Ned's Atomic Dustbin
Encyclopedia
Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...

 in West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

 in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show
The Goon Show
The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme...

. The band were unusual for using two bass players in their lineup: Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat Cheslin played the regular bass lines on the other. This gave the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound featuring distorted effects-laden guitar and energetic drums.

The band was formed while at sixth form college and they recorded their first album while some the members were still teenagers. This led to a strong teenage fanbase with a reputation for enjoying crowd surfing
Crowd surfing
Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person during a concert, transferring the person from one part of the venue to another...

 and moshing
Moshing
Moshing is a dance in which participants push or slam into each other. They also flail their limbs to breakdowns of hardcore punk and its sub-genres. It is most associated with aggressive music genres, such as hardcore punk and heavy metal...

 at their gigs. The band were also noted (and occasionally ridiculed) for their early image which consisted of uniformly crimped hair and a predilection for sporting shorts and band/skateboard T-shirts. "The Neds" (as their fans referred to them) were well known for their own distinctive T-shirt designs, reportedly producing over 86 different designs within three years (1987–1990). (In 2009, Jonn Penney stated, "We're still adding designs - old habits die hard".)

History

Ned's Atomic Dustbin quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being offered a support slot by local heroes The Wonder Stuff
The Wonder Stuff
The Wonder Stuff are a British alternative rock band, originally based in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in the Black Country, England.-Origins:...

 on their 1989 and 1990 UK tours. During 1990, Ned's Atomic Dustbin signed with Birmingham based indie label Chapter 22 Records for their debut release, The Ingredients EP followed by a single Kill Your Television: they reached #92 and #53 in the UK Singles Chart respectively. Significantly, Kill Your Television also topped the UK Independent Singles chart. This, combined with their feted live reputation, drew a huge crowd to Ned's afternoon appearance on the Main Stage of The Reading Festival in August 1990. The buzz created was significant enough to catalyse the interest of major record labels. One final single for Chapter 22 followed, Until You Find Out, but distribution problems meant that many fans were left unable to purchase copies, thus stunting its chart progress. It eventually stalled at #51. Frustrated, the band finally decided to sign to Sony Records, on the proviso that they be allowed to release their music through their own Furtive label - thus regaining a higher degree of creative control while still enjoying the benefit of the major label's distribution and advertising clout.

Sure enough, in March 1991 Ned's found themselves in the UK Top 20 with their next single, Happy, their Sony/Furtive debut. It reached #16 and earned the band the first of two Top Of The Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...

appearances. They released their debut album God Fodder
God Fodder
God Fodder is the first full-length album by British rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It was released in 1991.-Track listing:All songs written by Ned's Atomic Dustbin.# "Kill Your Television" - 2:59# "Less Than Useful" - 4:05# "Selfish" - 3:54...

shortly afterwards, in April 1991, which made #4 on the UK Top 40 Album chart. In July 1991, the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

, noted that the band were, along with KLF, Seal, The La's
The La's
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group is most famous for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1984 and Mavers joined soon after...

 and Electronic
Electronic (band)
-Albums:-Singles:-Music videos:-External links:* *...

, making their mark in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The band released a new UK single, Trust towards the end of 1991, while America got the God Fodder versions of Kill Your Television and Grey Cell Green, the video for the latter track proving to be a big hit on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's taste-making alternative show 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....

. During 1991, the group toured around the world with, amongst others Mega City Four
Mega City Four
Mega City Four were an English indie/pop punk band who were popular in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Mega City Four consisted of guitarist/vocalist Wiz, his brother and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Danny Brown, bassist/vocalist Gerry Bryant and drummer Chris Jones...

, Senseless Things
Senseless Things
Senseless Things were a British indie punk band, who were active on the UK festival circuit in the late 1980s and early 1990s.-Career:Senseless Things formed around the musical partnership of songwriter Mark Keds and Morgan Nicholls , who as eleven year old schoolboys in Twickenham, Middlesex put...

 and Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones
Jesus Jones are a British rock band. The Wiltshire-based group, formed in late 1988, recorded and performed in the late 1980s, throughout the 1990s, and into the 2000s. They are best remembered for their track, "Right Here, Right Now", an international hit and subsequently globally appropriated for...

. They recorded their second album Are You Normal?
Are You Normal?
Are You Normal? is Ned's Atomic Dustbin's second album, released on 3 November 1992. It features the band's biggest American hit, "Not Sleeping Around", which hit the top of Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart.- Track listing :...

in 1992, which was promoted by the singles Not Sleeping Around, Intact and, in some European territories, Walking Through Syrup.

