Pop Will Eat Itself

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Pop Will Eat Itself
Pop Will Eat Itself - Thekla May 2015 (18224165865).jpg
Pop Will Eat Itself in 2015
Background information
Also known as
  • PWEI
  • The Poppies
Origin Stourbridge, West Midlands, England
Genres Grebo (earlier); industrial rock (later)
Years active1986–1996, 2005, 2010–present
Labels RCA, Infectious, Nothing
Members
Past members

Pop Will Eat Itself are an English alternative rock band formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. Initially known as a grebo act, they changed style to incorporate sample-driven indie and industrial rock. [1] [2] Graham Crabb describes their sound as "electronic, punk, alternative hip-hop, hybrid music for fucking, fighting & smoking cigars". Their highest-charting single was the 1993 top-ten hit "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!". [3] After initially disbanding in 1996, and having a brief reformation in 2005, they issued their first release in more than five years in 2010.

Contents

Career

Early years: 1981–1988

An early permutation of the band formed in 1981 under the name From Eden. Members included Clint Mansell, Adam Mole, Chris Fradgley, Malcolm Treece and Miles Hunt (Treece and Hunt went on to form The Wonder Stuff). From Eden recruited Graham Crabb from 'Kit-Form Colossus' to replace Hunt on drums before splitting up.

Crabb, Mole and Mansell recruited Richard March and changed their band name to Wild and Wandering (known locally as Blind and Blundering because they always performed in an intoxicated state). [1] The name came from a Wasted Youth album under which one E.P. was released (2,000 Light Ales from Home on Iguana Records) before eventually becoming Pop Will Eat Itself in 1986. The new name was taken from a quotation in an NME article on Jamie Wednesday by David Quantick. [2]

First single: "Poppies Say Grrr!" and tour

In 1986, the band released the "Poppies Say Grrr!" single, which became Single of the Week in the NME and played by Janice Long on BBC Radio 1 [1] and in the Midlands by John Slater on BRMB Radio. The single was sold in a brown paper bag and was made available for sale at Martin Newsagents in Stourbridge High Street as well as from the home of one of the band.

With their new-found popularity, the band set off on a six-week tour of Europe, often encountering hostility at the set length being less than half an hour, even though this comprised around 16 tracks: all the band had.

Influences

During this time the band was listening to more hip hop (Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys) as well as music from a new emerging movement of sample-heavy dance records (The Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu, MARRS, S'Express and Bomb the Bass).

After hearing Robert Gordon's remix of their cover of Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11" and Age of Chance's mini-LP Crush Collision (also engineered by Gordon), the band glimpsed their future as hip-hop/dance/rock music pioneers and decided to record their debut album Box Frenzy with Gordon at Sheffield's FON studios in June/July 1987. It was here the band met The Designers Republic, which was to be the start of a very successful partnership. The album came out on manager Craig Jennings' Chapter 22 label. 'CJ' still manages the band to the present day, along with the roster at his firm, Raw Power Management.

The transition from punky guitar music to incorporating state-of-the-art production and new musical territories was not dissimilar to a path previously trodden by one of the band's musical heroes The Clash and subsequently Big Audio Dynamite. The album surprised the band's fans and perplexed the music critics. Crabb, now more immersed in sample-finding and songwriting, moved from behind the drum kit to being a co-vocalist with Mansell and was replaced by a drum machine called Dr. Nightmare. [2] March took on programming duties and became the band expert on all things Atari and Akai. "Beaver Patrol", a cover of the Wilde Knights song, (suggested to the band by Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream), caused some controversy for its offensive lyrics but "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore" made the lower reaches of the UK charts and as a result, PWEI were signed to the record label RCA. Whilst much confusion ensued around the dramatic change of direction, PWEI secured a first by being the first Western independent band to be invited to play the then-Soviet Union. [2] [4]

Chart success

The band achieved Top 40 hits with "Can U Dig It?" and "Wise Up! Sucker" from their album, This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! [1] In late 1988 PWEI were invited by Rush Management to support Run DMC on their European tour. Main support act Public Enemy were becoming increasingly popular and had a large and militant following who booed off all support acts, in particular, PWEI, who agreed to leave the tour when the situation deteriorated in Amsterdam.

The RCA years: 1989–1993

They released three albums on RCA. The first two (…This is This! and Cure for Sanity) were recorded with the aid of Flood, known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, U2 and Depeche Mode. The band toured extensively in the UK, Europe, and US, including appearances at Reading Festival. Their singles charted progressively higher, with every single release charting inside the UK Top Forty from 1990 until their final single release in 1994.

