Chumbawamba puts its money where its mouth is

British anarchist band Chumbawamba has turned over $210,000 it received from General Motors to anti-capitalist campaigners. The band was paid the money for the use of its song "Pass it Along" to advertise GM Pontiac cars.

"We're planning on using some of the money to document some of the social and environmental impacts of General Motors", Joshua Karliner, executive director, said. CorpWatch was given half of GM's money by Chumbawamba.

The other half went to the alternative media group IndyMedia, which said it would use the money for "corporate jamming actions".

This is not the first time Chumbawamba has used corporate money to fund anti-capitalist campaigns. In 1999, royalties from the use of the band's 1997 hit single "Tubthumping" by the Ford Motor Company in South Africa were turned over to the Debate magazine collective to fund the reappearance of the radical South African anti-capitalist journal.

["Pass it Along" and some of Chumbawamba's other songs can be downloaded from the band's web site at <http://www.chumba.com>.]

From Green Left Weekly, February 13, 2002.

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From GLW issue 480