Goldie Lookin Chain is a Comedic Rap music group based in 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 southern Wales in general.
Background
Many of the songs contain references to places and hang-outs local to Newport. Much of the humour comes from the adoption of hip-hop style and language, adapted into the local South Wales vernacular, partly to poke fun at "chav culture". A "clart" means "a person who knows about the GLC" (other GLC meanings can be found under "GLC Dictionary towards the bottom of the page). Their music also satirises gangsta rap by highlighting the disparity between the band's deliberately unglamorous image, and the media hype and glamour usually associated with gangsta rap. While the correct spelling of the name of the group would require correct punctuation (with an apostrophe at the end of Lookin), no sleeve or band literature indicates one.
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. 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". 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 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 Album Chart. This album was released in May 2005 in the USA with the title "Straight Outta Newport" with cover art similar to NWA'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 #14 in the UK. This song is based on a sample of Yellow Magic Orchestra's' 1980 track "Behind The Mask", later covered by Eric Clapton in 1987.
The band - informally known as "the Chain" or simply "the GLC" - released, "You Knows I Loves You", 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. "Your Missus Is A Nutter" is 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 #14 in the UK. They dedicated the song to Victoria Beckham, which resulted in them being summoned by the Newport mayor's office, who also objected to the title of their album, Safe as Fuck.
Controversy
In a further controversial incident 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 (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 exactly 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. [1]
On Television
In January 2006, Maggot appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. He finished in third place behind Michael Barrymore and the non-celebrity Chantelle Houghton.
In 2005, Eggsy appeared on a special music edition of Celebrity Weakest Link, and proved himself to be quite astute despite his stoner image, finishing second to eventual winner Fish (born Derek William Dick, formerly of Marillion).
Return to independence, and current plans
On the 7 March 2006 it was reported that the GLC had actually been dropped from Atlantic Records a couple of months previously and were now going to release material on their own Gold Dust Records, which was formed on March 7, 2006 by Adam Hussain. They then formed Gold Dust Records, which is to be producing more music, with an album set for release late summer 2007. There was also talk of a GLC movie at some point, but the band are focussing on their musical career first.
Shortly before they got dropped by their label, they were on tour with UK rock band Feeder. The tour was postponed until the new year when Feeder frontman Grant Nicholas developed bleeding vocal cords. Then before the tour was rescheduled, the GLC were dropped. They still toured with Feeder when the tour was resumed.
Goldie Lookin Chain then co-headlined The Full Ponty music festival day one on 27 May 2006, also with Feeder.
They have also recently taken part in this year's Gumball 3000 doing a DJ set for the pre-race party and taking part in the opening stage in a Bedford Rascal Van.
The group appeared in the 17 June 2006 episode of Doctor Who Confidential, expressing their love of Doctor Who and its local Cardiff production.
In August 2006, the band performed in Ibiza as part of the Ibiza Rocks nights in San Antonio Bay at BarM. Also present at their gig were Wee Man from Jackass and Matthew Pritchard from Dirty Sanchez.
The GLC released a limited edition album entitled Under the Counter which is a collection of songs made between 2004 and 2006, in early 2008, which is due to be followed in March 2009 by ASBO4Life.
Members
Full time
2Hats
Maggot
Billy Webb
Eggsy
Mystikal
Mike Balls
Adam Hussain
Dwain Xain Zedon
Occasional/part-time
- One Step Down
- DCI Burnside
- Dipper Nan
- Leeroy Fashions
- C.Live
- Rosco P
- M.C. Flatpress
- Stressed Armstrong
- Graham the Bear
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 (USA: Straight Outta Newport) (2004) UK #5
- Safe as Fuck (2005) UK #16 (Certified: Silver)
- Under the Counter (2008)
- Asbo4Life (2009) #175 UK
Singles
Band member mini-biographies
Mystikal
Mystikal (right) with a fan in Skinner St.,
Newport
AKA The Druid, The Alchemist, Dr. Boris Gobshite.
He is quite recognisable due to his green eyes and natural two-tone beard. He claims to have lived for 2000 years and contributes a blog-style record of his and the band's adventures both on tour and in their daily lives on the Goldie Lookin Chain website, known as Mysty's Musings.
