The Tiger Lillies are a cult British musical trio formed in 1989 by singer-songwriter

Martyn Jacques Martyn Jacques (born 22 May 1959) is a British musician, singer and songwriter, mostly known as the founder and front man of cult British trio The Tiger Lillies. Life and career Martyn Jacques grew up in Slough. His song on the 1996 The Tig ...

. Described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret, the Tiger Lillies are well known for their unique sound and style which merges "the macabre magic of pre-war Berlin with the savage edge of punk".

History

The band's name is rumoured to have been inspired by a murdered Soho sex worker called Lillie who used to dress up in animal print. Jacques, however, has stated that he named the band after a painting he had on his wall. The band formed in 1989 when Martyn Jacques placed an ad on Loot looking for a drummer and a bass player for a new band. Adrian Huge and Phil Butcher (the band's first bassist who was succeeded by Adrian Stout in 1995) were the only musicians that got in touch with him and therefore became the original Tiger Lillies' drummer and bassist respectively. In Spring 2012 Adrian Huge decided to take a leave of absence and was replaced by drummer Mike Pickering who toured with the Tiger Lillies from 2012. In early 2015 Pickering was replaced by Jonas Golland. By late 2021 the band had recruited their current drummer, Budi Butenop. File:Adrian Stout 01.JPG, Adrian Stout File:Martyn Jacques 02.JPG, Martyn Jacques File:Jonas Golland performing with Tiger Lillies at Yotaspace, Moscow, Russia, May 8th, 2017.jpg, Jonas Golland

Musical style

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' has described The Tiger Lillies as "a provocative and avant-garde three-piece band that combines cabaret, vaudeville, music-hall and street theatre", while Tim Arthur of Time Out has given a more evocative description: "Imagine Kurt Weill conjuring up images of prewar Berlin while a falsetto vocalist screams, squeaks and squawks his way through every number like some rambling madman, and you've got the picture". Notorious for singing controversial songs involving bestiality, prostitution, blasphemy and all other vice imaginable, The Tiger Lillies are undoubtedly not for the easily offended. Their musical style is mainly influenced by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's masterpiece

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

and pre-war Berlin cabaret but other influences such as gypsy and circus music, French chanson and British music hall tunes are also evident.

Awards and nominations

* In 2002 their cult hit musical ''Shockheaded Peter'' was nominated for five

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

. The show won the Olivier for Best Entertainment and

won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical or Entertainment. * In 2003 their album ''The Gorey End'' (in collaboration with the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...

and writer, illustrator

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...

) was nominated for Dominique de Rivaz's ''Luftbusiness'' (2008) a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Classical Crossover Album. * In 2012 their show ''The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet'', produced by Copenhagen's Republique Theatre and directed by acclaimed Danish director Martin Tulinius, was nominated for a

Reumert Award The Reumert Award (Danish: Årets Reumert) is an annual Danish awards ceremony to recognize excellence in theatre achievements in Denmark. The award was founded by the in 1998, and has been handed annually since then. There are 16 award categori ...

in the category Music Theatre/Show of the Year 2012.

Members

;Current *

– accordion, lead vocals,

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, harmonica,

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

banjolele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

(1989–present) * Adrian Stout –

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

, jaw harp, musical saw,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

(1995–present) * Budi Butenop – drums, (2021–present) ;Past * Phil Butcher – bass (1989–95) * Adrian Huge – drums (1989–2012) * Mike Pickering – drums (2012–15) * Jonas Golland – drums (2015–21)

Discography

Cassettes

* ''Bouquet of Vegetables'' (1989) * ''Spit Bucket'' (1990) * ''Little Death'' (1991)

Studio CDs

* ''Births, Marriages and Deaths'' (1994) * ''Spit Bucket'' (1995) * ''Ad Nauseam'' (1995) * ''The Brothel to the Cemetery'' (1996) * ''Farmyard Filth'' (1997) * ''Low Life Lullabies'' (1998) * ''Shockheaded Peter - A Junk Opera'' (1998) * ''Bad Blood + Blasphemy'' (1999) (+ vinyl 2015) * ''Circus Songs'' (2000) * ''Two Penny Opera'' (2001) * ''The Sea'' (2002) * ''Punch and Judy'' (2004) * ''Death and the Bible'' (2004) * ''Die Weberischen'' (2006) * ''The Little Match Girl'' (2006) * ''Love & War'' (2007) * ''Seven Deadly Sins'' (2008) * ''Freakshow'' (2009) * ''Cockatoo Prison'' (2010) * ''Here I Am Human!'' (2010) * ''Woyzeck'' (2011) * ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (2012) * ''Hamlet'' (2012) * ''Either/Or'' (2013) * ''Lulu – A Murder Ballad'' (2014) * ''A Dream Turns Sour'' (2014) * ''The Story of Franz Biberkopf'' (2015) * ''Madame Piaf'' (2016) * ''Love for Sale - A Hymn to Heroin'' (2016) * ''A Cold Night in Soho'' (2017) (+ vinyl 2017) * ''

