Someone's Always Telling You...
Chumbawamba – (Someone's Always Telling You How To) Behave
Agit Prop – AGIT 666
Vinyl, 12", Maxi-Single, UK, 1992
info
Ahem. Ok, let's deal with a few things up front.
1. Yes, they are the same band that did that one song in the late '90s.
2. No, that isn't their only song. They were together for 30 years, roughly 15 on either side of their one bonafide international hit. Started as a punk band before discovering samples and dance music and ended their career as a legit folk music group, but had a good long run as an anarchist pop band in the middle.
3. Yeah, I got it- you remember their song being about drinking booze and getting up again. But I swear, they spent decades as serious radicals playing music. They funded and supported 100 causes, have the only 1990s pop music video I know of about shooting racists, and kept trying to figure out what a pop band could contribute to the movements. (It's not in the video, but at that same awards show, after shouting about Tony Blair's "New Labor" selling out the dockers' strike on live TV, members of the band hopped off stage and dumped a bucket of ice water on the deputy prime minister's head.)
4. Yes, I actually like the band that sang that song. A lot.
Anyway... Here you have what I think was probably Chumbawamba's best single, (Someone's Always Telling You How To) Behave, from 1992. Behave was a track from their fifth album, Shhh, released earlier that year. For the single though, the music was rerecorded with a new arrangement and new lyrics reacting to a string of homophobic celebrity rants that had been in the news. Beautiful track and one that provoked some clarity for my teenage self (assisted by sleeve declaring itself "Pop against homophobia!" alongside a long article they had written for the back cover about homophobia and pop culture that offered good politics and a great Frankie Knuckles quote). Times have changed some (although maybe not that much), but back then I'd never seen or heard anything quite like it.
Despite how much I've liked this group over the years, I'm pretty sure that the stripped down Version that was unlisted, hidden away at the end of side B, is the only Chumbawamba song that I ever actually played out when DJing a party.
The B side, Misbehave, is a completely separate song despite running with the same theme and a similar title. Less essential, but catchy and occasionally funny as hell as they rattle off a wild list of people accused of misbehaving (Oscar Wilde, Chuck D, Ari Up, Dennis the Menace, Salome, Malcolm X...) followed by a chorus that still makes me laugh over 25 years after I first heard it.
We've come for your children
We're going to kidnap your children
We're going to brainwash your children
And sell them to the devil
I think this was the final record Chumbawamba released on the Agit-Prop label that they ran at the time. Papa Brittle, who was put out a records on Agit-Prop in those years, provides remixes of both tracks. This is recorded from the white label promo of the 12" that I have, but scans of the full art are included (including close ups to make it easier if you want to read the full article from the back of the sleeve). It seems that I'm not the only person out there that this record holds a special place for... Although I've never gone as far as creating an entire website dedicated to documenting and annotating the lyrics, article, and background to this one single. Unless you count this post, I guess.
Tracklist
A1 Behave
A2 Behave (Brittle Mix)
B1 Misbehave (Brittle Mix)
B2 Misbehave
B3 Behave (Version)
________________________________________________
Angels always get the worst advice in FLAC (download zip file)
Mickey Mouse grew up a cow. You should hear what they say about Minnie now in MP3 (stream or download):
________________________________________________
Yes, I do realize that no one is requesting that I now dedicate myself to preparing The Complete Vinyl Recordings of Chumbawamba for you... But you don't ask for what you don't think you can get, right? And now that you know... Ok, I'm just saying, I do have a LOT more by them if you change your mind.
Enjoy!
A string of homophobic celebrity rants in the news? Good thing THAT doesn't happen any more! Say, isn't this the same group that did that song about pissing the night away?
ReplyDelete"a homophobic rock fan makes about as much sense as a pasta fanatic who hates italians" -- nice one. Do any phobias make sense?
Well, I'd like to think that my deep seated fear of camping is pretty rational. (Really though, choosing to sleep in the dirt where bears could eat you? On purpose?!)
DeleteThe "pasta fanatic" line really is great. Sub in pop, dance, r&b or just about any other genre, of course. And you know the Frankie Knuckles quote and Wax Trax reference make this Chicagoan proud.
The homophobic rants (and lyrics, and attacks, and...) definitely still happen, but something has shifted a bit. There's definitely more of a reaction these days than I was used to back when I first picked up this record. I'm sure Chumbawamba's response and commentary come off a little less confrontational or radical to my kids (especially the younger ones) than it did to me way back when I heard and read this as a young teenager.
Thanks for the comment. Hope you enjoy! (Definitely barking up a different tree than Little Axe, but maybe...)
Absolutely agree, things have shifted. Homophobic remarks from public figures like the rapper DaBaby get called out. I would venture to say that LGBTQ public figures (at least some of them) in entertainment, politics and sport feel less afraid to be open about who they are and who they love. There is still violence and hatred, especially against trans people. As you say, our children (mine are in their early 20's) are growing up in a world where Chumbawamba seems less radical now than they did when you and I were young. That in itself is a small measure of progress in terms of tolerance and inclusivity.
DeleteWhen I read "no bowie, no glam, no stones, no queen or elton john, no house, no techno, no morrissey, no pet shop boys, no disco, no new york dolls, no guns n' roses and certainly no punk" without "the gay influence" I remembered how in many cities (including Chicago) the first punk clubs were also the gay clubs. Same thing happened in Manchester.
https://thequietus.com/articles/02709-extract-the-north-will-rise-again-manchester-music-city-1976-1996
Would love to see your Chumbawamba collection digitized and offered up ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat! Might just be you and me... but I really do still love a lot of those records. It will come in bits and pieces (and I'm slow as hell at this), but I'm working on a couple more Chumba records now. Thanks!
Delete