Goldie Looking Chain

Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedy hip hop group from Newport, south-east Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "chav" culture and life in Newport and South Wales in general.

History

The group recorded six albums prior to securing a major record deal. They signed to East West Records, the home of rock band The Darkness. The band came to the attention of label executive Korda Marshall, who heard the group's music played by members of The Darkness whilst on tour. GLC went on to support The Darkness in the latter stages of their UK tour. The group form part of an era known as Cool Cymru for the popularity of Welsh music and arts internationally in that period.

GLC's first UK chart entry was "Half Man Half Machine", which reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. When group member Rhys Hutchings was phoned by BBC chart presenter Wes on the Official Chart Show to be informed of this, Xain informed the rest of the band that they had reached number 1, much to the shock of the DJ. "Half Man Half Machine" was a surreal song about Eggsy believing he was a robot, dressing up in foil, and going to the shops to buy cigarettes and crisps. The song namechecks many well-known 1980s 8-bit computer systems including Binatone, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, ZX81 and BBC Micro.

In August 2004, the group reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart with "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do". With the tagline "The gun is the tool, the mind is the weapon", the track became a popular radio hit, satirising the American hip hop scene. The B-side was the album track " Soapbar".

Their first nationally released album was called ''Greatest Hits'', the name a play on both the group's previous lack of commercial success and their "stoner" image; it compiled a mixture of new material and selections from their previous six unofficial albums. It was released in September 2004, and debuted at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was released in May 2005 in the US with the title ''Straight Outta Newport,'' with cover art similar to N.W.A's album ''Straight Outta Compton''. However, this version of the album was missing two tracks – "Maggot" and "You Knows I Loves You".

Their next single release was "Your Mother's Got a Penis", with an accompanying video based on a supermarket theme. "Your Mother's Got a Penis" first appeared on their album ''The Manifesto'', and reached No. 14 in the UK.

The band – informally known as "the Chain" or simply "the GLC" – released "You Knows I Loves You Baby", a parody of 1980s love songs from the albums ''Greatest Hits'' and ''The Manifesto'', on 13 December 2004; this reached number 22 in the UK chart. "Your Missus Is a Nutter" was the first single from second album ''Safe as Fuck''. The album was originally going to be called "Safety in Numbers", a tribute to the album '' Power in Numbers'' by alternative L.A. rap group Jurassic 5. The single reached No. 14 in the UK.

On 17 October 2011, GLC released the album ''Blue Waffle'', featuring new songs including "Biscuit", "I Seen Your Mother", "K Hole" and "If I Told You". Later that year, group member and Doctor Who fan Adam Hussain contributed a memory about "How a first date was interrupted by The Doctor" to a forthcoming Doctor Who charity book, designed to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.

GLC released the follow up to their album ''Greatest Hits'', titled ''Greatest Hits 2,'' in 2015.

Controversy

In 2005, GLC were invited by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to perform before the World Cup qualifying match against England at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the nature of the band's music and the participation of England star David Beckham, the band dedicated " Your Missus Is a Nutter" to the footballer about his wife, who was present at the match. The ensuing furore, with the Welsh football authorities having to apologise to the Beckhams (despite David Beckham appearing to take the joke in good humour), as well as expressing outrage at the band's perceived lack of respect, prompted many people to question why the organisers, knowing their reputation, had hired them to play in the first place. In January 2009, GLC appeared on This Feeling TV, and revealed more about the incident.

Sponsorship of Newport County Football Club

Since their inception in the early 2000s, the group have maintained a close affiliation with their hometown football club, Newport County. GLC sponsored the team's kit during the team's 2004–05 season. Originally intended only for wear in matches in the FAW Premier Cup, County were drawn away to similarly colour shirted Caernarfon Town in the competition, leading to the club's GLC sponsored shirt being worn for two league matches, away to Maidenhead United and at home against Redbridge F.C. In 2021, they designed Newport's 3rd kit in collaboration with Hummel.

