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.[1]

Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records
Studio album by
Released1986
RecordedAugust 1986
Genre
Length33:04
LabelAgit-Prop (UK)
Southern (US)
Chumbawamba chronology
Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records
(1986)
Never Mind the Ballots
(1987)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
St Petersburg Times(favourable)[2]
Vox[3]

Track listing

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All songs written and produced by Chumbawamba.[4]

  1. "How to Get Your Band on Television" – 8:23 (also listed in two parts as "Prelude" and "Slag Aid")
  2. "British Colonialism and the BBC" – 2:51
  3. "Commercial Break" – 1:02
  4. "Unilever" – 4:23
  5. "More Whitewashing" – 3:43
  6. "An Interlude: Beginning to Take It Back" – 2:41
  7. "Dutiful Servants and Political Masters" – 2:15
  8. "Coca-Colanisation" – 2:13
  9. "...And in a Nutshell" – 0:54
  10. "Invasion" – 5:07

Track details

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"How to Get Your Band on Television" critiques Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Cliff Richard's self-promotional techniques, such as Queen's playing in apartheid South Africa. Following a slew of Live Aid-style promotions, sequels and events and the death of Mercury, it was re-written in the 1990s as "Slag Aid", retaining most of the original lyrics. The version released on the live album Showbusiness! also references McCartney, but adds Axl Rose, Michael Jackson and John Lydon as more modern examples.[1]

Personnel

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Band members

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Additional personnel

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  • Simon "Commonknowledge" Lanzon – keyboards, accordion, vocals
  • Neil Ferguson – engineer

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ogg, Alex. "Album Review". AllMusic. RhythmOne. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  2. ^ Ward, Bill (12 April 1987). "Chumbawamba: Pictures of Starving Children Sell Records". St Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ Shutkever, Paula (1 May 1992). "Chumbawamba - First 2". Vox. No. 20. p. 77. Retrieved 5 March 2024 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ "Album overview". Discogs. 26 September 1986. Retrieved 3 March 2017.