‘60 Songs That Explain the ’90s’: “Tubthumping” and the Chart-Topping Anarchists

Grunge. Wu-Tang Clan. Radiohead. “Wonderwall.” The music of the ’90s was as exciting as it was diverse. But what does it say about the era—and why does it still matter? 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s is back for 30 final episodes (and a brand-new book!) to try to answer those questions. Join Ringer music writer and ’90s survivor Rob Harvilla as he treks through the soundtrack of his youth, one song (and embarrassing anecdote) at a time. Follow and listen for free on Spotify. In Episode 96 of 60 Songs That Explain the ’90s—yep, you read that right—we’re covering Chumbawamba and “Tubthumping.” Below is an excerpt of this episode’s transcript.

This week we are discussing “Tubthumping,” by Chumbawamba, from their 1997 album Tubthumper. “Tubthumping” is the song; Tubthumper is the album. Chumbawamba’s eighth studio album, by the way. Eighth. The lineup situation here is gonna get super chaotic super fast, so I’m doing this once, and I’m doing it now: In 1997, when “Tubthumping” turns into this super-bonkers hit, and Chumbawamba get a full feature in Rolling Stone in early 1998, at their peak, Chumbawamba consists of Dunstan Bruce on vocals and percussion (he’s the “whiskey drink, vodka drink” guy); Lou Watts on vocals and keyboards (she’s the “pissing the night away” lady); Alice Nutter on vocals and percussion; Danbert Nobacon on vocals (that’s what I said); Boff Whalley on guitar and vocals; Harry Hamer on drums; Jude Abbott on trumpet and vocals (she’s important); and finally Paul Greco on bass. That’s circa 1997, but this band formed in 1982. This band formed two years before Airwolf premiered. Is “formed” the right word? Do anarchist pop-provocateur collectives “form”?

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Let’s dispense with two major Chumbawamba talking points immediately. We have discussed on this program, many times, my personal distaste for the term One-Hit Wonder, on account of that term’s rudeness, but “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba, in a deliberate, proud, defiant way, is the apex of the One-Hit Wonder. This is as random, as unlikely, as discordant, as provocative, as wondrous as the whole One-Hit Wonder racket gets. “Tubthumping” peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. The no. 1 song in America the week “Tubthumping” peaked at no. 6 was Elton John’s new version of “Candle in the Wind,” released as a tribute to Princess Diana, following Princess Diana’s death in a car accident on August 31, 1997. The full spectrum of English political sentiment, from royalist to anarchist, provided by two of the six biggest songs in America in late 1997. Remarkable. However weird 1997 felt to you at the time, it was so much weirder.

The second major Chumbawamba point is this whole bitchy “do anarchist collectives form” business. Yes, Chumbawamba identified as, and very much operated as, anarchists. Chaos agents. Subversives. Tricksters. Yes, indeed, pop provocateurs. Raging against the machine, and eventually raging against the machine from within the machine. Yes, Chumbawamba also put out their eighth album, Tubthumper, on a major label, and indeed Tubthumper the album peaks at no. 3 on the Billboard album chart. That is some wild shit. Tubthumper the album charting higher than “Tubthumping” the song is fucking wild to me. That is some pre-Napster shit right there. This album sold 3.2 million copies in America, primarily—and this is rude, but come on—primarily because people wanted to hear one song. At one point in January 1998, the three biggest albums in America were by Céline Dion, Garth Brooks, and Chumbawamba. Mase was fourth. What the fuck?

So, yes. Anarchists with a hit song on a major label: That’s noteworthy. That’s ironic. That’s hypocritical. Calling it hypocritical is a little rude, but yeah. Rude but fair. The 85 percent of rock critics, particularly U.K. rock critics, who’ve said such rude things about Chumbawamba, the political aspect, the irony/hypocrisy is a big part of the critical beef here. Though not all of the critical beef, necessarily. Chumbawamba’s music can also be, uh, quite polarizing. Definitely no one will get mad at me for trying to do this, so let’s briefly at least try to put Chumbawamba in some sort of historical context. In 1978, the English anarchist pop collective Crass, from the town of Epping in Essex, put out their debut album, The Feeding of the 5000, a splendid biblical title for a defiantly unbiblical band. This album does not peak at no. 3 on the Billboard album chart. Here’s a crabby little tune called “Do They Owe Us a Living?”

Well, that settles that.

In that documentary Well Done, Now Sod Off, an early Chumbawamba collaborator says, “Underpants were commonly owned.” End quote. An early Chumbawamba lineup performs in support of the U.K. miners’ strike that starts in 1984. In that 2000 documentary, the drummer Harry Hamer says, “Y’know, on stage I don’t think it looked like we were having fun early on. It was our duty to be on stage.” At first they don’t know how to play their instruments; at first they don’t know how to tune their instruments and they’re unaware that they’re supposed to. They scrounge, they gig around, they learn to tune, they pass around their underwear, and they put out their debut album in 1986 and call it Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records. That’s what it’s called. Holy shit, dude.

Holy shit, dude. This is the first song on the first Chumbawamba record, which I will remind you is called Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records. I made the mistake of playing this in the minivan and then I had to explain that album title to my kids. This song is called “How to Get Your Band on TV.” I am inferring, from this song, and from this album title, that Chumbawamba are not fans of Live Aid, the 1985 global pop superstar charity phenomenon. This song is also known as “Slag Aid.” This song, man. This song is the dictionary definition of They Didn’t Have to Go That Hard.

You know how 50 Cent’s career starts blowing up when he puts out that song “How to Rob,” which is just 50 Cent rapping about robbing various ultra-famous rappers with a charisma that makes clear that soon he will himself be an ultra-famous rapper? That’s not quite what’s happening here, but that’s like 5 percent what’s happening here, and 5 percent of that energy applied to these precise circumstances is plenty.

Gobful of shite is a phrase, and an image, that will reoccur in the Chumbawamba catalog, and that image illustrates the level of subtlety and maturity with which Chumbawamba will be operating from this moment forward. This is “punk rock” in spirit but not in sound, necessarily; Chumbawamba are pretty much never trying to sound like Crass or the Ex or whoever. The bright, broad, whimsical, circus-y, Looney Tunes-ass, pop-adjacent sound here is also the mode in which Chumbawamba will be operating from this moment forward.

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