Half Man Half Biscuit: Difference between revisions

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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".

Half Man Half Biscuit provides examples of the following tropes:

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.

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-{{work}}
+{{creator}}
-{{quote| "'''Andy Kershaw''': Can you make a living being Half Man Half Biscuit?"<br />
+{{quote|'''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" }}
+'''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.
+[[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.
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 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]]".
+{{creatortropes}}
-=== Tropes include:  ===
 * [[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.
+* [[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 (Literature)|Tess of the D'Urbervilles]]), among others.
+* [[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.