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's Haunted Palace'' (2017) * ''The Devil's Fairground'' (2018) * ''Corrido De La Sangre'' (2018) * ''COVID-19'' (2020, digital only) * ''COVID-19, Vol. II'' (2020, digital only) * ''Litany of Satan'' (2020, digital only) * ''Requiem for a Virus'' (2021, digital only) * ''A Christmas Carol'' (2021) * ''Onepenny Opera'' (2022)

Soundtracks

* ''

Variete ''Jealousy'' (german: Eifersucht), also known as ''Varieté'', is a 1925 German silent comedy drama film directed by Karl Grune and starring Lya De Putti, Werner Krauss and Georg Alexander. Cast * Lya De Putti as Frau (Marthe Ménard) * W ...

'' (1925) (New music composed and played by The Tiger Lillies for the E.A. Dupont silent movie) (2015) (DVD) * ''Goosebumps'' (2016) (CD) * ''Cravendale advert: Barry the Biscuit Boy (2014)''

Live CDs

* ''Live in Russia 2000–2001'' (2003) * ''Live on WFMU'' (2004) * ''Live in Soho'' (2007) * ''Urine Palace'' (with The Symphony Orchestra of Norrlandsoperan) (2007) * ''Live at the New Players Theatre – London 2009'' (2009) * ''Lemonaki'' (2020)

Compilation CDs

* ''Bouquet of Vegetables - The Early Years'' (2000) * ''The Tiger Lillies'' (2006)

DVDs

* ''Shockheaded Peter and Other Songs – Live in Concert in New York'' (2000) * ''Mountains of Madness'' (with

Alexander Hacke Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the ...

(

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh ( custom-made instruments; p ...

) and drawings by

Danielle de Picciotto Danielle de Picciotto is an American-born artist, musician and filmmaker. She was born in Tacoma, Washington, USA,. She currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. In 1989 she founded, along with her partner Dr. Motte, the first Berlin Love ...

) (2006) * ''The Tiger Lillies – The Early Years'' (2009) * ''The Tiger Lillies Live in Prague'' (2011)

Collaborations CDs

* ''The Gorey End'' (with The

) (2003) * '' Huinya'' (with Группировка Ленинград) (2005) * ''Sinderella - The Twisted Tale of a Christmas Crack-Whore'' (with

Justin Bond Justin Vivian Bond (born May 9, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Described as "the best cabaret artist of heir!-- MOS:GENDERID --> generation" and a "tornado of art and activism", they first achieved prominence under the pseudo ...

) (2008) * ''The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'' (with

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

) (2011) * ''The Whore of Babylon'' (with Andréane Leclerc) (2020)

Extended play CDs

* ''Goodbye Great Nation'' (with Contrastate) (1996) * ''Special Edition'' (2000)

Contributions / Various Artists

* ''Misfits'' (1996, Volume) - "Heroin And Cocaine" * ''Torture Garden'' (1999) "Roll Up" * ''Mixx On The Fly - Live From Studio A - WCBE Vol. 7'' (2000, WCBE) - "Flying Robert" * ''Fly On The Wall: Lost Tracks From Studio A'' (2001, WCBE) - "Snip Snip (Suck-A-Thumb)" * ''Дед Мороз Против Анти Деда Мороза Bad Taste Новый Год'' (2002) "Drunken Sailor" * ''WFMU Gone Wild!'' (2005,

WFMU WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998 its studios and operating facilities have been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts locally at 91.1 Mhz FM, i ...

) - "Banging In The Nails" (Video Compilation) * ''Kosmos 93.6FM - Ethnic Collection Vol.3'' (2005, Minos EMI) - "Weeping Chandelier" * ''Dimitris Papaspyropoulos presents Once Upon a Time'' (2005, Columbia Records) - "Russians" * ''

Plague Songs ''Plague Songs'' is an album of songs about the ten Plagues of Egypt described in the Book of Exodus performed by various artists. The songs were originally commissioned by the British arts organisation Artangel for its project The Margate Exod ...

