Hilary Mitchell, January 14, 2021
When you think of Chumbawamba – if, indeed, you think of them at all these days – the thing that probably springs to mind is their iconic, boozy ’90s anthem “Tubthumping”, a traditional staple of bad, small-town gay clubs with sticky floors.
It’s not that surprising that they’re best known for that song, given the extent to which it flooded the airwaves in the late ’90s and early ’00s. It reached number two in the UK and number six in the US.
“Tubthumping” was even chosen as the theme song of the FIFA World Cup ’98 video game: not something you’d necessarily expect to happen to a tune about a drunk neighbour written by an anarchist punk collective.
