''Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records'' is the debut studio album by British band
Chumbawamba, released in 1986 on
Agit-Prop Records. It was released as criticism to
Band Aid and
Live Aid.
Track listing
All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba.
# "How to Get Your Band on Television" - 8:23
(also listed in two parts as "Prelude" and "Slag Aid")
# "British Colonialism and the BBC" - 2:51
# "Commercial Break" - 1:02
# "Unilever" - 4:23
# "More Whitewashing" - 3:43
# "An Interlude: Beginning to Take It Back" - 2:41
# "Dutiful Servants and Political Masters" - 2:15
# "Coca-Colanisation" - 2:13
# "...And in a Nutshell" - 0:54
# "Invasion" - 5:07
Track details
"How to Get Your Band on Television" critiques
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
,
Freddie Mercury,
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
,
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
and
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...
's self-promotional techniques, such as
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
's playing in
apartheid South Africa
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
. Following a slew of
Live Aid-style promotions, sequels and events and the death of Mercury, it was re-written in the 1990s as "Slag Aid", retaining most of the original lyrics. The version released on the live album ''
Showbusiness!
''Showbusiness!'' is a 1994 live album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. It was recorded on the 18 and 19 August 1994 at the Duchess of York in Leeds.
In response to threats from fascists who rang the venue to say they'd turn up mob-handed a ...
'' also references McCartney, but adds
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
and
John Lydon as more modern examples.
Personnel
Band Members
* Harry Hamer - drums, vocals, guitar solo on "Slag Aid"
*
Alice Nutter - vocals
*
Boff Whalley
Allan Mark "Boff" Whalley (born 1 January 1961) is an English musician and writer. Formerly the lead guitarist for the anarcho-punk and folk band Chumbawamba, he is now a playwright and the founder of Commoners Choir who released their first ...
- guitar, vocals, clarinet
* Mavis Dillon - bass, trumpet, french horn, vocals
*
Lou Watts
Louise "Lou" Watts (born 4 June 1962) is a British musician, perhaps best known for her work as the lead singer of anarcho-punk and later folk band, Chumbawamba.
Born in Burnley, Watts was introduced to the band by friend and member Alice ...
- vocals, guitar
*
Danbert Nobacon - vocals
*
Dunstan Bruce
Dunstan Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English musician and filmmaker who is perhaps best known for his work with Leeds-based anarcho-pop band Chumbawamba, of which he was a founding member. He grew up in the northern industrial town of Bill ...
- percussion
Additional Personnel
* Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon - keyboards, accordion, vocals
* Neil Ferguson - engineer
References
Chumbawamba albums
1986 debut albums
Concept albums
Agit-Prop Records albums
Southern Records albums
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