Having headlined the NME Stage at The Glastonbury Festival in 1992, the band spent the next couple of years on a worldwide tour, releasing a mop-up compilation of older non-album material and two new tracks called "0.522" in 1994 before decamping to Wales to record their final album, Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume is the third and final album from Ned's Atomic Dustbin with their original line-up. It was released on 21 March 1995.- Track listing :# "All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together" # "Floote" # "Premonition"...

. While still retaining the band's trademark melodic sensibilities, this album boasted a heavier, more diverse sound than their previous releases, moving away from the distinctive twin bass set-up to incorporate samplers
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...

 and keyboards. Sony released the album in America before the UK, meaning that most die-hard fans bought it on import. This damaged its UK chart position when it was eventually released domestically, increasing tensions between the band and their label.

Ned's had one last UK top 40 single with All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together in 1995, following a final barnstorming appearance on The Word
The Word (TV series)
The Word was a 1990s Channel 4 television programme in the United Kingdom.-Format:Its presenters included Mancunian radio presenter Terry Christian, comedian Mark Lamarr, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik, Jasmine Dotiwala, Alan Connor, Amanda de Cadenet and "Huffty"...

, while the uncharacteristically slow number Stuck became the band's final single, making the BBC Radio One B-list(though allegedly only after the band's radio plugger refused to tell the station's taste-makers who the song was by before they heard it). Following a final US tour, Ned's Atomic Dustbin split in 1995. Singer Penney formed a new band, Groundswell (initially featuring Ned's guitarist, Rat), who recorded one single Corrode and a studio album Plausible/Infeasible for New Jersey based indie label, Gig Records. They disbanded shortly thereafter - in fact, the album was only actually released after their demise.

One reviewer writes, "At the time of their inception, there was no other band like Ned’s Atomic Dustbin. To this very day, there still isn’t. No matter how many up-and-coming acts from England, or even America, have tried to fine-tune their sound to resemble that of Ned’s, it still falls utterly short of perfection."

Ned's Atomic Dustbin reformed with a different line-up in 2000, for a show in Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

. The show was a success and the band have continued to perform sporadically ever since, including a four-date tour in 2004 where the band performed two new songs, "Hibernation" and "Ambush". 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 available as both a download and a CD, available to buy online via their website.

The video game NCAA Football 2006 for PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

 features the song "Kill Your Television". Their song "Grey Cell Green" is featured in the video game Saints Row
Saints Row
Saints Row is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Volition, Inc. and published by THQ. It is the first title in the Saints Row series and is succeeded by Saints Row 2. A PlayStation 3 port was cancelled after protracted development time...

for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 platform, on "The Rock" radio station. The Neds' cover version of the Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

 song "Saturday Night
Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers song)
"Saturday Night" is the title of a song recorded by the Scottish band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The tune is an upbeat pop-rock number with a memorable hook: the word "Saturday" spelled out in a rhythmic chant.An early version of the song was...

" features in the movie So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer
So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American comedy-horror film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie McKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet , who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer...

.

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 Penney and Cheslin, offering insight into the background of songs featured on the album.

Reunited

On 12 May 2008, the band announced that the original line-up would be performing live together for the first time since 1995, for a gig in London at The Astoria. When asked about performing together for the first time in over a decade, Penney stated, "It just felt right! There was the understandable awkwardness when we stood in a room together for the first time in 13 years, but that just melted away as soon as we started to play the songs." "We didn't really know what was going to happen once we got playing on stage, because it had been such a long time since we all been in it together. It's different than rehearsal. It was such an incredible kind of electric feeling atmosphere for everybody. You felt at one with the crowd again, similar to very early on, when everybody was excited about what was happening." Matt Cheslin
Matt Cheslin
Mat Cheslin is a musician originally based in the Stourbridge area...

 says, "It was great, it's been quite nostalgic. I haven't played for the whole time that I haven't been in the band, but some of the really old songs I remember more. You do really notice the difference in the really early songs. It was as exciting as it was when I was 17."

Of the reunion and recent shows, Penney said: “The reunion shows have gone down well and the fans gave us a massive welcome back so we wanted to do something different for them and play the album that made it happen for us. It was a time that was exciting for us and the fans, it is not an anniversary as such, we just wanted to celebrate that album and era."

Penney recently spoke of the loyalty of Ned's fans in a 2009 interview. "We see masses of familiar faces every time we play - we were always pretty familiar with our audiences anyway and we're very lucky that so many of them are so loyal to us. People still fly in to shows from all over the world - Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, U.S. and all over Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. It's incredibly humbling to see these people keep coming back."

