Ned's Atomic Dustbin

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Biography

'''Ned's Atomic Dustbin''' are an English Rock (music)|rock band formed in Stourbridge in West Midlands (county)|West Midlands in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show . The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin played the regular bass lines on the other. This gave the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound featuring distorted effects-laden guitar and energetic drums.

The band was formed while at sixth form college and they recorded their first album while some of the members were still teenagers. This led to a strong teenage fanbase with a reputation for enjoying crowd surfing and moshing at their gigs. The band were also noted (and occasionally ridiculed) for their early image which consisted of uniformly crimped hair and a predilection for sporting shorts and band/skateboard T-shirts. "The Neds" (as their fans referred to them) were well known for their own distinctive T-shirt designs, reportedly producing over 86 different designs within three years (1987–1990). (In 2009, Jonn Penney stated, "We're still adding designs - old habits die hard".)

History

Ned's Atomic Dustbin quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being offered a support slot by local heroes The Wonder Stuff on their 1989 and 1990 UK tours. During 1990, Ned's Atomic Dustbin signed with Birmingham based indie label Chapter 22 Records for their debut release, The Ingredients EP followed by a single Kill Your Television : they reached #92 and #53 in the UK Singles Chart respectively. Significantly, Kill Your Television also topped the UK Independent Singles chart. This, combined with their feted live reputation, drew a huge crowd to Ned's afternoon appearance on the Main Stage of The Reading Festival in August 1990. The buzz created was significant enough to catalyse the interest of major record labels. One final single for Chapter 22 followed, Until You Find Out , but distribution problems meant that many fans were left unable to purchase copies, thus stunting its chart progress. It eventually stalled at #51. Frustrated, the band finally decided to sign to Sony Records, on the proviso that they be allowed to release their music through their own Furtive label - thus regaining a higher degree of creative control while still enjoying the benefit of the major label's distribution and advertising clout.

Sure enough, in March 1991 Ned's found themselves in the UK Top 20 with their next single, Happy , their Sony/Furtive debut. It reached #16 and earned the band the first of two Top Of The Pops appearances. They released their debut album God Fodder shortly afterwards, in April 1991, which made #4 on the UK Top 40 Album chart. In July 1991, the United Kingdom|British music magazine, NME , noted that the band were, along with KLF , Seal (singer)|Seal , The La's and Electronic (band)|Electronic , making their mark in the United States . The band released a new UK single, Trust towards the end of 1991, while America got the God Fodder versions of Kill Your Television and Grey Cell Green , the video for the latter track proving to be a big hit on MTV 's taste-making alternative show 120 Minutes . During 1991, the group toured around the world with, amongst others Mega City Four , Senseless Things and Jesus Jones . They recorded their second album Are You Normal? in 1992, which was promoted by the singles Not Sleeping Around , Intact and, in some European territories, Walking Through Syrup .

Having headlined the NME Stage at The Glastonbury Festival in 1992, the band spent the next couple of years on a worldwide tour, releasing a mop-up compilation of older non-album material and two new tracks called "0.522" in 1994 before decamping to Wales to record their final album, Brainbloodvolume . While still retaining the band's trademark melodic sensibilities, this album boasted a heavier, more diverse sound than their previous releases, moving away from the distinctive twin bass set-up to incorporate Sampler (musical instrument)|samplers and keyboards. Sony released the album in America before the UK, meaning that most die-hard fans bought it on import. This damaged its UK chart position when it was eventually released domestically, increasing tensions between the band and their label.

Ned's had one last UK top 40 single with All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together in 1995, following a final barnstorming appearance on The Word (TV series)| The Word , while the uncharacteristically slow number Stuck became the band's final single, making the BBC Radio One B-list (though allegedly only after the band's radio plugger refused to tell the station's taste-makers who the song was by before they heard it). Following a final US tour, Ned's Atomic Dustbin split in 1995. Singer Penney formed a new band, Groundswell (initially featuring Ned's guitarist, Rat), who recorded one single Corrode and a studio album Plausible/Infeasible for New Jersey based indie label, Gig Records. They disbanded shortly thereafter - in fact, the album was only actually released after their demise.

One reviewer writes, "At the time of their inception, there was no other band like Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. To this very day, there still isn’t. No matter how many up-and-coming acts from England, or even America, have tried to fine-tune their sound to resemble that of Ned’s, it still falls utterly short of perfection."

Ned's Atomic Dustbin reformed with a different line-up in 2000, for a show in Dudley . The show was a success and the band have continued to perform sporadically ever since, including a four-date tour in 2004 where the band performed two new songs, "Hibernation" and "Ambush". In 2005 they again played a few late-December gigs, and on 5 June 2006 their first new single in 11 years, "Hibernation", was released, supported with a weekend concert series called "Ned-Fest". The single was available as both a download and a CD, available to buy online via their website.

The video game NCAA Football 2006 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox features the song "Kill Your Television". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0484866/soundtrack Their song "Grey Cell Green" is featured in the video game Saints Row for the Xbox 360 platform, on "The Rock" radio station. The Neds' cover version of the Bay City Rollers song " Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers song)|Saturday Night " features in the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer . http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108174/soundtrack

On 7 May 2007, a compilation album was released with the name of ''Some Furtive Years - A Ned's Anthology'': "Furtive" is a reference to their earlier record label. Unlike the others, this compilation features liner notes by Penney and Cheslin, offering insight into the background of songs featured on the album.

