Ned's Atomic Dustbin
are an English Grebo rock band formed in Stourbridge in 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 Matt played the regular basslines on the other. This gave the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound with distorted indie guitars and complicated Baggy drum beats.
The band was formed while at sixth form college and they recorded their first album while still teenagers. This led to a strong teenage fanbase with a reputation for enjoying stage diving and moshing at their gigs. The band were also noted (and sometimes ridiculed) for their early image which consisted of uniformly crimped hair, short trousers and T-shirts. The Neds (as their fans referred to them) were well known for their T-shirts and produced over 80 different designs within three years. Towards the end they also branched out into shorts, hats and other merchandise items.
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NED'S ATOMIC DUSTBIN TICKETS
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History
Ned's Atomic Dustbin quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being noticed by local group
The Wonder Stuff who offered a support slot on their 1989 and 1990 UK tours. During 1990, Ned's Atomic Dustbin released two EP's, "The Ingredients" and "Kill Your Television", which reached numbers 92 and 53 in UK Singles chart, respectively. They released their debut album
God Fodder
shortly afterwards and had hits with "Until You Find Out" (#51) and "Happy" (#16) in 1991. During the next two years, the group toured with, amongst others
Mega City Four,
Senseless Things and
Jesus Jones. During this period they recorded their second album
Are You Normal?
in 1992, which was promoted by the singles "Not Sleeping Around" and "Intact".
The band spent the next few years on a worldwide tour before recording their final album,
Brainbloodvolume
. The album had a more diverse sound including
samplers and keyboards. Their record label released the album in America before the UK, so most fans bought it on import leading to a poor UK chart position when it was eventually released, leading to tensions within the band and with the label. The poor chart showing may have also been to do with a changed music scene now fully in the swing of
Britpop. The band had one last UK top 40 single with "All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together" in 1995 following an appearance on
The Word
. The band split in 1995. Singer Jonn Penney formed a new band, Groundswell, which had little success.
Ned's Atomic Dustbin reformed with a different lineup in 2000, for a show in
Dudley. The show was a success and the band have done a Christmas show every year since then, including a four-date tour in 2004 where the band performed several new songs. 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 not available at regular retailers: it was an online-only single, available as both an online CD purchase and as a download.
The video game
NCAA Football 2006
for
Playstation 2 and
Xbox features the song "Kill Your Television". 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" features in the movie
So I Married an Axe Murderer
.
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 Jonn Penney and Matt Chelsin, offering insight into the background of songs featured on the album.
On 12 May 2008, the band announced that the original lineup of Jonn, Rat, Matt, Alex, and Dan would be performing live together for the first time since 1995 on 6 December 2008 at the Astoria London.
Members – classic lineup 1989–1995
- Jonn Penney - vocals
- Gareth "Rat" Pring - guitar
- Alex Griffin - lead bass
- Matt Cheslin - bass
- Dan Warton - drums
Discography
Furtive was the band's own label distributed under
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, and in the US they were shifted about - first
Columbia, then
Chaos, then
Work.)
Albums
| Year
| Title
| Label
| Other information
|
| 1990
| Bite
| Chapter 22
| Collection of the first two singles plus two other tracks
|
| 1991
| God Fodder
| Furtive
| Début album
|
| 1992
| And Besides...
| Japanese only b-side collection
|
| Are You Normal?
| Second studio album
|
| 1994
| 0.522
| B-side collection
|
| 1995
| Brainbloodvolume
| Last studio album
|
| 1998
| Intact
| Sony
| Compilation
|
| 2001
| One More, No More
| Gig
| Live, 29 June 2000
|
| 2003
| Terminally Groovy
| Castle
| "Best of" compilation
|
| 2004
| Session
| Shakedown
| Re-recordings, live
|
| 2007
| Some Furtive Years - A Ned's Anthology
| Camden
| Compilation |
Singles and EPs
| Year
| Title
| Label
| UK Singles Chart [1]
| US Modern Rock [2]
| Other information
|
| May 1990
| The Ingredients ep
| Chapter 22
|
|
| First release
|
| July 1990
| Kill Your Television
| 53
|
|
|
| October 1990
| Until You Find Out
| 51
|
|
|
| March 1991
| Happy
| Furtive
| 16
| 11
| First release on Sony. #11 US Modern Rock.
|
| September 1991
| Trust
| 21
|
| EP
|
| 1991
| Grey Cell Green
|
| 24
| US Release. #24 US Modern Rock
|
| 1992
| Kill Your Television
|
|
| US Release
|
| October 1992
| Not Sleeping Around
| 19
| 1
| #1 US Modern Rock (in 1993)
|
| December 1992
| Intact
| 36
|
|
|
| February 1993
| Walking Through Syrup
|
| 13
| European/Australian/American Release. #13 US Modern Rock
|
| 1993
| Saturday Night
| Columbia
|
| 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
|
|
|
| May 1995
| The Black Dog and Beaumont Hannant Remixes
|
|
| Remix EP of single All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together
|
| July 1995
| Stuck
| 64
|
|
|
| June 2006
| Hibernation
| Spitfirepink
|
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Video and DVD
| Year
| Title
| Label
| Other information
|
| 1991
| Nothing Is Cool
| SMV Entertainment
| Live and on tour footage
|
| 1993
| Lunatic Magnets
| Mock interview and music videos
|
| 2003
| Shoot The Neds! in concert
| Secret Films
| Live, 1 June 2002
|
| 2007
| ...Don't Exist
| Twelve42 Films
| Documentary / Live
|
References
- British Hit Singles & Albums
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=11375&model.vnuAlbumId=49