Chumbawamba Tubthumps Former Congressman

06/16/1998 3:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(6/16/98) - Hit-making anarchists Chumbawamba and Universal Records have taken a shot at Bob Dornan, a former Republican Congressman from Orange County, Calif. who is using the band's hit "Tubthumping" on his website designed to promote his quest to reclaim his congressional seat.

Controversy certainly isn't anything new to Dornan or Chumbawamba. The former congressman cried foul when he lost his congressional seat last year and saw to it that an investigation was launched into alleged voter fraud. In fact, in the "voter fraud index" featured prominently on his website, a Dornan supporter tells the sob story about how he registered to vote Republican at a Lollapalooza Rock The Vote registration table in 1996, but when he showed up at the polling place, he was not registered. Dornan's site implies that the organization conveniently misplaced young Republican's voter registration forms and asks, "Rock The Vote or Block The Vote?"

So how did Dornan end up with Chumbawamba on his website? Mark Dornan, Bob's son and campaign manager, says he was familiar with the band. "It's a great song. It's hip, it's contemporary, and it's got a great beat." As for the band's politics, the younger Dornan says it's a non-issue. "The song is not about anarchy and neither is our campaign." The younger Dornan says he has no plans to take the song off the site, noting that on an appearance on Politically Incorrect, Chumbawamba's Alice Nutter encouraged fans to steal the group's music from major music retailers. "She basically gave people carte blanche to use their music," he says.

Whatever the case, Chumbawamba is having fun with the situation. "We're glad that Bob Dornan is using 'Tubthumping' on his website," says Nutter. "But it's because there's a virus in the download version, and if it's used in any sort of twisted way, the virus is activated. So Bob's site will start to self-destruct within the next three weeks."