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Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh
comedy hip hop Comedy hip hop or comedy rap, is a subgenre of lighter hip hop music designed to be amusing or funny, compared to artists who incorporate humor into their more serious, purist hip hop styles. Satirical hip hop is a variant of comedy hip hop d ...
group from Newport, south-east
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "
chav "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * "Chavette" is a related te ...
" 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 East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with t ...
, the home of rock band The Darkness. The band came to the attention of label executive
Korda Marshall Infectious Music is an independent record label owned by BMG, whose bands have included Alt-J, Ash and The Subways. History Infectious Music was established in 1993 as Infectious Records by former Zerra One drummer Korda Marshall after lea ...
, 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 Cool Cymru ( cy, Cŵl Cymru) was a Welsh cultural movement in music and independent film in the 1990s and 2000s, led by the popularity of bands such as Stereophonics, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Manic Street Preachers, Catatonia and Super Furry ...
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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. When group member Rhys Hutchings was phoned by
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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 Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ...
, and going to the shops to buy cigarettes and
crisps A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep frying, deep fried, baking, baked, or air frying, air fried until crunchy. They are commonly serve ...
. The song namechecks many well-known 1980s 8-bit computer systems including Binatone,
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...
, Commodore 64,
ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-cos ...
and
BBC Micro The British Broadcasting Corporation Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a series of microcomputers and associated peripherals designed and built by Acorn Computers in the 1980s for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. Designed with an emphas ...
. 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 A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'', 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 Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. The album was released in May 2005 in the US with the title ''Straight Outta Newport,'' with cover art similar to
N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip hop group whose members were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and the group is widely considered ...
'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 "Your Mother's Got a Penis" (referred to as simply "Your Mother" on BBC Radio 1) is a song by the British rap act Goldie Lookin Chain from their ''Greatest Hits'' album, released In November 2004. The song reached number fourteen on the UK Sing ...
", 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 Jurassic 5 is an American alternative hip hop group formed in 1994 by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup aka Zaakir), Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mark Potsic ( DJ Nu-Mark) and Lucas Ma ...
. 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 Alzheimer's Research UK (ARUK) is a dementia research charity in the United Kingdom, founded in 1992 as the Alzheimer's Research Trust. ARUK funds scientific studies to find ways to treat, cure or prevent all forms of dementia, including Alzhei ...
. 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 The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...
(FAW) to perform before the
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
qualifying match against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
at
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
'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 The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues (including six Welsh ...
, County were drawn away to similarly colour shirted
Caernarfon Town Caernarfon Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Caernarfon) is a semi-professional Welsh football club based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. The club is nicknamed "the Canaries" because of its yellow and green strip, a nickname that dates from ...
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 A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies. ...
) (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 A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...
'' (2004) –
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
: No. 5 *'' Safe as Fuck'' (2005) –
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
: No. 16 *'' Under the Counter'' (2008) *''GLC Mixtape : Now! That's What I Call Proper Music'' (2008) *''
Asbo4Life ''Asbo4Life'' is the fourth studio album by Welsh hip-hop/rap group Goldie Lookin Chain. It is noted for a change of style musically and is the only GLC album not to contain any samples. It is said to be Eggsy's least favourite GLC album and was ...
'' (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 Young Fathers are a Scottish band based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2014, they won the Mercury Prize for their album ''Dead''. History Formed in Edinburgh in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and Graham 'G' Hastings, the group starte ...
(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
{{Authority control 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