#50. CHUMBAWAMBA PART 0: A Crass Course on Anarcho-punk

In 1997 a smash-hit single called "Tubthumping" took the world by storm. Its authors were an eccentric eight-piece outfit from Leeds, England who kept insisting that they were anarchists. Media and fans alike were confused: what did this feel-good drinking song have to do with politics? And what were a bunch of radicals doing making pop music anyhow?

This is the story of Chumbawamba... sort of.

You see, to understand Chumbawamba's incongruous success as pop star anarchists, you have to know the backstory. Far from an overnight success, this band's roots stretched back 15 years earlier to a small but immensely important scene called anarcho-punk. This movement, spearheaded by the legendary underground group Crass, merged music and radical politics in a manner that was bolder and more aggressive than anyone had ever seen, so much so that even those in the upper echelons of the State began to get nervous!

In this episode we tell the incredible story of Crass and the 80s anarcho-punk movement that, however indirectly, led to one of the catchiest singalong anthems of the 90s. 

Consider this a Prequel to our proper Chumbawamba series. But unlike the Star Wars prequels, this shit is just as good (if not better) than the real thing...

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