School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Pop Will Eat Itself

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Pop Will Eat Itself, PWEI for short, is an English alternative rock band, formed in 1986 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, with members from Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country. The name comes from a piece by David Quantick in the magazine NME. An earlier version of the group was called From Eden and had Clint Mansell as a member. Graham Crabb, Adam Mole, Mansell and Richard March formed the core. Their first single, Poppies Say Grrr!, was sold in a brown paper bag in 1986 and was Single of the Week in NME.

Music and breakthrough

At first they were counted as part of grebo, but samples, hip hop and industrial rock soon found their way into their music. They listened to Run-DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys, and to sample records by The KLF and Bomb the Bass. Three albums appeared on RCA, including This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! and Cure for Sanity, recorded with producer Flood. Hits were Can U Dig It? and Wise Up! Sucker. Their biggest single was Get the Girl! Kill the Baddies! in 1993, a top ten hit in the United Kingdom. In 1992 The Looks or the Lifestyle? appeared with drummer John Townshend.

Influence

The group became more political with Ich Bin Ein Auslander, together with Fun-Da-Mental and with anti-Nazi lyrics. In 1996 it broke up. Mansell later became a film composer, for Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan, among others. In this way PWEI shows how punk attitude, hip hop and samplers came together in one sound in the 1980s and 1990s.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Can U Dig It? and notice how samples and a tight beat carry the song rather than guitars alone. Try to hear which sounds seem borrowed from other music or films.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: Artists