Members

Full-time
*Rhys Hutchings (Dwain Xain Zedong, P. Xain)
*Graham Bear (Graham The Bear)
*Billy Webb (Tim Westcountry)
*Tom Clugston (DJ Killer Tom)
*John Rutledge (Eggsy)
*Adam Hussain
*Chris Pickard
*Mike Balls
*Mystikal
*2Hats (Andrew David)Infrequent members
*One Step Down
*Buttheed (Stuart Williamson)
*DCI Burnside
*M. C. Meatfantasy
*Dipper Nan
*Leeroy Fashions
*C. Live
*Ritchie T.
*Rosco P.
*Ritchie Molton
*M. C. Flatpress
*Stressed Armstrong
*Farmer Ross
Former

*Andrew Major (Maggot) (left 2014)

Discography

Albums

*''Don't Blame the Chain'' (2001)
*''Chain's Addiction'' (2001)
*''The Return of the Red Eye'' (2002)
*''The Party Album'' (2002)
*''Adam Hussain's Truth and Slander'' (2002)
*''The Manifesto'' (2003)
*''Greatest Hits'' (2004) – UK Albums Chart: No. 5
*''Safe as Fuck'' (2005) – UK Albums Chart: No. 16
*'' Under the Counter'' (2008)
*''GLC Mixtape : Now! That's What I Call Proper Music'' (2008)
*''Asbo4Life'' (2009)
*''Alternate Universe'' (2009)
*''The Mix Tape Two'' (2010)
*''It's a Goldie Lookin Christmas (The Fairytale of Newport)'' (2010)
*''Blue Waffle'' (2011)
*''Primordial Soup – The Mix Tape 3'' (2012)
*''Kings of Caerleon'' (2013)
*''Greatest Hits 2'' b(2015)
*''Pill Communication'' (2016)
*''Fear of a Welsh Planet'' (2017)
*''Safe as Fu*k'' (2018)
*''Greatest Hits 3'' (2019)
*''The Adam Hussain Show'' (2019)
*''Original Pyrite Material'' (2019)

Singles

Charted singles

Other singles

* "By Any Means Necessary" (Gold Dust Records)
* "Everybody is a DJ" (Gold Dust Records)
* "You'll Never Be Alone on Christmas Day" (Gold Dust Records)
* "Everybody Sucks!" ft. Migos (Quavo and Offset), FAMA & Young Fathers (Quality Control Music & TG Management)

YouTube videos

* "Apathy" (26 August 2008)
* "By Any Means Necessary" (16 February 2009)
* "Everybody is a DJ" (11 August 2009)
* "Newport State of Mind (You're not from Newport)" (8 August 2010)
* "(Heal the World) Join Hands and Sing" (1 October 2010)
* "Dubstep Christmas" (23 November 2010)
* "You'll Never Be Alone on Christmas Day" (19 November 2010)
* "Xbox Love" (25 February 2011)
* "Eastenders Rap" (19 March 2011)
* "Fresh Prince of Cwmbran" (12 July 2011)
* "Ghost Town featuring 2Rude" (12 August 2011)
* "This Town (Stammer dubstep remix)" (22 September 2011)
* "Newport Bouncers Rap" (11 February 2012)
* "Baneswell Express" (17 June 2013)
* "At The Drive-thru" (18 July2013)
* "Just Coz It Rhymes" (30 October 2013)
* "Andy Townsend Rap" (11 June 2014)
* "Great British Bake Off Rap" (5 August 2015)
* "John Lewis Christmas ft Oasis" (6 December 2015)
* "Who's Next" (13 January 2016)
* "Drop It Like Its Splott" (19 February 2016)
* "Pusherman" (3 April 2016)
* "Waitrose Rap" (5 April 2016)
* "Just Another Bastard" (11 April 2016)
* "Hip Hop Has Been Good To Me" (14 April 2016)
* "Auf Wiedersehen Mate" (25 April 2016)
* "Wales Now It's Time To Dream" (6 July 2016)
* "Sh*t 2016" (30 December 2016)
* "My Fidget Spinner" (7 June 2017)
* "Bonk Eye" (8 September 2017)
* "I Got a Van" (22 September 2017)
* "Fear of a Welsh Planet" (2017)
* "I love Netflix" (2017)
* "Sex People" (2017)

References

External links

Goldie Lookin Chain tour blog

Band biography from BBC Wales





Full discography at Discogs
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British comedy musical groups
Welsh hip hop groups
Musical groups established in 2000
Cool Cymru
People from Newport, Wales
Musical groups from Newport, Wales
British alternative rock groups
BT Digital Music Awards winners