| Pop Will Eat
Itself |
|
| Background information |
| Origin |
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England |
| Genre(s) |
Alternative
rock, alternative dance, techno,
industrial |
| Years active |
1986–1996, 2005 |
| Label(s) |
RCA, Infectious, Nothing |
Associated
acts |
From Eden
Wild and Wandering
Golden Claw Musics
Bentley Rhythm Ace
Robert "Fuzz" Townshend
Vileevils |
| Members |
Clint
Mansell
Adam Mole
Richard March
Graham
Crabb
Robert "Fuzz" Townshend |
| Former members |
| Kerry
"The Buzzard" Hammond |
Pop Will Eat Itself (also known as PWEI
or the Poppies) were an English band
formed in Stourbridge,
with band members from Birmingham, Coventry and
the Black
Country.
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 1.1 Early
years
- 1.2 The
RCA years
- 1.3 Industrial
influence
- 1.4 Disbanded
- 1.5 Reformation
- 2 The
Designers Republic
- 3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 EPs
- 3.3 Singles
- 3.4 Videos
- 4 Chart
positions
- 5 External
links
|
History
Early years
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
famously went on to form The Wonder Stuff). After
changing their name to Wild and Wandering for a while and recruiting
Richard March and Graham Crabb (Graham being the only respondent to
replace the 'piss poor' Miles Hunt on drums), they eventually became
Pop Will Eat Itself in 1986, taking the name from a quote in an NME
article about band Jamie Wednesday (later to become better known as Carter
USM).
The band honed their songwriting skills with a string of
catchy two-minute pop songs released on EPs both as Wild and Wandering
and Pop Will Eat Itself. With the help of DJ John Peel,
these EPs saw some airplay and enjoyed some popularity among university
students. After the band feared they had accomplished all they could
with their sound, they found new influences in hip
hop acts such as the Beastie Boys, Run DMC and Public
Enemy. Graham soon dropped the drum sticks for a mic and was replaced
by a drum machine called "Dr. Nightmare." Their style continued to
develop with classics such as "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore' and
the anthemic "Def Con One". As a result, PWEI were signed to major
label RCA and
they achieved top 40 hits with "Can U Dig It?" and "Wise Up! Sucker"
off the album This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!
The RCA years
RCA's larger studio budget allowed the band to develop its
potential further, and they released 3 successful albums on that label.
The first two (…This is This! and Cure for
Sanity) were recorded with the aid of legendary producer Flood,
known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, U2, Depeche
Mode and many other popular 90s groups. Cure for
Sanity was perhaps PWEI's most experimental album, with a
more electronic sound than previous efforts. RCA, meanwhile, was more
interested in chart success and so wanted the band to cut the lengthy
instrumentals from their songs.
On 1992's The Looks or The Lifestyle, the
band recruited a live drummer to complement their standard array of
loops and pre-programmed drums and brought back some live guitars. The
record was their most commercial and polished work to date and featured
top 20 hits like 'Karmadrome' and 'Bulletproof.' By January 1993,
however, the band's biggest supporters at RCA had left the company, and
the remaining executives didn't understand the band or their music. [1] The band was dropped from the
label before the 'Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!' single was released.
Ironically, the single went on to peak at number 9 on the UK singles
chart, becoming the band's biggest hit ever. Because of this, the band
became the first ever to perform on Top
of the Pops without being on a record label. The British National Party had
recently caused an uproar in Tower Hamlets by
winning a council seat, and it looked possible that the UK would see a
revival in far right politics. In response to this, The Looks
or the Lifestyle introduced a hitherto understated political
angle, as the album inlay used the "red arrow" emblem of the Anti
Nazi League and offered the organisation's address.
Industrial influence
Getting dropped from RCA turned out to be a blessing for the
Poppies, as the label agreed to write off the massive debts that the
band had accumulated in studio fees in return for PWEI's back
catalogue. After a minor bidding war, the Poppies decided to sign to
Infectious Records, a label recently started by friend Korda Marshell
(who had signed them to RCA in the first place but had since left the
label) that offered them the artistic freedom they required.
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 was a scathing attack on the far right and the apathy that
seemed to greet its resurgence. A different version of this song later
appeared as the opening track on the 1994 album, Dos Dedos
Mis Amigos.
By this time the band had toned down its garish public persona
and veered off in a new and more industrial-based
direction with the aid of long time fan Trent
Reznor. Many fans were upset that the 'Is everybody happy?!' pogoing
Poppies were gone and put off by the new direction, but the band found
new popularity after signing with 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.
