FIRST-RATE PROTEST POP

Chumbawamaba have been with us now for 25 years, releasing a whole bundle of singles and albums that have tried to raise awareness for all sorts of just causes and campaigns. Some folk get awfully annoyed by Chumbawamba that they take life far too seriously, but any band that is prepared to tackle issues as diverse as domestic violence, religion, racism, fascism, war, homosexuality, pop culture, resistance, working class rights, and consumerism in pop songs is all right by me.

Not that I'll claim to own all that many of their records on CD or vinyl, and I reckon this 1993 offering was the first to find its way into the collection.

It was a joint single with Credit To The Nation, which was in fact a teenage UK hip-hop singer called Matty Hanson aka DJ Fusion with two backing dancers. They had come to the fore earlier in the year thanks to the chart success of Call It What You Want, a single which sampled Smells Like Teen Spirit....something which got many in the press who worshipped Nirvana all hot and bothered under the collar.

This anti-fascism single, released at a time when right-wing politicians were rearing their ugly heads all over Europe, reached the Top 75 despite a lack of support from radio stations. Different versions of the b-sides can be found on their own separate albums:-

mp3 : Chumbawamba & Credit To The Nation - Enough Is Enough
mp3 : Chumbawamba & Credit To The Nation - Hear No Bullshit (On Fire Mix)
mp3 : Chumbawamba & Credit To The Nation - The Day The Nazi Died (1993 mix)

And here's the video (which I had never seen before having a search for it two minutes ago):-



Happy Listening, and viewing.