''Never Mind the Ballots'' (occasionally called ''Never Mind the Ballots... Here's the Rest of Your Life'' by fans and distributors) is the second studio album by

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

punk band

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

. Most of the songs center on lying politicians and their search for more voter control. It was originally released on cassette and LP, then re-released in the 1990s as half of the Chumbawamba compilation CD ''First 2'', which is a combination of their first two LP albums released on a single CD.

Composition

The album's lyrics have been noted for criticizing all sides of the United Kingdom's political parties, particularly in the case of the song "The Candidates Find Common Ground."

Release

The album was initially released in 1987. It was reportedly "rush-released" so that it would be available in time for the

1987 United Kingdom general election The 1987 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive general election victory for the Conservative Party, and second landslide under t ...

. In 1991, it was reissued on CD along with ''

Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records ''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 ...

''; the pair was released under the name ''First 2''. The album was rereleased digitally on May 4, 2012, by

Westpark Music Westpark Music is a German record label based in Cologne, best known for publishing albums by Gjallarhorn, Oysterband, Hedningarna, Varttina, Bellowhead, Stockholm Lisboa Project, Chumbawamba, Lydie Auvray, Garmarna and many others. Mainly co ...

Impact

Chart performance

The album attained a peak of number two on the

UK Indie chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the re ...

Legacy

The album was retrospectively awarded a rating of four stars out of five in ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''.

Track listing

Adapted from the record's rerelease via

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

. # "Always Tell the Voter What the Voter Wants to Hear" – 2:51 # "Come on Baby (Let's Do the Revolution)" – 1:39 # "The Wasteland" – 4:23 # "Today's Sermon" – 2:28 # "Ah-Men" – 2:29 # "Mr. Heseltine Meets His Public" – 3:51 # "The Candidates Find Common Ground" – 4:29 # "Here's the Rest of Your Life" – 13:22

Personnel

* Lou Watts – vocals, guitar * Harry Hamer – drums, percussion, vocals * Mavis Dillon – bass guitar, trumpet, vocals * Alice Nutter – vocals *

Danbert Nobacon Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

– 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 *

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 ...

– vocals Additional personnel * Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon – keyboards, vocals * Neil Ferguson – engineer, keyboards * Patrick Gordon – engineer

References

{{Authority control Chumbawamba albums 1987 albums Agit-Prop Records albums