On 1992's The Looks or the Lifestyle? the band recruited John "Fuzz" Townshend as their drummer to complement their pre-programmed drums. The band had discussed adding a live drummer in 1990, but touring commitments made it impractical to do so until the band were able to break touring activity in late 1991 to commence recording. The album peaked at UK No. 15 and featured the Top 30 hit singles "Karmadrome" and "Bulletproof!" [1] [2] Despite healthy sales and widescale touring the band's biggest supporters at RCA had left the company by January 1993 and the remaining executives did not understand the band or their music, suggesting at one meeting that EMF 'write a hit' for them. [5] The band was dropped from the label before the "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!" single was released. It went on to peak at number 9 in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's biggest hit and making the band at that time the highest charting act to appear on Top of the Pops without a record deal. In an attempt to recoup their investment, the label released a live album Live at Weird's Bar and Grill recorded in London in October 1992. [1]

Industrial influence: 1994–1995

PWEI's political stance became more explicit with the release of the single "Ich Bin Ein Auslander". A collaboration with Asian group Fun-Da-Mental, the song had anti-Nazi styled lyrics and reached the UK Top 30. [1] A different version of this song later appeared as the opening track on the 1994 album, Dos Dedos Mis Amigos . The album peaked at No. 11 in the UK Albums Chart and spawned their then final single release, "Everything's Cool", which became their ninth Top 30 UK hit. [1] The band also collaborated with The Prodigy on the track "Their Law", featured in their breakthrough second album Music For The Jilted Generation . This track also had political content, serving as a protest against Great Britain's Criminal Justice And Public order Act 1994, which had criminalised rave culture. [6]

The band found some new popularity after signing with Trent Reznor's Nothing Records in the US, and touring with Nine Inch Nails, as well as having their songs used on the PlayStation game Loaded . In March 1995 the band released the Dos Dedos Mis Amigos remix album Two Fingers My Friends! which featured remixes by The Orb, Apollo 440 and Renegade Soundwave. Crabb left the band in 1995 - originally proposing to contribute in a non-touring capacity due to fatherhood - but the band replaced him with Kerry Hammond on guitar and backing vocals, with Mansell taking over full vocal duties. The band decided to split in May 1996, (with 12 songs recorded and mixed in a state of near completion), and toured the UK briefly in June 1996 with a final live show at Roskilde. At this point, their set contained several unreleased songs from the unfinished album. Two tracks from this period were released at the time, a cover version of Gary Numan's "Friends", released on the 1997 tribute album Random , and an instrumental track called "Zero Return" on a magazine sampler. In 2013, the songs from the unfinished album were assembled into a bonus disc with the reissue of "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos", comprising the 'unreleased 1996 album', now titled A Lick of the Old Cassette Box . [7]

Disbanded: 1996

Crabb concentrated on his ambient side project Golden Claw Musics. After the rest of the band split in 1996, March and Townshend went on to form the big beat band Bentley Rhythm Ace. [2] Townshend also released two solo albums and Mansell wrote film scores, including Requiem for a Dream , π , Doom , The Fountain , The Wrestler , Moon , and Black Swan .

Reformation: 2005

The band reformed to play their first gigs in eight years, in Nottingham, Birmingham, and London in January 2005. These gigs were notable for their Instant Live albums, whereby ten minutes after the completion of each gig, double live albums of the performance could be purchased.

The band released a preview of new material called Sonic Noise Byte on 4 November 2005, as a torrent download for members of their official website pweination. However, an announcement on the official website in March 2006 confirmed that Mansell and March would no longer be involved in the project due to other work commitments, effectively ending the PWEI reformation. The remaining band members continued as Vileevils, and released the tracks "Retro Dreaming" and "Street Fightin" for download via the pweination website.

A secret, one-night PWEI reunion was scheduled to happen at the Vileevils show at Stourbridge Rock Cafe on 9 June 2007, but was foiled when Mansell was unable to obtain a visa in time to fly back to the UK. [8] March still appeared at the show, and after the Vileevils set they played the planned PWEI songs, without Mansell.

Vileevils performed their final live date in December 2008 supporting Ned's Atomic Dustbin, before recording an unreleased album, which was cancelled prior to release in 2010. Some songs from this record were re-recorded for the 2011 Pop Will Eat Itself album New Noise Designed By A Sadist.

