Invariably, one of the catchiest songs of the nineties, Tubthumping by Chumbawamba was and still is so much more than just a raucous drinking song that epitomised the nineties.
At almost 28 years old, it remains ubiquitous as ever and is a mainstay played at parties, sporting events and to gee up concert goers awaiting their musical heroes at gigs.
Released in 1997, Tubthumping went to number two in the UK singles chart and peaked at number six in the US. It was also a top 10 hit in New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Canada.
Tubthumping is a song of perseverance that belongs to everyone; from supporters at football matches to athletes, mothers, teenagers and more. The band and song were an overnight success after the release of the track in August 1997, however, Chumawamba had existed for almost 20 years prior to delivering their biggest hit, which was widely regarded as a one-hit wonder.
Who were Chumbawamba?
The song marked a pivotal moment for the group as they tried to pave a way forward in the music industry after forming in 1982. Chumbawamba had never hit the big time, enjoying only limited success with a small but infinitely loyal following, which was soon to be alienated by the band’s life-changing decision.
After no real commercial success, the band were thrown a lifeline in the shape of a record deal with EMI in Germany, who offered them £100,000 to sign and release the unreleased track Tubthumping. This was a surprising outcome, especially bearing in mind the band had smeared blood on the outside of the EMI building in the late 80s.
Chumbawamba were an underground band known for their socialist views and the idea of signing for a corporate like EMI caused controversy, not only between the band members themselves, but to their fanbase too who felt that they had sold their souls to the devil who accused them of turning their backs on their long-standing stance of anarchism and independent culture.
Their existing record label wasn’t interested in Tubthumping, so the band contemplated whether to jump ship to go with EMI or to stick with the status quo. The band decided to stick their necks out and go for it instead of ‘treading water’, and after a punk-infused rework, the band released Tubthumping to great commercial success.
Win two tickets to Polygon Live, the UK’s first immersive music festival
Metro has teamed up to give away 20 pairs of tickets to Polygon Live LDN, a unique new festival taking place in London’s Crystal Palace Park from 2-4 May 2025.
Blending light and spatial sound, the 360º immersive festival has a stellar lineup including popular artists such as Max Cooper, Jon Hopkins and Tinariwen, as well as the likes of Arooj Aftab and Photay.
For a chance to win an incredible day out at this UK-first festival for you and a friend, simply enter your details here.
You have until midnight on 18 April 2025 to enter. Good luck!
*Open to GB (excluding N. Ireland) residents aged 18 or over. Promotion open from 12:01 on 02/04/2025 and closes at 23:59 on 18/04/2025. 1 entry per person. 20 prizes of 2x General Admission Single Day tickets to attend 1 day of Polygon Live LDN 2025 at Crystal Palace Park, valid for either Friday 2 May 2025, Saturday 3 May 2025 or Sunday 4 May 2025. 1 entry per person.
Full T&Cs apply, see here. Full Polygon T&Cs apply to entry and attendance, see here.
From squatting in abandoned homes in Leeds to enjoying unprecedented success and international exposure, the band went from zero to a hundred and the members of Chumbawamba became overnight celebrities, with the irony being that they were a band that had existed for almost 20 years previously away from the glare of the mainstream media.
Chumbawamba’s reputation was not only synonymous with the perennially catchy Tubthumping but also with their outrageous and headline-making antics, which resulted in one of the most dramatic moments at the Brit Awards ever after they had performed the band’s hit single Tubthumping.
Politician soaking antics
Band member Danbert Nobacon infamously poured iced water on the head of John Prescott, the then-Deputy Prime Minister, who was attending the Brits with his wife Pauline. John was completely soaked and expressed his outrage at the incident.
What was Danbert’s rationale for h20gate? He was protesting about the government sending the Liverpool dock workers ‘down the river’ and in solidarity with the Liverpool Dockworkers’ Strike, used the water chucking incident as less of a mere publicity stunt and more of a ‘metaphor for the underdog pissing on the steps of Downing Street’.
The dockers’ plight became a symbol of working-class struggles that New Labour were seen as neglecting and Chumbawamba’s most famous song personified their plights with the lyrics: ‘I get knocked down. But I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down.’
John later described the incident as ‘utterly contemptible’ and was seriously considering pressing charges against Danbert for the deliberate and symbolic protest.
Revealing in a statement issued shortly after the incident, the defiant drummer stated: ‘We were there to highlight the hypocrisy of a music industry that celebrates rebellion while selling conformity. If we were going to be part of that spectacle, we were going to make it count.’
Unapologetic and steadfast in their views, the band refused to bow down to EMI’s demands and
20 years on from the incident, Danbert told Punknews.org: ‘At that time, Prescott had the perception of being a working class guy because he used to be a merchant seaman.