Reunited

On 12 May 2008, the band announced that the original line-up would be performing live together for the first time since 1995, for a gig in London at The Astoria. When asked about performing together for the first time in over a decade, Penney stated, "It just felt right& #33; There was the understandable awkwardness when we stood in a room together for the first time in 13 years, but that just melted away as soon as we started to play the songs." "We didn't really know what was going to happen once we got playing on stage, because it had been such a long time since we all been in it together. It's different than rehearsal. It was such an incredible kind of electric feeling atmosphere for everybody. You felt at one with the crowd again, similar to very early on, when everybody was excited about what was happening." Matt Cheslin says, "It was great, it's been quite nostalgic. I haven't played for the whole time that I haven't been in the band, but some of the really old songs I remember more. You do really notice the difference in the really early songs. It was as exciting as it was when I was 17."

Of the reunion and recent shows, Penney said: “The reunion shows have gone down well and the fans gave us a massive welcome back so we wanted to do something different for them and play the album that made it happen for us. It was a time that was exciting for us and the fans, it is not an anniversary as such, we just wanted to celebrate that album and era."

Penney recently spoke of the loyalty of Ned's fans in a 2009 interview. "We see masses of familiar faces every time we play - we were always pretty familiar with our audiences anyway and we're very lucky that so many of them are so loyal to us. People still fly in to shows from all over the world - Japan , Australia , Canada , U.S. and all over Europe . It's incredibly humbling to see these people keep coming back."

When asked if Ned's is planning on recording any new material together, Penney replied, "I think we will, but don't hold your breath – song writing is a slow process for Ned's."

Members – classic lineup 1989–1995, 2008-present

Jonn Penney - vocals

Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin)|Gareth "Rat" Pring - guitar

Alex Griffin - lead bass

Matt Cheslin - bass

Dan Worton - drums

Reformation-era members, 2000–2008

Martin Warlow - guitar

Andy King - bass

Discography

Furtive was the band's own label distributed under Sony Records|Sony , which allowed the band to retain a level of independence and control (although which subsidiary of Sony distributed each release depended on which one and where it was bought. In the UK it was Sony Soho Square, Japan Epic Records|Epic , and in the US they were shifted about - first Columbia Records|Columbia , then Chaos Records|Chaos , then Work Records|Work .)

Albums

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1990	Bite	Chapter 22	Collection of the first two singles plus two other demo tracks, released without the band's consent.
1991	God Fodder	Furtive	Début album
1992	And Besides...		Japanese only b-side collection
1992	Are You Normal?		Second studio album
1994	0.522		B-side and compilation track collection
1995	Brainbloodvolume		Final studio album
1998	Intact - The Singles Collection	Sony	Compilation.
2001	One More: No More	Gig	Live, 29 June 2000
2003	'' Terminally Groovy: The Best of Ned's Atomic Dustbin	Castle Records>Castle	"Best of" compilation
2004	Session	Shakedown	Re-recordings, live
2007	'' Some Furtive Years: A Ned's Anthology	Camden Records>Camden	Compilation

Singles and EPs

Year	Title	Label	UK Singles Chart cite book	US Modern Rock http:/ / www.billboard.com/ bbcom/ retrieve_chart_history.do? model.vnuArtistId=11375& model.vnuAlbumId=499894	Other information
May 1990	The Ingredients EP	Chapter 22	& nbsp;	& nbsp;	First release
July 1990	" Kill Your Television "		53	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
October 1990	" Until You Find Out "		51	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
March 1991	Happy "	Furtive	16	11	Sony . #11 US Modern Rock.
September 1991	Trust (Ned's Atomic Dustbin song)>Trust "		21	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
1991	" Grey Cell Green "		& nbsp;	24	US Release. #24 US Modern Rock
1992	" Kill Your Television "		& nbsp;	& nbsp;	US Release
October 1992	" Not Sleeping Around "		19	1	#1 US Modern Rock (in 1993)
December 1992	Intact "		36	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
February 1993	" Walking Through Syrup "		& nbsp;	13	European/ Australian/ American Release. #13 US Modern Rock
1993	Saturday Night "	Columbia	& nbsp;	26	Cover of the Bay City Rollers track. #26 US Modern Rock
March 1995	" All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together "	Furtive	33	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
May 1995	The Black Dog and Beaumont Hannant Remixes		& nbsp;	& nbsp;	Remix EP of single All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together
July 1995	Stuck "		64	& nbsp;	& nbsp;
June 2006	Hibernation "	Spitfirepink	& nbsp;	& nbsp;	& nbsp;

Video and DVD

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1991	Nothing Is Cool	SMV Entertainment	Live and on tour footage
1993	Lunatic Magnets	SMV Entertainment	Mock interview and music videos
2003	Shoot the Neds& #33; In Concert	Secret Films	Live, 1 June 2002
2007	'' ...Don't Exist	Twelve42 Films	Documentary / Live - Directed by Carl Beebee & AJ Davies.

Copyright Citations

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1. The Wonder Stuff 2. Letters To Cleo 3. Mega City Four 4. Orange 9mm 5. The Young Knives 6. Wonderstuff

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