New PWEI: 2011–present

The 2012 incarnation of Pop Will Eat Itself performing live in Birmingham. Left to right: Davey Bennett (bass), Jason Bowld (drums), Graham Crabb (vocals), Mary Byker (vocals) PWEI2012.jpg
The 2012 incarnation of Pop Will Eat Itself performing live in Birmingham. Left to right: Davey Bennett (bass), Jason Bowld (drums), Graham Crabb (vocals), Mary Byker (vocals)

In July 2011, a new line-up was announced, featuring Graham Crabb (as the only original member), fellow vocalist Mary Byker (Gaye Bykers on Acid, Apollo 440, Pigface), guitarist Tim Muddiman (Gary Numan), drummer Jason Bowld (Pitchshifter, Killing Joke) and bassist Davey Bennett (This Burning Age). That October the album New Noise Designed by a Sadist was released on Cooking Vinyl, produced by Monti & Rob Holliday (Sulpher, The Prodigy) and was followed by a UK tour. The band further toured in March and December 2012. The single "Disguise" was featured as Radio 6 Breakfast Show 'Single of the Week' and an instrumental "Back to Business" was used on Top Gear. Crabb & Byker also guested on Soccer AM. The band began working on a remix album to complement New Noise Designed by a Sadist, but this project was discontinued in favour of the Watch the Bitch Blow EP. They toured the UK in December 2013 as one third of a triple bill featuring The Wonder Stuff and Jesus Jones.

The Watch the Bitch Blow EP was released in March 2014, through PledgeMusic, and the "Reclaim the Game (Funk FIFA)" single featuring Brazilian rapper BNegão (Planet Hemp) followed in June 2014 for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, as a protest song against FIFA. The album Anti-Nasty League was planned for release in September–October, but was delayed to fit in with the band's live schedule in 2015. It was released exclusively and independently through the band's shop: shop.popwilleatitself.net in April 2015. A 9-date UK tour was undertaken in May. In May, the band signed a publishing administration deal with Bucks Music Group for the ANL album only.

On 26 August 2016, PWEI headlined the opening day of Infest, with Fuzz Townshend rejoining on drums. Over the following years, they continued playing occasional concerts in the UK, with line-ups varying between shows to agree with the availability of the band members. In addition to Townshend, former band members Richard March and Adam Mole rejoined the band, resulting in a near original line-up by 2018.

Seven years after its original release, Anti-Nasty League was made available digitally on the band's official store and major music streaming and download services. Two months later, in June 2022, a new single, "The Poppies Strike Back", was released. A second, "Chihuahua", followed in September. It was the first new music to be released by the band since 2015's Anti-Nasty League aside from a 2018 box set compilation which included several unreleased remixes and a rough demo.

Vestan Pance

All PWEI songs were credited to Vestan Pance. It was a pseudonym for the band as a whole. Although the songs were mainly Crabb or Mansell compositions, using a pseudonym was considered more interesting than just "All songs by Pop Will Eat Itself". When Townshend joined the band, an attempt to change the name to 'Vestan Pance and Socks' was denied by RCA. [9]

Members

Former members

Timeline

Pop Will Eat Itself

Discography

Albums

YearAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
UK
[10] 		AUS
[11] 		US
[12]
1987 Box Frenzy ———
1989 This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! 24128169
1990 Cure for Sanity 3351—
1992 The Looks or the Lifestyle? 15165—
1994 Dos Dedos Mis Amigos 11132—
2011 New Noise Designed by a Sadist 187 [13] ——
2013 A Lick of the Old Cassette Box
(recorded 1996, previously unreleased)		———
2015 Anti-Nasty League ———

Live albums

Compilations

Remix albums

EPs

Singles

YearTitleChart positionsAlbum
1987"Sweet Sweet Pie"100——Now for a Feast!
"Love Missile F1-11"78——
"Beaver Patrol"76——Box Frenzy
1988"There Is No Love Between Us Anymore"66——
"Def. Con. One"63—30This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!
1989"Can U Dig It?"38——
"Wise Up! Sucker"41——
1990"Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina"28172—Cure for Sanity
"Dance of the Mad Bastards"32159—
1991"X Y & Zee"158811
"92 Degrees"23187—
"Another Man's Rhubarb"———
1992"Karmadrome" / "Eat Me Drink Me Love Me"17121—The Looks or the Lifestyle?
"Bulletproof!"24——
1993"Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!"9——
"R.S.V.P. / Familius Horribilus"27129—Dos Dedos Mis Amigos
1994"Ich Bin Ein Auslander"28151—
"Everything's Cool"2397—
2010"Axe of Men 2010"———
2011"Chaos & Mayhem"———New Noise Designed by a Sadist
2012"Disguise"———
2014"Watch the Bitch Blow"———Watch the Bitch Blow EP
"Reclaim the Game (Funk FIFA)"
featuring BNegão		———Non-album single
2015"Digital Meltdown"———Anti-Nasty League
2022"The Poppies Strike Back"———Non-album singles
"Chihuaua"———

