Pop Will Eat Itself

Pop Will Eat Itself is a now-defunct British band specializing in a unique blend of music that came to be known as grebo. Early work was archetypal of this genre while later work, such as Dos Dedos Mis Amigos is classified by some as industrial, and was released in the US under Trent Reznor's label, nothing records. Ex-members of PWEI include Richard March, now of Bentley Rhythm Ace, and Clint Mansell, who has become famous for his work on the soundtrack for the movie Pi.

Disc- and Trackography

You may notice a few discs missing- this is intentional. They were simply repackaged best of's.

Wild and Wandering (1986)

1. Dust Me Down
2. Stand By Me
3. Real Cool Time
4. Interlong
5. Apple Tree

Now For a Feast (1987)

1. The Black Country Chainstore Massacre
2. Monogamy
3. Oh Grebo, I Think I Love You
4. Titanic Clown
5. B-b-b-breakdown
6. Sweet Sweet Pie
7. Everything That Rises (must converge)
8. Like An Angel
9. I'm Sniffin' With You-Hoo
10. Sick Little Girl
11. Mesmerized
12. There's A Psychopath In My Soup
13. Candydiosis
14. The Devil Inside
15. Orgone Accumulator
16. Runaround

Box Frenzy (1988)

1. Grebo Guru
2. Beaver Patrol
3. Let's Get Ugly
4. U.B.L.U.D.
5. Inside You
6. Evelyn
7. There Is No Love Between Us Anymore
8. She's Surreal
9. Intergalactic Love Mission
10. Love Missile F1-11
11. Hit The Hi-Tech Groove
12. Razorblade Kisses

This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is This (1989)

1. PWEI Is A Four Letter Word
2. Preaching To The Perverted
3. Wise Up! Sucker
4. Sixteen Different Flavours Of Hell
5. Inject Me
6. Can U Dig It?
7. The Fuses Have Been Lit
8. Poison To The Mind
9. Def.Con.One
10. Radio P.W.E.I.
11. Shortwave Transmission On 'Up To The Minuteman Nine'
12. Satellite Ecstatica
13. Not Now James, We're Busy...
14. Wake Up, Time To Die
15. Wise Up! Sucker (12" Youth Remix)

Cure For Sanity (1990)

1. The Incredible P.W.E.I. vs. The Moral Majority
2. Dance Of The Mad Bastards
3. 88 Seconds... & Still Counting
4. X, Y & Zee
5. City Zen Radio 1990/2000 FM
6. Dr. Nightmare's Medication Time
7. Touched By The Hand Of Cicciolina (Edited Highlights)
8. 1000x No!
9. Psychosexual
10. Axe Of Men
11. Another Man's Rhubarb
12. Medicine Man Speak With Forked Tongue
13. Nightmare At 20,000 Ft
14. Very Metal Noise Pollution
15. 92 Degrees F. (The 3rd Degree)
16. Lived In Splendour: Died In Chaos
17. The Beat That Refused To Die

The Looks or the Lifestyle (1992)

1. England's Finest
2. Eat Me, Drink Me, Love Me, Kill Me
3. Mother
4. Get the Girl + Kill the Baddies, also known as Ruff Justice
5. I've Always Been a Coward, Baby
6. Token Drug Song
7. Karmadrome
8. Urban Futuristic (Son of South Central)
9. Pretty Pretty
10. I Was a Teenage Grandad
11. Harry Dean Stanton
12. Bulletproof!
13. Bulletproof! (Extended Adrian Sherwood Mix)

Live at Weird's Bar and Grill (1993)

1. England's Finest
2. Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me
3. Get the Girl Kill the Baddies
4. Wise Up! Sucker
5. 88 Seconds (And Counting...)
6. Karmadrome
7. Token Drug Song
8. Mother
9. Preaching to the Perverted
10. Axe of Men
11. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
12. Harry Dean Stanton
13. I've Always Been A Coward Baby
14. Can U Dig It?
15. Bulletproof!
16. Urban Futuristic (Son of South Central)
17. I Was A Teenage Grandad
18. There Is No Love Between Us Anymore
19. Def. Con. One

Sixteen Different Flavours of Hell (1993)

1. Urban Futuristic
2. Wise Up! Sucker
3. Axe of Men
4. I've Always Been a Coward Baby
5. Dance of the Mad
6. X, Y & Zee
7. Cicciolina
8. Def. Con. One
9. PWEIzation
10. Preaching to the Perverted
11. Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies
12. Inject Me
13. Can U Dig It?
14. Karmadrome
15. Another Man's Rhubarb
16. 92 Degrees F
17. Bulletproof!
18. Wake Up! Time to Die...
19. Eat Me Drink Me Love Me Kill Me

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos (1994)

1. Ich Bin Ein Auslander
2. Kick To Kill
3. Familus Horribilus
4. Underbelly
5. Fatman
6. Home
7. Cape Connection
8. Menofearthereaper
9. Everything's Cool
10. R.S.V.P.
11. Babylon

The name of PWEI was stolen from an article in the NME written by David Quantick about a band named Jamie Wednesday. The phrase was used to discuss how pop music utilizes only the most successful (selling) music as its foundations, so eventually pop music becomes built on no musical tradition more far-reaching than a base of that pop music which preceeded it, of the best-sellers of all time.

Often misinterpreted by smart young folk, however, to refer to sampling.

To add on to that bit about them stealing the name from an article in the NME: They were originally going to be known as the Pop Tarts until they read that article and thought it was a cool phrase.

In the late 1980's, Jeremy J. Beadle published a book entitled Will Pop Eat Itself? Though the Poppies are mentioned in this book, it is not about them, but rather a defense of sampling when it was in its relative infancy (as far as common use anyway).