WYSIWYG (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = WYSIWYG
Type = Album
Artist = Chumbawamba


Released = April 4, 2000
Recorded = 1999-2000
Genre = Anarcho-punk, Dance, Sound collage
Length = 47:48
Label = EMI (UK) Republic Records/Universal Records (US)
Reviews = Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dbfpxqlkld6e link]
Last album = "The ABCs of Anarchism" (1999)
This album = "WYSIWYG" (2000)
Next album = "Readymades" (2002)

"WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get) is a 2000 album by anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. Released after the massive success of their previous effort, Tubthumper, it commented on various aspects of the pop culture the band had inadvertently become a part of. It achieved this by the heavy inclusion of sound bites, pop culture and commercial culture references and even a small amount of self-parody.

The cover art follows the What You See Is What You Get concept ironically. It appears to be the head of a dog, but is actually a small part of a larger photo of two dogs mating. The expanded photo appeared on postcards sent to fans on the Chumbawamba mailing list.

This was a failure for Chumbawamba, causing them to leave EMI a year later due to disputes. However, in the United States, Republic/Universal handed releases for MUTT Records, especially Readymades, but dropped the band from the label in 2004, allowing them to sign onto Koch Records.

Track listing

All songs written by Chumbawamba except "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (Barry and Robin Gibb)

#"I'm with Stupid" (samples from "Helter Stupid" by Negativland)
#"Shake Baby Shake" (samples from the "Perfect Cut" medley on Helter Stupid by Negativland)
#"Pass It Along" (used, in a rock-influenced re-recording, in a Pontiac commercial circa 2002)
#"Hey Hey We're the Junkies" (a re-recorded version of the Monkees theme song; samples from "Prelude" on Helter Stupid by Negativland)
#"The Health and Happiness Show"
#"I'm Coming Out"
#"I'm in Trouble Again"
#"Social Dogma"
#"WWW Dot"
#"New York Mining Disaster 1941" (an a capella cover of the aforementioned Bee Gees song)
#"I'm Not Sorry, I Was Having Fun" (a satire on the events of Woodstock 99)
#"Jesus in Vegas"
#"The Standing Still" (samples from "Helter Stupid" by Negativland)
#"She's Got All the Friends"/"Pass It On (reprise)" (unlisted)
#"Ladies for Compassionate Lynching"
#"Celebration, Florida"
#"Moses with a Gun"
#"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Jerry Springer"
#"Smart Bomb"
#"Knickers"
#"Lie Lie Lie Lie"
#"Dumbing Down"
#Untitled hidden track: a strings-only remix of "I'm in Trouble Again" ending in Alice Nutter saying, "It's me trousers" and laughing and another voice saying, "That's it."

Bonus Tracks (not appearing on original release)

#"Just a Form of Music"
#"Lest We Forget"
#"Passenger List for Doomed Flight 1721"

Personnel

Chumbawamba

* Lou Watts - Vocals, Keyboards
* Harry Hamer - Drums, Vocals, Programming
* Danbert Nobacon - Vocals, Banjo
* Dunstan Bruce - Vocals
* Jude Abbott - Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vocals
* Boff Whalley - Guitar, Vocals
* Alice Nutter - Vocals
* Neil Ferguson - Bass, Keyboards, Mouse

Also appearing

* White Child Rix (Gunshot) - Scratching
* Simon - Trombone
* Toby - Saxophone
* B. J. Cole - Pedal steel guitar
* Simon Lanzon - Additional vocal
* The Complimentary Peanuts - Vocals on "Health & Happiness Show"
* Armley Community Orchestra - Strings, woodwind
* One Minutes's Silence - Snare Drum
* Seething Wells - "That's It"