One of the tracks featuring his rap is based on 'Englishman In New York' by Sting. Another track has samples from 'The Model' by German synth group Kraftwerk. In his rap for the record R'n'B, he name-checks Enya and the track Orinoco Flow. He has also rapped on the intro to a track called 'Paranoia' which is based musically on the track Walking in the Air, which was made famous by fellow Welsh warbler Aled Jones as a young chorister.
Eggsy
AKA Mr Love-Eggs, Rene La Loux, Chon Benwa Balls, Raphael de la Ghetto, Professor Doppelganger, Pele Maradona, Arther Zico, Fresh Prince Charles Of Cwmbran, His real name is John Rutledge.
He is most famously known for pretending to be a robot on the track "Half Man, Half Machine". He has appeared on Irish radio station Q102 (presenter was Pete Wilson) talking about the song "Your Missus Is A Nutter" and the album "Safe as Fuck". It was also quoted in a podcast that his real-life name was Jonothan.
In the track "Professor Doppelganger", the Professor Doppelganger character interviews several of the other AKA characters under hypnosis, so Eggsy is actually speaking to himself in different voices. He is a big fan of the children's TV show The Moomins.
Adam Hussain
AKA Benny Blanco, Short Term, The Shit, Draw Ambassador.
He is the only member of The GLC to have an album (Adam Hussain's Truth & Slander) named after him. Adam's Nan features on one track (Nan Jam) and according to Adam's rap she's 84. The track "Charmschool" is based on the original theme tune for the 1980s TV show Grange Hill.
Adam is a fan of TV show Spongebob. He has also featured on the show Doctor Who Confidential along with other members of the band displaying his large collection of over 250 Doctor Who videos and DVDs. Adam grew up in Leeds. He has often spoken of being bullied at school for being good at sports.
2Hats
AKA Hatsy, 2000AD, The Shotgun Surgeon, Rape Balaclava, Stand-By, Hate Society, Smack Boy.
He is recognisable by his wearing of two hats (hence his nickname). His nickname is also a play on the British swear word Twats. He fronts the track Shotgun Surgery.
Rhys from GLC
AKA P Xain, Zardoz, Rhys From The Band, Dwain Xain Zedong.
He writes, produces and creates mixes for all of the tracks the band have made. He is a big fan of Nandos restaurants. Between 2007 and 2008 Rhys and Eggsy presented the week day drive time shows on XFM South Wales. He is also a keen inventor and has several innovative products awaiting Patent. Rhys is also the manager of German techno band Digital Sex.
Mike Balls
He headlines on tracks such as "Dogporn" and "Mike Balls Unofficial World Cup Anthem". According to an interview for the online site for S4C (Welsh Channel 4), the animal Mike would most like to be is an octopus.
His favourite animal is the cat and his favourite food is crisps. He worked as a barman at the Megabowl in Newport for 7 years[citation needed].
Billy Webb
AKA Tim Westcountry, DVS, The Optician
The youngest member of the GLC crew. Billy has appeared on the Irish Radio show Q102 (presenter Pete Wilson) speaking about his relations in Ireland, Maggot in Celebrity Big Brother, and the band Sparks because he and Eggsy were pretending to be The Mael Brothers on Big Brother's Little Brother.
Billy is also a fully qualified landscape gardener. He is normally to be seen wearing leisurewear, and is most recognisable by his tennis-style head-bands.
DCI Burnside
He is the real life brother of Billy Webb. His nickname is taken from a character, Detective Chief Inspector Frank Burnside, in the ITV show The Bill. He features on the intro to "Superhero".
Dipper Nan
He features on the hidden track "Bedsit" with fellow GLC member Maggot. His real name is Dan Tracey.
Rosco P
His nickname comes from the 80s TV show "The Dukes Of Hazzard" after Sheriff Coltrane with the same name although the "P" apparently stands for pubes. He used to play for Sheffield United's youth team. His real name is Ross Craven.
MC Flatpress
MC Flatpress - (AKA Dave Cocaine). Conceived, co-wrote and performs on the track Soapbar. Flatpress is currently working on other projects under the name 'Flash Back Arrester'
External links
- ^ http://www.thisfeeling.co.uk/tftv/5/GLC_@_This_Feeling
