now, Chumbawamba had signed to EMI. when the announcement of their signing hit the internet-mailing-list in mid-June of 1997, most fans and long-time supporters were astonished, to say the least. not all of them seemed to care too much, though, as it took some time for the mailing-list to "explode with discussion", a discussion fuelled mainly by the dissenting view of one person, Ryan Bagueros, who condemns Chumbawamba for signing to EMI and claims that they have "sold out" - a view that is shared by maybe some more members of the "anarchist community" than Chumbawamba would like to think.

why could it possibly matter what label Chumbawamba chose to release their album on ? most "new" listeners to CW might ask themselves, what's the big deal here, anyway ? is it at all important what label CW are on ? and if so, why do some people make THAT big a fuss about it ? there are several things to consider.

EMI is a multinational company, like most "major" record companies, but it is one with a special history. it was not only condemned by Chumbawamba before (who appeared on a "FUCK EMI"-compilation album) because of their direct ties to arms-manufacturer THORN (info was on Ryan's Anti-Chumba-EMI Page which doesn't exist anymore), but it also has a history of attacking internet-resources like OLGA* or even this site*, the contents of which were deemed "too critical of EMI" - simply for stating that EMI won't allow soundfiles be made available here. And then there's also the famous Sex Pistols-debacle in 1977. EMI is probably the best symbol for the EVIL that is capitalism.

on the other hand, the album that EMI released, Chumbawamba's "Tubthumper" was released exactly the way Chumbawamba wanted it to be. (note: this is not true for the USA, where the label there, Universal, asked Chumbawamba to leave out relevant info in the booklet for copyright-reasons and bleeped out the swear-words. certainly a mistake on Chumbawamba's part to agree to this, but it probably says more about the "land of the free" than it says about Chumbawamba.) so, there is no connection between the seemingly "watered-down" politics of "Tubthumper" (something that is, at least in conjuction with the info given in the album's booklet, debatable - the band will certainly not agree) and the signing to a major label. other labels asked to release "Tubthumper" have refused or wanted corrections - including the "indie label" One Little Indian. interestingly enough, EMI UK were not too keen on signing CW in the beginning either and told them they were a "hopeless case" but signed them later for the UK after their german counterpart made the first step.

then of course, there is Chumbawamba's massive success in areas of the world that had never heard of Chumbawamba before. whether this is an argument for anything, has not been convincingly answered by anyone. Chumbawamba have previously stated: "I've too often heard rebel bands excuse their participation with big business by saying 'we'll get across to more people.' " (alice nutter, quoted on Ryan's Page*) but they have also said: "if you're into pop culture, if you're into popular culture, you have to have at least have some amount of popularity, otherwise it's a bit meaningless." (boff, in an interview 1997) it is obvious that they have tried to use the opportunities given to them by the mass media, that only recognise them because of their seemingly "meaningless" hit-single, to promote their anarchist ideas. there's the "Loveline"-appearance*, some internet chats, countless radio interviews and numerous newspaper-articles that always note the "unfashionable politics" to prove that. there's also the infamous appearance on "Letterman" where they chanted "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal"* and apparently, some of the money made with Tubthumper is going to some campaign for mumia's freedom. whether any of this helpful in actually promoting the idea of a different society, might be doubtful. on the other hand, it should be obvious that trying to change the world by being in a popband is not likely to be a very successful attempt.

however, the question remains "how much ideas can be expressed in popmusic ?" Chumbawamba try to express dissenting views by using mainstream techniques. what are the odds of an average listener being able to tell the difference between "spice up your life" and "Tubthumping", if the two are played one after another on daytime-radio ? probably not very good. it goes further, though, as Chumbawamba's "radical" background is used by their german record company to sell an "outrageously different" product. they will go as far as using a slogan to promote Chumbawamba that goes against everything Chumbawamba stand for ("money is better than sex...") when confronted with this, Chumbawamba's reaction was one of absolute anger and disbelief. this probably goes to show two things: firstly, Chumbawamba were naive in thinking they could use EMI to get "their message" across and it is impossible for a band to control everything that surrounds them, once they are met with rather surprising success - and secondly, that EMI will do anything to contradict the politics of Chumbawamba, because no matter how much money it makes EMI, they are still uncomfortable with them. popmusic might not be the best medium to get "meaning" across, but on the other hand, numerous people have had their first exposure to "different views" (to put it as mildly as possible) through "sell-out" artists like the clash or billy bragg.

make of this what you will.

"i like it cos it's got contradictions." (alice nutter, brussels, 16-11-97)

additional infos:

EMI signing: announcement

EMI's attack on this site:

The EMI webmaster called on Michael to remove the statement "I would like to put them [sound files] online but EMI has the policy not to allow sound or video files of their bands on other pages than their own." because "it sounds like the big bad record company" and said that "you won't get anything anymore if you don't remove this". This is funny because a) these are exactly the same words which he used when asked if it was ok to put sound files online and b) there is an additional info about the sound files on the EMI site. Maybe sometimes the truth is hard to swallow.

OLGA = OnLine Guitar Archive at http://www.olga.net

An Archive, where guitar chords for numerous songs can be found. since all these are copyright-protected, record companies including EMI have attempted to have these archives shut down, but most are still available. the archives are for private use only. A shut down site can be found at http://www.ep.cs.nott.ac.uk/~pkn/music_search/

Loveline-Appearance:

"Loveline" is a nationally-syndicated, two-hour radio talk show in the United States, hosted by Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew. Ostensibly, it's a place for young people to phone in and get direct answers to their questions about sex and drugs.
It's really a pretty amusing and (sometimes) educational radio show. They frequently have bands and/or television stars as guests. Alice and Dunst were the featured guests on 03 November 1997. Adam's first question to them was, "So I understand you guys are anarchists. What's up with that?" This gave Alice and Dunst a really nice opportunity to explain the basics of anarchism to the millions of mainstream teenagers who had tuned in because they liked "that cool song about drinking and getting knocked down." But Adam was a prick about their politics throughout the entire show, arguing that Americans don't want equality or justice, they just want to get rich themselves.