When asked if Ned's is planning on recording any new material together, Penney replied, "I think we will, but don't hold your breath – song writing is a slow process for Neds."

Members – classic lineup 1989–1995, 2008-present

  • Jonn Penney
    Jonn Penney
    Jonn Penney is a musician best known as the lead singer of Ned's Atomic Dustbin....

     - vocals
  • Gareth "Rat" Pring
    Rat (Ned's Atomic Dustbin)
    Rat was the preferred nickname of the musician Gareth Pring Rat is most famous for being the guitarist in the early 1990s indie punk band, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, he was a founding member of the band, and stayed in situ from 1987 to 1995...

     - guitar
  • Alex Griffin
    Alex Griffin
    Alex Griffin is an English musician and bass guitarist.He attended Maidensbridge Primary School before going to Kingswinford Secondary school, following in the footsteps of this older brother Jeremy.He is known for being the bass player and founder member of early 1990s indie punk band, Ned's Atomic...

     - lead bass
  • Matt Cheslin
    Matt Cheslin
    Mat Cheslin is a musician originally based in the Stourbridge area...

     - bass
  • Dan Worton
    Dan Worton
    Dan Worton is an English drummer from the Stourbridge area and founding member of the indie/punk band Ned's Atomic Dustbin. His drumming was often quite dance music oriented and he was usually credited on the group's recordings as "Dan Dan the fast drumming man".After the band split he formed a...

     - drums


Reformation-era members, 2000–2008
  • Martin Warlow - guitar
  • Andy King
    Andy King
    Andrew "Andy" King is a British Labour Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for Rugby and Kenilworth until 2005, having first won the seat in the 1997 general election...

     - bass

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
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...

, and in the US they were shifted about - first Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, then Chaos, then Work.)

Albums

Year Title Label Other information
1990 Bite Chapter 22 Collection of the first two singles plus two other demo tracks, released without the band's consent.
1991 God Fodder
God Fodder
God Fodder is the first full-length album by British rock band Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It was released in 1991.-Track listing:All songs written by Ned's Atomic Dustbin.# "Kill Your Television" - 2:59# "Less Than Useful" - 4:05# "Selfish" - 3:54...

Furtive Début album
1992 And Besides... Japanese only b-side collection
Are You Normal?
Are You Normal?
Are You Normal? is Ned's Atomic Dustbin's second album, released on 3 November 1992. It features the band's biggest American hit, "Not Sleeping Around", which hit the top of Billboards Modern Rock Tracks chart.- Track listing :...

Second studio album
1994 0.522 B-side and compilation track collection
1995 Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume
Brainbloodvolume is the third and final album from Ned's Atomic Dustbin with their original line-up. It was released on 21 March 1995.- Track listing :# "All I Ask Of Myself Is That I Hold Together" # "Floote" # "Premonition"...

Final studio album
1998 Intact - The Singles Collection Sony Compilation.
2001 One More: No More Gig
Gig Records
Gig Records is an independent US record label founded in 1998 that operates out of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Composed mostly of rock bands, Gig Records' roster also includes electronic artists, singer/songwriters, punk bands, and a movie soundtrack...

Live, 29 June 2000
2003 Terminally Groovy: The Best of Ned's Atomic Dustbin Castle "Best of" compilation
2004 Session
Session (Ned's Atomic Dustbin album)
Session was a 2004 album by Ned's Atomic Dustbin. It was released by Shakedown Records as a boxset featuring two CDs and an single interview DVD....

Shakedown Re-recordings, live
2007 Some Furtive Years: A Ned's Anthology Camden Compilation

Singles and EPs

Year Title Label UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

US Modern Rock
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

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    
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
Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers song)
"Saturday Night" is the title of a song recorded by the Scottish band Bay City Rollers. It was written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. The tune is an upbeat pop-rock number with a memorable hook: the word "Saturday" spelled out in a rhythmic chant.An early version of the song was...

"
Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

  26 Cover of the Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...

 track. #26 US Modern Rock
March 1995 "All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together
All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together
"All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together" was the first single from Ned's Atomic Dustbin's 1995 album, Brainbloodvolume.-Tracklist:-References:*...

"
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
All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together
"All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together" was the first single from Ned's Atomic Dustbin's 1995 album, Brainbloodvolume.-Tracklist:-References:*...

July 1995 "Stuck" 64    
June 2006 "Hibernation" Spitfirepink      

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
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