‘But at that very point in time he personally was selling out the Liverpool dock workers who had been on strike and sending them down the river, so it was a protest about that.
‘The record company said, “You gotta apologise to Mr. Prescott’s wife!” We were like, “No way, we’re not sorry for what we did”.
‘The record company sent flowers to them but we refused to apologise.’
Danbert was widely criticised for his behaviour and no more so than by Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker – who disrupted Michael Jackson’s performance at the Brits two years previously – who said: ‘If we [the band] didn’t like being in the music industry, we should go and do something else instead!’
Politics, punk and protest
Of course, the Brit Awards stage was not the only incident where Chumbawamba delivered a political message, the band also had run-ins with politicians and parties in the years that followed.
Most notably, in 2011, they called on the then-leader of UKIP Nigel Farage to stop using Tubthumping at their party conference. The band expressed their ‘total and absolute outrage and horror’ with band member Dunstan Bruce stating that he was ‘absolutely appalled that this grubby little organisation are stealing our song to use for their own ends’ adding that if the party were to use it again, they would ‘consider legal action’.
UKIP were not the only political figureheads who misunderstood Chumbawamba’s anarchist leanings; New Zealand deputy prime minister Winston Peters clashed with the band last year when they demanded that he stopped using Tubthumping at his political rallies and events.
Vehemently opposing the populist politician’s agenda, Chumbawamba’s lead guitarist Boff Whalley revealed that the band did not give Peters permission to use the song and unequivocally does not endorse any of Peters’ ideas on race relations and other divisive subjects.
He said: ‘Chumbawamba wrote the song Tubthumping as a song of hope and positivity, so it seems entirely odd that the “I get knocked down …” refrain is being used by New Zealand’s deputy prime minister Winston Peters as he barks his divisive, small-minded, bigoted policies during his recent speeches.’
Peters disputed this and blamed the hullabaloo on what he called a ‘leftie shill reporter’, although it was reported that the band intended to issue the party with a cease and desist notice.
Boff Whalley has said that the song didn’t belong to politicians, but it belonged to the people, saying it belonged to… ‘People at football matches, people singing along to the radio as they drove, people at parties drinking too much whiskey and tripping over the kitchen chairs. People like me.’
Backlash, nudity and the press
Politicians weren’t the only people given the Chumbawamba treatment; the group became synonymous with their outrageous and controversial escapades, such as when Danbert Nobacon stripped naked and danced on stage during the Smashing Pumpkins set with the word ‘PUNK’ scrawled across his chest and got subsequently banned from German TV.
Percussionist Alice Nutter declared that she didn’t care if fans shoplifted the band’s record which resulted in Virgin Megastores pulling the record from their shelves. This wasn’t her first rodeo when it came to courting controversy, as while the band had made their views on the police crystal clear, Alice took it to the next level when she told Melody Maker that ‘We laugh every time a cop gets killed’.
Dunstan revealed that as soon as she said that ‘she knew she’d taken it as far as she could’ and the band’s record company were forced to apologise and the band attempted to circulate out a fake press release where they pretended Alice had been kicked out of the band.
They got knocked down…
As the 90s drew to a close, Chumbawamba were on a downward spiral into irrelevance and were unceremoniously dumped by their record label. After almost 30 years performing as an anarchist collective, the band parted ways in 2012 and despite their best efforts, their off-stage antics somewhat overshadowed the music itself.
However, the cultural reference of Tubthumping and the lyrics ‘I get knocked down and I get up again’ cleverly delivered an explicitly anarchist message into the mainstream music industry.
Disguised in the shape of an earworm hit that was camouflaged with shimmering guitars, funky horns, and that anthemic chorus proved to be a winning formula, even if their most loved hit was their only hit.
The band had no regrets with frontman Dunstan Bruce told The Guardian in 2016: ‘The song changed everything. Before Tubthumping, I felt we were in a mess. We had become directionless and disparate. It’s not our most political or best song, but it brought us back together. The song is about us – as a class and as a band. The beauty of it was we had no idea how big it would be.’
He added: ‘I still really like Tubthumping. I don’t feel embarrassed by it at all. I know some bands who hate their songs being popular, but I just think, “Get off your high horse!” The whole point of art is to have an audience.’
While many will remember Chumbawamba’s notoriety over several of their press-worthy incidents, Dunstan raises a great point that love it or hate it, Tubthumping is still a song that is played again and again and it stands the test of time.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: 2025 breakout star Lola Young runs off stage over illness mid-Coachella performance
MORE: Unseen Pink Floyd footage before they found global fame unearthed after 50 years
MORE: Robbie Williams admits he ‘treats his body badly’ in heartbreaking statement
#Chumbawambas #working #class #anthem #90s #sparked #political #chaos
