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Pop Will Eat Itself
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. Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. The West Midlands is a Metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2591300 England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of Alternative dance is a term used for the genre of music combining elements of Dance-pop (or other forms of electronic house or techno) and Alternative Techno is a form of Electronic dance music (EDM that emerged in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the mid to late 1980s Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of Experimental music, especially but not necessarily Electronic music. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 Infectious Records is a Record label whose bands include Ash, Symposium, My Vitriol, Seafood, and The Subways. Nothing Records was an American Record label, specializing in Industrial rock and Electronic music, founded by Trent Reznor (of Graham Crabb (born Graham Charles Crabb 10 October 1964, Streetly, West Midlands, England) is a Musician, best known for Bentley Rhythm Ace ( BRA) are a duo formed in Birmingham, England in the late 1990s consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March Richard "Fuzz" Townshend (born on 31 July, 1964) is a British Drummer. Vileevils are an electronic dance duo formed when the 2005 reunion of Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI failed to become a full-time project Clint Mansell (born Clinton Darryl Mansell, 7 January 1963, in Coventry, England) is a Golden Globe -nominated Graham Crabb (born Graham Charles Crabb 10 October 1964, Streetly, West Midlands, England) is a Musician, best known for Richard "Fuzz" Townshend (born on 31 July, 1964) is a British Drummer. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Coventry ( is a city and Metropolitan borough in the County of West Midlands in England. The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton

Contents

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). Clint Mansell (born Clinton Darryl Mansell, 7 January 1963, in Coventry, England) is a Golden Globe -nominated Miles Hunt (born 29 July 1966, in Birmingham) is the Singer / Guitarist and Songwriter for the Stourbridge, The Wonder Stuff are a band originally based in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in the Black Country, England. After changing their name to Wild and Wandering (named after a Wasted Youth album) for a while and recruiting Richard March and Graham Crabb (Graham being the only respondent to replace Miles Hunt on drums), they eventually became Pop Will Eat Itself in 1986, taking the name from a quotation in an NME article about band Jamie Wednesday (later to become better known as Carter USM). Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (frequently shortened to Carter USM) were a British indie band formed in 1987 by singer Jim " Jim Bob

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. John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004 known professionally as John Peel, was an English Disc jockey, radio 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. Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music, is a Music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rap which is accompanied with Run-DMC was a pioneering hip hop group during the 1980s founded by Joseph "[The Reverend] Run" Simmons, Darryl "D Public Enemy, also known as PE, is an influential hip hop group from Long Island New York, known for its politically charged Lyrics, criticism 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. RCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986 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. Flood is the professional Pseudonym of the British Post punk / Alternative rock Record producer Mark Ellis, whose Depeche Mode (dəˌpɛʃˈmoʊd are an English Electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. 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. Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart Television programme, made and broadcast 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. The British National Party (BNP is a Far-right and whites only political party in the United Kingdom. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets ( is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East 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. The Anti-Nazi League (ANL was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with some sponsorship (and a few small financial donations from

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. Fun-Da-Mental is a multi-ethnic British Islamic world fusion and ethno techno band formed in 1991 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. Industrial music is a loose term for a number of different styles of Experimental music, especially but not necessarily Electronic music. Trent Reznor (born Michael Trent Reznor on May 17 1965 is an American Musician, singer producer, and Multi-instrumentalist. 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. Nothing Records was an American Record label, specializing in Industrial rock and Electronic music, founded by Trent Reznor (of The PlayStation (abbreviated PS, PSone, PS1, or informally as PSX) is a 32-bit fifth generation Video game console

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. The Orb are an English Electronic music group known for popularising Chill out music in the 1990s and spawning the genre of Ambient house. Renegade Soundwave (sometimes shortened to RSW) was an Electronic music group 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. Orbital were an English electronic duo consisting of brothers Phil Hartnoll and Paul Hartnoll whose career lasted from 1989 until 2004 However, 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 [1]) and provides some indication of the band's direction at the time. Gary Numan (born Gary Anthony James Webb on 8 March 1958 is an English singer composer and musician

Disbanded

Crabb left in 1995 to concentrate on his ambient side project Golden Claw Musics. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes Graham Crabb (born Graham Charles Crabb 10 October 1964, Streetly, West Midlands, England) is a Musician, best known for After the rest of the band split in 1996, March and Townshend went on to form big beat band Bentley Rhythm Ace. Big beat (sometimes called chemical breaks) is a term deployed in the mid 1990s by the British music press to describe the music of The Chemical Brothers, Bentley Rhythm Ace ( BRA) are a duo formed in Birmingham, England in the late 1990s consisting of Mike Stokes and Richard March 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. Requiem for a Dream is an Academy Award -nominated 2000 Film adaptation of the 1978 novel of the same name. Doom is a 2005 Science fiction Horror film adaptation of the popular Doom series of Video games created by The Fountain is a 2006 American science fiction / Fantasy film directed by Darren Aronofsky that follows three interwoven

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. Instant Live is a service by Live Nation which provides for the distribution of digital live recordings of concerts and music events available soon after a performance has ended

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. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 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. Vileevils are an electronic dance duo formed when the 2005 reunion of Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI failed to become a full-time project

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. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. [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. WikipediaNFCC#10c 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. The Design Museum is a Museum by the River Thames near Tower Bridge in central London, England.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

Videos

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. The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company (OCC on behalf of the British record industry Hot Modern Rock Tracks (originally called Modern Rock Tracks) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September See also Musical groups established in 1987 Record labels established in 1987 Events See also Musical groups established in 1987 Record labels established in 1987 Events See also Musical groups established in 1987 Record labels established in 1987 Events This is a list of notable events in Music that took place in the year 1988. 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

References

  1. ^ Random

External links

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989 This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990 See also 1991 in music (UK Musical groups established in 1991 Record labels This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1992 This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Events January This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.
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