Tubthumper

Tubthumper is an album by the band Chumbawamba, and is the album that catapulted them into the mainstream, released by EMI Electrola GmbH and in the US by Universal Records. Many of the tracks address specific social issues, such as homelessness, the Liverpool Dockers' Strike or racism; a fair number of them express the far-left critiques of British liberals in "New Labour," which started in 1994. Tubthumper was the band's first major commercial success, and remains their most successful album, selling over 3 million units in the United States alone, largely on the strength of the hit lead single "Tubthumping". Cover design for the album was by Michael Calleia at Industrial Strength Design in New York City.

EMI controversy

Tubthumper caused a huge upheaval in Chumbawamba's fan base, with many of their older fans feeling the band had trivialised all that they had stood for in signing to EMI Electrola. The band was targeted by many as being sell-outs and hypocrites, after having been sternly Do-it-Yourself (DIY) for their fifteen year history up until this point (when people cite this fact, however, they do tend to overlook that for many years, Chumbawamba were signed to a smaller commercial label, One Little Indian Records, and the fact that it was distributed by major label London Records).

The band's actions were made the subject of a compilation EP released in 1998 entitled The Anti-Chumbawamba EP, featuring music from other English acts. One of the songs from the EP was once available to download on the Chumbawamba official website, with accompanying text from the band stating, "It's all true."

Dunstan Bruce and Danbert Nobacon are shown reading hate mail from various fans and ex-fans in the 2000 Chumbawamba documentary, Well Done Now Sod Off. The letters are quite rude and severely critical of the actions undertaken by the band, with Nobacon having trouble finishing one letter and exclaiming his amazement at the harshness.

The band's official FAQ has the following to say on the subject: "We signed to EMI/Universal not because we'd been co-opted into the 'If you can't beat capitalism... join it' school of thought, but because experience had taught us that in a capitalist environment almost every record company operates on capitalist principles. Our previous record label One Little Indian didn't have the evil symbolic significance of EMI Electrola BUT they were completely motivated by profit. Our [Chumbawamba's] position was that whoever we signed with would want us not for our ideas but for the potential profit, so we'd battle for a contract where we still had autonomy."

Track listing

All songs written and arranged by Chumbawamba

1. "Tubthumping" – 4:39
2. "Amnesia" – 4:08
3. "Drip, Drip, Drip" – 5:08
4. "The Big Issue" – 4:37
5. "The Good Ship Lifestyle" – 5:13
6. "One by One" – 4:45
7. "Outsider" – 5:08
8. "Creepy Crawling" – 4:03
9. "Mary, Mary" – 4:58
10. "Smalltown" – 3:13
11. "I Want More" – 4:01
12. "Scapegoat" – 5:07

Bonus tracks on some versions

• "Farewell to the Crown" - 2:56
• "Football Song" - 2:25
• "Seven Days" - 4:07
• "May Day" - 3:51
• "Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé)" – 3:49

Personnel

• Lou Watts: vocals, keyboards
• Danbert Nobacon: vocals
• Paul Greco: bass
• Boff: guitar, vocals
• Jude Abbott: trumpet, vocals
• Alice Nutter: vocals
• Dunstan Bruce: vocals, percussion
• Harry Hamer: drums, programming

with

• Neil Ferguson: keyboards, guitars

also featuring

• Chopper: cello on "I Want More"
• Michael Cohen: vocal on "Amnesia"
• Abbott Sauce Works Band: brass on "Scapegoat"
• Kye Coles: vocals on "Thank You"