Video releases

Music videos

Related Research Articles

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<i>This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!</i> 1989 studio album by Pop Will Eat Itself

This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! is the second studio album by English rock band Pop Will Eat Itself, released on 1 May 1989 by RCA Records. It builds upon the band's 1987 debut Box Frenzy in its extensive usage of sampling, combining influences from punk rock, hip hop, heavy metal, and disco music, with samples and lyrics that reference, among many subjects, pop culture and otaku culture. Particularly influential on the album's musical style were hip hop group Public Enemy, while the album's own subtle post-punk touches would later be credited as influential. Some critics regard it as a sound collage. The album artwork, designed by The Designer's Republic, touches on nuclear warfare themes.

<i>Dos Dedos Mis Amigos</i> 1994 studio album by Pop Will Eat Itself

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos is the fifth studio album by English industrial rock band Pop Will Eat Itself. It was released on 19 September 1994 in the United Kingdom by Infectious Records and in the United States by Nothing and Interscope Records. The album is somewhat different from the band's other albums, as it had more of an industrial influence and fewer samples were used. The cover art was created by longtime collaborators The Designers Republic. The album was the last before the band disbanded in 1996, until the reformed band released New Noise Designed by a Sadist in 2011, with a different line-up.

<i>The Looks or the Lifestyle?</i> 1992 studio album by Pop Will Eat Itself

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<i>Cure for Sanity</i> 1990 studio album by Pop Will Eat Itself

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"There Is No Love Between Us Anymore" is a song by Pop Will Eat Itself released on 7" and 12" vinyl in 1988, as the second single from the 1987 album Box Frenzy. An eight-track CD version featuring a small collection of non-album tracks was released in 1991. It is a mainly instrumental track, and the only lyrics that are not sampled are the title of the song. It samples the songs "When I Fall in Love" by Nat King Cole and "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by the Righteous Brothers. A sample of Joanna Lumley saying "he loves me, he loves me not" from The New Avengers is prominent throughout the song, and the line would be revisited in Pop Will Eat Itself's 1989 song "Wise Up! Sucker".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Can U Dig It?</span> 1989 single by Pop Will Eat Itself

"Can U Dig It?" is a single by British band Pop Will Eat Itself, released in 1989 from the band's second album This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! and it peaked at #38 in the UK Charts.

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<i>A Lick of the Old Cassette Box</i> 2013 studio album by Pop Will Eat Itself

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<i>Now for a Feast!</i> 1988 compilation album by Pop Will Eat Itself

Now for a Feast! is a compilation album by English rock band Pop Will Eat Itself, released in November 1988 by Chapter 22 Records. It compiles their work before 1988, and has been re-released several times by different labels, each with a different selection of bonus tracks. The Cherry Red version, released as a 25th anniversary edition, contained almost every song released by the band while Graham Crabb was drumming, as well as several unreleased demos and versions, one live song, and three very rare demos recorded by Wild And Wandering, the previous incarnation of the band before their name was changed to Pop Will Eat Itself in 1986. The album is largely devoid of the grebo and electronic influences of later albums.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 758–759. ISBN   1-84195-017-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. p.  326. ISBN   0-85112-072-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 431. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  4. ↑ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock N Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 449. CN 5585.
  5. ↑ Archived 17 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Pattison, Louis. "BBC - Music - Review of The Prodigy - Music For The Jilted Generation". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Cherry Red Records - Pop Will Eat Itself - Dos Dedos Mis Amigos/A Lick of the Old Cassette Box". Shop.cherryred.co.uk. 17 June 2013. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  8. ↑ Archived 10 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Jason Ankeny. "Pop Will Eat Itself | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Chart Stats - Pop Will Eat Itself". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 Australian (ARIA) peaks:
  12. ↑ "Chart Stats - Pop Will Eat Itself". billboard.com. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  13. ↑ "Chart log UK : Chart Date : 15.10.2011". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Pop Will Eat Itself Album chart history, received from ARIA in May 2024". ARIA. Retrieved 5 July 2024– via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
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