'' (2006, 4AD) - "Hailstones" * ''A Sepiachord Passport'' (2010, Projekt) - "Roll Up" * ''The Devil In Love: A Soundtrack To The 1772 Occult Novel'' (2011, Malort Forlag) - "I'm In Love With The Devil" * ''Un-Herd Volume 62'' (2017, R2 Records) - "You Wouldn't Know"

Digital release

* ''Mountains of Madness'' (with

) (2020)

Books

* 1998 – ''The Ultimate Shockheaded Peter Book'' – * 2003 – ''Farmyard Fantasy Book'' – made by b7UE * 2007 – "The Tiger Lillies Book" – b7UE 02 * 2007 – "The Tiger Lillies – Selected illustrations of songs" – by Anne Sophie Malmberg * 2008 – "The Inquisitorial Skeleton Shooting" – limited edition shot by b7UE

Shows and films

;Shows The Tiger Lillies have appeared in numerous shows, the following are listed according to their premiere date: *1998: '' Shockheaded Peter'' *1998: '' The Tiger Lillies Circus'' *2004: '' Punch & Judy'' *2005: '' The Little Matchgirl'' *2006: '' Die Weberischen'' *2006: ''

The Mountains of Madness ''The Mountains of Madness'' is an audiovisual musical adaptation of the works of H. P. Lovecraft by Tiger Lillies, Danielle de Picciotto and Alexander Hacke. It was conceived by Hacke in 2005. Tiger Lillies performs the music with narration by H ...

'' with

and

*2008: '' 7 Deadly Sins'' *2008: ''Sinderella'' with

*2009: ''The Tiger Lillies' Freakshow'' *2010:

The Ballad of Sexual Dependency ''The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'' is a 1985 slide show exhibition and 1986 artist's book publication of photographs taken between 1979 and 1986 by photographer Nan Goldin. It is an autobiographical document of a portion of New York City's No ...

with

*2010: ''Cockatoo Prison'' *2010: ''Here I Am Human!'' *2011:

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

' ''

Rain Dogs ''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middle ...

Revisited'' *2011: ''

Woyzeck ''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil Fr ...

& The Tiger Lillies '' *2012: '' Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' *2012: ''The Tiger Lillies Perform

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' – nominated for a Reumert Performing Arts Award *2013: ''Either/Or Cabaret'' *2013: ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, ...

– A Murder Ballad'' with Opera North *2014: ''A Dream Turns Sour'' *2015: ''Die Geschichte vom Franz Biberkopf'' – Schauspiel Frankfurt *2016: '' Love for Sale - The Songs of Cole Porter'' with Opera North *2016: ''Madame Piaf'' *2017: ''Cold Night in Soho'' *2017: ''The Very Worst of the Tiger Lillies'' *2017: ''Edgar Allan Poe's Haunted Palace'' - Bergen International Festival *2018: ''Corrido de la Sangre'' *2018: ''The Last Days of Mankind'' ;Films *Jake Scott's ''Plunkett & Macleane'' (1999) *

Sergei Bodrov Sergei Vladimirovich Bodrov ( rus, Серге́й Влади́мирович Бодро́в, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej bɐˈdrof; born June 28, 1948) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, and producer. In 2003 he was the President of the Jury at the 25 ...

's ''The Quickie'' (2001) – a music band in celebrations. *

's ''Drunken Sailor'' (2007) – a documentary on The Tiger Lillies by the director of Oscar-nominated epic ''

Mongol The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...

'' *Penny Woolcock's ''The Margate Exodus'' (2007) – a contemporary re-telling of the Book of Exodus.

appears in the film as Shebeen Singer performing "Hailstones". *Dominique de Rivaz's ''Luftbusiness'' (2008) *Valdís Óskarsdóttir's ''Country Wedding'' (2008) *

Troma Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...

's ''Return To Nuke 'Em High'' (2013) *Andrey Proshkin's '' Orlean'' (Russian title ''Орлеан'') (2015) – soundtrack. * E.A. Dupont's ''

'' (1925) (2015) – soundtrack.

References

External links

*
The Tiger Lillies Book
The complete lyrics from 1989–2007 and 340 unreleased pictures shot b
b7UE

VIDEOCLIP of "Living Hell"

Live acoustic session in Vienna by 'They Shoot – Music Don't They'

Pictures of the concert in St.-Petersburg (11.09.2005)

Pictures of another concert in St.Petersburg, Russia (13.06.2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiger Lillies, The British comedy musical groups Black comedy music Dark cabaret musicians Musical groups established in 1989