Goldie Lookin Chain

Goldie Lookin Chain

Live at Leeds Festival 2005
Background information
Origin Newport, Wales, United Kingdom
Genres Hip hop, comedy hip hop
Years active 2000–present
Labels Atlantic Records
Gold Dust Records
Website www.youknowsit.co.uk
Members 2Hats
Billy Webb
Eggsy
Mystikal
Mike Balls
Adam Hussain
Rhys
Graham the Bear
Past members Maggot

Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedic rap music group from Newport, Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the "chav" culture and life in Newport and South Wales in general.

History

The group recorded 6 albums before gaining a major record deal and were signed to the East/West record label, the home of rock band The Darkness. Rumours suggest that GLC was signed after record label bosses heard The Darkness playing GLC tracks whilst on tour (source: BBC Radio 1 – GLC Documentary). GLC went on to support The Darkness in the latter stages of their UK tour.

GLC's first UK chart entry was "Half-Man Half-Machine"/"Self Suicide", which reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.[1] When group member Dwain Xain Zedong was phoned by BBC chart presenter Wes on the Official Chart Show to be informed of this, Xain informed the rest of the band that they had reached number 1, much to the shock of the DJ. "Half Man Half Machine" was a surreal song about one of the members (Eggsy) believing he was a robot, dressing up in foil, and going to the shops to buy ten fags and some crisps. The song namechecks many well-known 1980s 8-bit computer systems including Binatone, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, ZX81 and BBC Micro.

In August 2004, the group reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart with "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do".[1] With the tagline "The gun is the tool, the mind is the weapon", this track – again satirising the American hip hop scene – was a popular radio hit. The B-side was the album track, "Soapbar".

Their first nationally-released album was called Greatest Hits, the name a play on both the group's previous lack of commercial success and their "stoner" image; it compiled a mixture of new material and selections from their previous six unofficial albums. It was released in September 2004, and debuted at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart.[1] This album was released in May 2005 in the US with the title Straight Outta Newport with cover art similar to N.W.A's album Straight Outta Compton. However, this version of the album was missing two tracks – "Maggot" and "You Knows I Loves You".

Their next single release was "Your Mother's Got a Penis", with an accompanying video based on a supermarket theme. "Your Mother's Got a Penis" first appeared on their album The Manifesto, and reached No. 14 in the UK.[1]

The band – informally known as "the Chain" or simply "the GLC" – released "You Knows I Loves You Baby", a parody of 1980s love songs from the albums Greatest Hits and The Manifesto, on 13 December 2004; this reached number 22 in the UK chart.[1] "Your Missus Is a Nutter" was the first single from second album Safe As Fuck. The album was originally going to be called "Safety in Numbers", a tribute to the album Power in Numbers by alternative L.A. rap group Jurassic 5. The single reached No. 14 in the UK.[1]

Controversy

In 2005, GLC were invited by the Football Association of Wales to perform before the World Cup qualifying match against England at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the nature of the band's music and the participation of England star David Beckham, the band dedicated "Your Missus Is a Nutter" to the footballer about his wife, who was present at the match. The ensuing furore, with the Welsh football authorities having to apologise to the Beckhams,[2] (despite David Beckham appearing to take the joke in good humour) as well as expressing outrage at the band's perceived lack of respect, prompted many people to question why the organisers had hired them to play in the first place. In January 2009, GLC appeared on This Feeling TV, and revealed more about the incident.[3]

Recent

On 17 October 2011, GLC released the Blue Waffle album, featuring new songs including "Biscuit", "I Seen Your Mother", "K Hole" and "If I Told You". Also in 2011, it was reported that Adam Hussain, a fan of the original Dr Who series, had contributed a memory about "How a first date was interrupted by The Doctor"[4] to a forthcoming Doctor Who charity book, designed to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.

Newport County Football Club

The group's association with their home city's football club stretches back to their inception as a group. They featured as a sponsor on the Newport County kit worn in the FAW Premier Cup in the 2004–05 season.[5]

Members

Full-time

  • Rhys from GLC aka P.Xain
  • 2Hats
  • Maggot (Andrew Major)
  • Billy Webb
  • Eggsy (John Rutledge)[6]
  • Mystikal
  • Mike Balls
  • Adam Hussain
  • Graham the Bear

Occasional/part-time

  • One Step Down
  • DCI Burnside
  • M.C. Meatfantasy
  • Dipper Nan
  • Leeroy Fashions
  • C.Live
  • Rosco P
  • M.C. Flatpress
  • Stressed Armstrong

Discography

Albums

  • Don't Blame the Chain (2001)
  • Chain's Addiction (2001)
  • The Return of the Red Eye (2002)
  • The Party Album (2002)
  • Adam Hussain's Truth and Slander (2002)
  • The Manifesto (2003)
  • Greatest Hits(2004) – UK Albums Chart: No. 5[7]
  • Safe as Fuck (2005) – UK Albums Chart: No. 16[7]
  • Under the Counter (2008)
  • GLC Mixtape : Now! That's What I Call Proper Music (2008)
  • Asbo4Life (2009)
  • Alternate Universe (2009)
  • The Mix Tape Two (2010)
  • It's a Goldie Lookin Christmas (The Fairytale of Newport) (2010)
  • Blue Waffle (2011)
  • Primordial Soup – The Mix Tape 3 (2012)
  • Kings of Caerleon (2013)
  • Greatest Hits 2 (2015)
  • Pill Communication (2016)

Singles

Charted singles

Year Title
UK
Position
[7]
2004 "Half Man Half Machine"
32
2004 "Guns Don't Kill People Rappers Do"
3
2004 "Your Mother's Got a Penis"
14
2004 "You Knows I Loves You"
22
2005 "Your Missus Is a Nutter"
14
2005 "R'n'B"
26

Other singles

YouTube videos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 230. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ↑ "Beckham apology for rapper insult". BBC Sport. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Archived 6 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Adam Hussain « Adam Hussain on Creating A Doctor Who Book For Charity". Doctorwhobook.wordpress.com. 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  5. ↑ Jenkins, Catryn (2004-10-26). "Newport County". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-03-03.
  6. ↑ "meets Eggsy". The Middle Stump. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 "GOLDIE LOOKIN CHAIN – full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
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