The following year the band released the Dos Dedos remix album
Two Fingers My Friends which featured remixes by The Orb,
Apollo
440, Renegade Soundwave and
many more. It was about this time that Graham Crabb left the band and
they recruited 'The Buzzard' of Yeah! God (who had recorded 'wild
guitar' on previous albums but was never a full time member) and Clint
took over full vocal duties. The band continued down the industrial
route and were still recording and touring until 1996, even recording a
collaboration with Orbital. Unfortunately, the
band took a break before finishing production of their next album with
Trent Reznor, and while not officially splitting, failed to complete
the work citing boredom and musical differences. One track from this
period was released, a cover of Gary Numan's "Friends,"
(apparently Gary liked this version of the song so, he reintroduced the
song in this form for his later liveshows
) and provides some indication of the band's direction at the time.
Disbanded
Crabb left in 1995 to concentrate on his ambient
side project Golden Claw Musics. After the
rest of the band split in 1996, March and Townshend went on to form big beat band Bentley Rhythm Ace.
Townshend also released two solo albums and Mansell has written a
number of acclaimed film scores, including Requiem
for a Dream, π,
Doom,
and The Fountain.
Reformation
The band reformed to play their first gigs in 8 years, in
Nottingham, Birmingham, and London in January 2005. Many thought this
would never happen, as the band had apparently lost all the tapes and
disks of samples and backing tracks they needed to perform live. When
this material was later found in a friend's garden shed, they decided
to reform. These gigs were notable for their Instant
Live albums, whereby ten minutes after the completion of each gig, one
could buy a double-disc live album of the performance.
The band released a preview of new material called "Sonic
Noise Byte" on November 4, 2005, as a torrent download for members of
their official website pweination. However, an
announcement on the official website in March 2006 confirmed that Clint
and Rich would no longer be involved in the project due to other work
commitments, effectively ending the PWEI reformation, though future new
PWEI material has not been ruled out entirely. However the remaining
band members plan to continue as Vileevils and have 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 June 9, 2007, but was foiled
when Mansell was unable to obtain a visa in time to fly back to
England. [2] March still appeared at the
show, and after the Vileevils set they played the planned PWEI songs,
sans Mansell.
The Designers Republic
The band produced approximately 100 T-shirt designs, including
a design which subverts the familiar "PEPSI" cola logo by replacing the
legend "PEPSI" with "PWEI" and the phrase "Sample It, Loop It, Fuck It,
Eat It" encircling the design. Other T-shirts feature the outlandish
(often space-themed) cartoon characters that appear on the band's album
artwork, from the round headed alien with toy ray gun known as 'Craig'
(thought to be named after the band's manager, Craig Jennings), to the
jagged toothed, sinister robotic head (complete with futuristic
earpiece) that serves as the official logo for all "PWEI Product". At
one stage in the 1990s, it was, possibly apocryphally, observed that
PWEI had sold more T-shirts than actual records.
Almost all artwork and corporate identity for the band's
record sleeves and merchandising was designed by the now hugely
successful Sheffield-based The Designers Republic. Much
of what would become the design company's metatextual and
self-referencing motifs were first carved out on the sleeve of PWEI
records. The Designers Republic's work with PWEI can be found in the Design
Museum, London.
Discography
Albums
- Box Frenzy (1987)
- Now for a Feast!
(1988)
- This
Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!
(1989) UK #24
- Cure for Sanity
(1990) (expanded reissue in 1991) UK #33
- The Looks or the
Lifestyle? (1992) UK #15
- Weird's Bar and Grill
(Live) (1993)
- 16 Different Flavours
of Hell (Best of) (1993)
- Dos Dedos Mis Amigos
(1994) UK #11
- Two Fingers My Friends!
