Half Man Half Biscuit

"Andy Kershaw: Can you make a living being Half Man Half Biscuit? Nigel Blackwell: Just about. But then again I'm not that materialistic, I can't drive, so I haven't got a car. I've never been on a plane so I don't go on foreign holidays, so as long as I've got enough money for a season ticket every season [for Tranmere Rovers] that's good enough for me really."

Half Man Half Biscuit are a folk band, with a big smattering of parody thrown in, from Birkenhead near Liverpool. Active since 1986, they have released 12 albums and a number of singles / EPs.

They have a pretty large cult following, but saying which of their songs is most famous is difficult, although the only one to chart is Joy Division Oven Gloves, which reached #56 after a Facebook campaign.

Legendary DJ John Peel was a fan, and they recorded a number of sessions for his radio show. Andy Kershaw once called them "The most authentic English folk group since The Clash".


 * Affectionate Parody - Often. The one that comes to mind is With Goth On Our Side, a parody of Bob Dylan's With God On Our Side.
 * Christmas Songs - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit, It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas.
 * Doing It for the Art - See the page quote, and also famously turned down a chance to appear on Channel 4's music show The Tube. Apparently because Tranmere Rovers were playing that night.
 * Folk Music - Is not a perfect description, but it will do, and they have covered folk songs in the past.
 * List Song - Quite a few.
 * Literary Allusion Title - The song Thy Damnation Slumbereth Not (A reference to Tess of the D'Urbervilles), among others.
 * Long Title - All I Want For Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit, We Built This Village On A Trad. Arr. Tune, 99% Of Gargoyles Look Like Bob Todd, I Love You Because (You Look Like Jim Reeves), Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show, Tending The Wrong Grave For 23 Years, and so on.
 * Pun-Based Title - Most of their albums, and a good number of their songs.
 * Reference Overdosed - Good luck catching everything they mention, and not just lyrics either but sometimes tunes. A lot of them are explained on their website: http://www.hmhb.co.uk/
 * Take That - Just as often as Affectionate Parody.
 * The Beautiful Game - Comes up quite often in their songs.