POP WILL EAT ITSELF : SWEET SWEET PIE [CHAPTER 22 - UK 1987] 12'

Pop Will Eat Itself  "Sweet Sweet Pie"  maxi 12"

(Chapter 22)  1987  made in UK

cat. num. 12 CHAP 11

#alternative rock  #indie rock 

Taking their name from an NME feature on the group Jamie Wednesday (later known as Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine), the archetypal grebo band Pop Will Eat Itself formed in Stourbridge, England in 1986. Comprised of vocalist/guitarist Clint Mansell, keyboardist Adam Mole, drummer Graham Crabb, and bassist Richard March, PWEI began their existence as a Buzzcocks-influenced indie guitar band, and issued their self-produced debut EP, The Poppies Say Grrr, in 1986. 

While recording their follow-up, Poppiecock, PWEI became immersed in sampling, drawing material from sources ranging from James Brown to Iggy Pop; soon Crabb emerged from behind his drum kit to join Mansell as co-frontman, and a drum machine was installed in his place. Honing a fusion of rock, pop, and rap that they dubbed "grebo," the Poppieskick-started a small revolution; by the release of their 1987 full-length debut, Box Frenzy, and the hit "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore," grebo -- the name quickly given the entire subculture of similarly grimy and raunchy bands -- was all the rage in the British music press. 

The influence of hip-hop was even more pronounced on singles like "Def. Con. One." and "Can U Dig It?," both included on Pop Will Eat Itself's 1989 masterpiece, This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!, their debut for RCA. "Touched by the Hand of Cicciolina," an ode to the Italian porn actress turned politician, was another hit, while 1991's Cure for Sanity marked an increasing interest in dance music. By 1992's The Looks or the Lifestyle, PWEIeven added a live drummer, Fuzz (born Robert Townshend), to expand their ever-mutating sound.