(1995) UK #25
- Wise Up Suckers
(BMG best of) (1996)
- The Radio 1 Sessions
1986-87 (1997)
- PWEI Product 1986-1994
(Anthology) (2002)
- Reformation:
Nottingham Rock City 20.01.05 (2005)
- Reformation:
Birmingham Carling Academy 22.01.05 (2005)
- Reformation:
Birmingham Carling Academy 23.01.05 (2005)
- Reformation:
London Shepherds Bush Empire 24.01.05 (2005)
- Reformation:
London Shepherds Bush Empire 25.01.05 (2005)
EPs
- 2000 Light Ales from Home (1986) under
the name 'Wild And Wandering'
- The Poppies Say GRRrrr! (1986)
- Poppiecock (1986)
- Very Metal Noise Pollution (1989) UK #45
- Amalgamation (1994)
Singles
- "Sweet Sweet Pie" (1987)
- "Love Missile F1-11" (1987)
- "Beaver Patrol" (1987)
- "There Is No Love between Us Anymore" (1988)
- "Def. Con. One" (1988)
- "Can U Dig It?" (1989)
- "Wise Up! Sucker" (1989)
- "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" (1990)
- "Dance of the Mad" (1990)
- "X Y & Zee" (1991)
- "92°F" (1991)
- "Karmadrome/Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me" (1992)
- "Bulletproof!" (1992)
- "Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies!" (1993)
- "R.S.V.P/Familus Horribilus" (1993)
- "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" (1994)
- "Everything's Cool" (1994)
Videos
- Unspoilt by Progress VHS (1991)
- Reformation: Birmingham Carling Academy 23.01.05
DVD (2005)
Chart positions
| Year |
Title |
Chart positions |
Album |
|
UK Singles Chart
|
US Modern Rock
|
| 1987 |
"Sweet Sweet Pie" |
#100 |
- |
Now For A Feast |
| 1987 |
"Love Missile F1-11" |
#78 |
- |
Now For A Feast' |
| 1987 |
"Beaver Patrol" |
#76 |
- |
Box Frenzy |
| 1988 |
"There Is No Love Between Us Anymore" |
#66 |
- |
Box Frenzy |
| 1988 |
"Def. Con. One" |
#63 |
#30 |
This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This! |
| 1989 |
"Can U Dig It" |
#38 |
- |
This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This! |
| 1989 |
"Wise Up! Sucker" |
#41 |
- |
This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This! |
| 1990 |
"Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina" |
#28 |
- |
Cure For Sanity |
| 1990 |
"Dance of the Mad" |
#32 |
- |
Cure For Sanity |
| 1991 |
"X Y & Zee" |
#15 |
#11 |
Cure for Sanity |
| 1991 |
"92 Degrees" |
#23 |
- |
Cure for Sanity |
| 1992 |
"Karmadrome/Eat Me Drink Me Love Me" |
#17 |
- |
The Looks Or The Lifestyle |
| 1992 |
"Bulletproof!" |
#24 |
- |
The Looks Or The Lifestyle |
| 1993 |
"Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!" |
#9 |
- |
The Looks or the Lifestyle |
| 1993 |
"RSVP / Familius Horribilus" |
#27 |
- |
Dos Dedos Mis Amigos |
| 1994 |
"Ich Bin Ein Auslander" |
#28 |
- |
Dos Dedos Mis Amigos |
| 1994 |
"Everything's Cool" |
#23 |
- |
Dos Dedos Mis Amigos |
External links
| v • d • e Pop Will
Eat Itself
|
| Clint
Mansell • Graham
Crabb • Richard March
• Adam
Mole • Robert "Fuzz" Townshend
Kerry
"The Buzzard" Hammond
Discography
Albums: Box Frenzy
• This
Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!
• Cure for Sanity
• The Looks or the
Lifestyle? • Dos
Dedos Mis Amigos • Two Fingers My Friends!
Compilations:
Now for
a Feast! • 16
Different Flavours of Hell • Wise Up Suckers
• PWEI
Product 1986-1994
Live albums: Weird's Bar and Grill
• The
Radio 1 Sessions 1986-87 • Reformation:
Nottingham Rock City 20.01.05 • Reformation:
Birmingham Carling Academy 22.01.05 • Reformation:
Birmingham Carling Academy 23.01.05 • Reformation: London
Shepherds Bush Empire 24.01.05 • Reformation: London
Shepherds Bush Empire 25.01.05
Singles and EPs:
The
Poppies Say GRRrrr! • Poppiecock •
"Sweet Sweet Pie"
• "Love
Missile F1-11" • "Beaver
Patrol" • "There
Is No Love Between Us Anymore" • "Def. Con. One" • "Can U Dig It?" • "Wise Up! Sucker" •
Very
Metal Noise Pollution • "Touched by the Hand of
Cicciolina" • "Dance
of the Mad" • "X
Y & Zee" • "92°F"
• "Karmadrome"
/ "Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me" • "Bulletproof!" • "Get the Girl! Kill the
Baddies!" • "R.S.V.P"
/ "Familus Horribilus" • "Ich Bin Ein Auslander" •
Amalgamation
• "Everything's
Cool"
Related Articles
Bentley Rhythm Ace •
Golden
Claw Musics • Vileevils
• The Designers Republic
|
