Chumbawamba Are Making A Comeback
Chumbawamba split in 2012 after three decades in music.
And Chumbawamba have announced they are returning with a film on the way and a reissue of their 1997 hit, which remains their most successful song of their career.
The dance-rock number reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and made it into the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Frontman Dunstan Bruce has insisted that once their tell-all documentary lands, he won’t need to take anymore interviews.
He said: “We have just finished a documentary about Chumbawamba. It has taken five years to make and that film will answer a lot of questions.
Chumbawamba are making a comeback almost a decade after their split.
The punk rock group - who were known for their anarcho-communist political leanings - split in 2012 after three decades in music.
And the Tubthumping (I Get Knocked Down) hitmakers have announced they are returning with a film on the way and a reissue of their 1997 hit, which remains their most successful song of their career.
The dance-rock number reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and made it into the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Chumbawamba in 1998
Credit: Shutterstock
In 1997, out of nowhere the English anarchist punk band Chumbawamba sold more than five million albums. In attaining triple-platinum status, in the United States the 12-track Tubthumper became the bestselling loud rock LP by a British group of the past 24-years. Suddenly hopping with the jet set, by way of celebration the boisterous octet decided to double their wages from 30 to 60 quid a week.
If there’s a more remarkable late 20th Century success story than this, I can’t think of it. Propelled by the worldwide smash hit single Tubthumping (“I get knocked down, but I get up again…” – see, you
Danbert Nobacon and Jude Abbot of Chumbawamba, taken in 1992 (Getty)
When you think of Chumbawamba – if, indeed, you think of them at all these days – the thing that probably springs to mind is their iconic, boozy ’90s anthem “Tubthumping”, a traditional staple of bad, small-town gay clubs with sticky floors.
It’s not that surprising that they’re best known for that song, given the extent to which it flooded the airwaves in the late ’90s and early ’00s. It reached number two in the UK and number six in the US.
“Tubthumping” was even chosen as the theme song of the FIFA World Cup ’98 video game: not something you’d necessarily expect to happen to a tune about a drunk neighbour written by an anarchist punk collective.