $70k, or $100k – from General Motors, for the use of one of the band’s songs in a commercial. The band then immediately turned around and gave all the money to anti-corporate activist groups Indymedia, and CorpWatch, who used it to launch an information and environmental campaign against GM.

Clearly, Chumbawamba didn’t play around.

In 2012 they didn’t play in another way, announcing they were splitting up after 30 years, and 16 albums.

While they will forever be remembered as a one hit wonder, I popped my copy of Chumbawamba’s Tubthumper into my CD player, and found three songs, other than “Tubthumping,” that you should hear.

“The Good Ship Lifestyle”

 

Chumbawamba was decades ahead of their time with “The Good Ship Lifestyle,” which, when listened to today, sounds like a critique of Instagram, and influencer culture.

According to the band, the 1997 song was a criticism of “lifestylism,” which they defined as – “The practice of wrapping yourself in a blinkered, self-perfecting, ideologically-sound cocoon … (The captain) makes pronouncements on how other people should live, but doesn’t keep his own rules.”

So, yeah, they predicted Instagram … in 1997.

“Drip, Drip, Drip”

 

If I told you there’s a killer pop-rock song railing against landlords in the UK, would you believe me?

The third single off Tubthumper (following “Tubthumping,” and “Amnesia”), many – including radio – had moved on from Chumbawamba by the time “Drip, Drip, Drip” was released, and because of that we missed out on a remarkably catchy song that takes aim at those who use property ownership to take advantage of others.

“Mary, Mary”

 

Sounding like it was tailor made for ‘90s nightclubs, “Mary, Mary” will have you dancing to lyrics about women’s sexual liberation.

In a written statement about the song, the band said, “Feminism doesn’t mean being anti-sex with a sense of humor by-pass; some of us are demanding the right to be sexual and safe. Saintly womanhood leaves a lot to be desired. It can be boring and lonely on a pedestal. And growing old doesn’t mean growing more conventional – women of every age want a revolution they can dance to.”

With “Mary, Mary,” Chumbawamba gave women – and everyone – a Dance Dance Revolution more than a decade before DDR made its way into arcades.

Until next time, here’s to discovering more great music from one hit wonders!