Still thumping after all these years

Featuring Danbert Nobacon, Alice Nutter, Boff and Lou Watts from Burnley, the quartet make up half the anarchist group, best known for the massive hit single, 'Tub Thumping', and soaking the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in ice cold water.

Born in the early Eighties, out of a shared household in backwater Leeds, they were a punk rock reaction to Thatcherite Britain, and the blandness of the New Wave scene.

Even from their first incarnation of Danbert, Boff and fellow Burnley boy Midge Hartley, they wanted to be something different from the rest.

Having witnessed how the punk movement empowered the youth of their generation, and seen the success of Pendle's The Notsensibles, they were inspired to form the band they'd always wanted to be in.

Danbert said: "When I was at school I dreamt about playing heavy metal guitar, but I thought you had to be a musician to do it, so I never even tried. But then the Sex Pistols and punk came along, everyone was doing it and you didn't even have to be any good. We couldn't play but just wanted to be in a band."

So after spending the summer of '81 improving their skills on a busking tour around France, they returned home to open their live account at the unlikely venue of Colne's Hendley Hotel.

With a small crowd of family and friends packed into the intimate room, they stumbled through a Crass-influenced set, wearing dresses and swapping instruments between every song.

Alice -- who was in the audience -- said: "They were really serious. I was at the front just trying to muscle my way on stage. They were good. And I came away I thinking they were interesting. But I didn't understand it."

Clearly impressed, within a year Alice had joined the band, along with Lou, and Harry Hamer. With Dunstan Bruce and Mavis Dillion not far behind, the multi-member outfit began to take shape.

Their first single 'Revolution' was an explosive affair. Opening with the intro from John Lennon's Imagine, you then heard the classic single being ripped off the turntable and smashed up.

The lyrics too proved that the fledgling group were not afraid of courting controversy. Included on the single were the lines: "The history books from every age, Have the same words on every page, Always starting with revolution, Always ending with capitulation, Always silenced by the truncheon or bought out with concessions, Always repetition.."

It was a dynamic, political outburst that planted the Chumbawamba flag firmly on the map.

Veteran Radio DJ John Peel was so impressed he awarded the track the Number six spot in his 1985 festive 50.

Wanting to be different on their second single, 'We are the World', the band taped 50 pence to each record with a note saying, 'this is a bribe, give it a good review or we want our money back'.

Never afraid to hit out at what they saw as legitimate targets, even the legendary Clash fell foul of the band's wrath when they were plastered in red paint during a show in Leeds.

But the incident, which was born more out of frustration with major record labels than with the band itself, doesn't rank among their favourite memories.

Alice said: "I think there are points in our history when we were moralistic twerps.

"Sometimes I look back on stuff we've done and if we hadn't done them, we wouldn't be the band we are today.

"But sometimes I look back at myself and think, 'what a prat!'. I'm not embarrassed about it, it was of its time, but if we had our time around again I wouldn't do that again. It's not even about being older and wiser, I think we've just learned to choose our targets better now."

Having been prepared to move with the times they remained musically relevent by constantly trying out new styles and ideas.

Boff said: " Like that Clash thing, a lot of our music was of its time, as opposed to most music nowadays. I like Travis, but they've always sounded like Travis and they always will.

"Whereas with Chumbawamba, you think that was great we did that in1987 or '91, it might sound awful now, but yet it reflects that year."

By the mid-nineties their political ideals were being packaged inside lush, sugar coated melodies, ready for mass consumption.

But their then label -- One Little Indian -- turned their backs on the demos and parted company with the band.

Boff said: "It was a bit weird because we still had to finish our album and we'd no money, so it was like going back to being a weekend band again."

Keeping faith in the music, they eventually signed to EMI, with the 'Tub Thumper' album going on to sell five million copies worldwide.

Still amazed even today by the record's overwhelming success, the financial gain meant for the first time the band members were able to buy their own homes as well as helping the organisations they supported.

And with that chart success came the invitation to appear at the now legendary 1998 Brit Awards.

Having turned down the initial offers to perform, they had a change of heart when they realised the performance could be used as a political stage.

If they won anything, a Liverpool docker and his wife would have used the acceptance speech time, to say what had happened to them.

But as it became clear they weren't going to collect an award and with John Prescott so close the band realised that although they would not get on to the stage, they could still cause a stir.

Wound up by the whole evening, when Tony Blair appeared on a big TV screen, Alice hurled abuse at him through the megaphones they'd been using for their performance. With no obvious response from security staff and spotting handily placed ice buckets the band took their chance to confront the Deputy Prime Minister.

Danbert said: "I jumped on his table and as I did Alice and Paul got him from behind so he got absolutely soaked. He shook me off the table and I made a break for it."

This one act did more to promote the name Chumbawamba than anything they've done before or since. Pictures of the incident appeared in virtually every national newspaper. Their actions even became the subject of TV and radio discussion programmes.

But although most of the publicity they received was negative and the band suffered from a media backlash, they have no regrets about soaking the Deputy PM.

Boff said: "The only thing that upset us was when they started printing stuff about Dan and how his real name is Nigel and that he grew up in this nice house in Burnley, so therefore he must be posh. Which is funny because you can call him any insult you want but he definitely isn't posh."

Now the band have their tenth album completed and ready to go. And although they no longer share the same communal home, they remain an attractive force on the underbelly of the British scene, with a strong sense of humour that's often overshadowed.

Boff said: "Because we talk about politics, when people come and interview us we often end up looking deadpan and boring. When really our whole working like is spent laughing at each other and the situations around us. "

Alice concluded: "Really we can't believe our luck.

"To have been for together for 20 years, to have been able to make all those public statements and to be involved in something creative has been really fulfilling."