The band took their name from an episode of The Goon Show. The band were noted for an extremely unusual two bass player line up. Bass player Alex Griffin played melody lines high up on one bass, and Mat cheslin played the regular basslines on the other. This gave the band a tense and highly driven sub-hardcore sound with distorted indie guitars and complicated Baggy drum beats. The band were also noted for their extremely young ages. The band formed while at sixth form college, and recorded their first album while still teenagers. This led to a strong teenage fanbase with a reputation for enjoying stage diving and moshing at their gigs. The band were also noted (and sometimes ridiculed) for their early image which consisted of uniformly crimped hair, short trousers and t shirts. The Neds (as their fans referred to them) were well known for their T shirts and produced over 80 different designs within three years.
The band quickly gathered a strong fanbase after being noticed by local superstars The Wonder Stuff and offered a support slot on a UK tour. A top 50 hit Kill Your Television followed. They recorded their debut album God Fodder shortly afterwards and had top ten hits with "Until You Find Out" and "Happy" in 1991. Several years of hard working touring followed, playing with, amongst others Mega City Four, Senseless Things and Jesus Jones. During this period they recorded their second album Are You Normal in 1992, which was promoted by the singles Not Sleeping Around and Intact.
The band spent the next few years on a worldwide tour before recording their final album Brainbloodvolume. The album had a more adult sound than before (because they were, after all, no longer teenagers), together with a more diverse sound including samplers and keyboards. Their record label released the album in America before the UK, so most fans bought in on import leading to a poor UK chart position when it was eventually released leading to tensions within the band and with the label. The poor chart showing may have also been to do with a changed music scene now fully in the swing of Britpop. The band had one last UK top 40 single with All I Ask of Myself Is That I Hold Together in 1995 following an appearance on The Word. The band split in 1995. Singer Jonn Penney formed a new band, Groundswell who had little success.
The band reformed with a different line up in 2000, for a show in Dudley. The show was a success and the band have done a christmas show every year since then, including a four date tour in 2004 where the band performed several new songs. In 2005 they again played a few late-December gigs, and in June of 2006 their first new single in 11 years, "Hibernation" was released reaching No 23 in the UK Indie Chart. The "NedFest" weekend gigs to coincide with this at Birmingingham Barfly and London Forum were filmed for a DVD "Neds Dont Exist".
In June 2007 the DVD was released and Neds returned to headline the Glastonbury Left Field Stage on the Friday night of the festival following some low key warm up gigs.
On 12 May 2008 the band announced that the original line-up of Jonn, Rat, Mat, Alex, and Dan would be performing live together for the first time since 1995 on 6 December 2008 at the Astoria London.
Kill Your Television
Ned's Atomic Dustbin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'You don't know shit,
Because you've never been there'
She turned upon him,
Took him by the hair
Spun him round about,
Laughing as he fell about,
In her father's favourite chair
Kill your television
The lyrics to Ned's Atomic Dustbin's song "Kill Your Television" are based on the idea of rejecting the influence of consumer media, specifically television, and seeking a more meaningful way of living. In the first part of the song, the female character is dismissive of the male character, suggesting that he lacks understanding because he has not experienced the same things as her. She then physically forces him to view the world from a different perspective by spinning him around, causing him to fall and be momentarily disoriented.
The chorus then delivers the main message of the song, to "Kill your television." This is not a literal call to destroy televisions, but rather an encouragement to break free from the hypnotic effect of commercial media and to seek out the more authentic experiences of the world. The final verse has the female character sitting in her father's chair, indicating that she is comfortable breaking from tradition and creating her own path.
Line by Line Meaning
She said, she said
The woman spoke, she spoke
'You don't know shit,
Because you've never been there'
You lack knowledge and insight because of your lack of experience
She turned upon him,
Took him by the hair
Spun him round about,
Laughing as he fell about,
She physically assaulted him, spinning him around and causing him to fall down, while finding humor in it
Sat down for a drink
In her father's favourite chair
After the attack, she calmly sat down in her father's favorite chair and had a drink
Kill your television
Destroy your TV or stop watching it in order to gain a more authentic perspective on the world
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALEXANDER THOMAS GRIFFIN, DANIEL CHARLES WORTON, GARETH JOHN PRING, JOHNATHAN PENNEY, MATTHEW RICHARD CHESLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@vforwombat9915
@@stephantelm4922 takes me back.
that was, what early 90s?
i was just out of college, in grad school, and I'd come back to Baltimore and go to this music store in Towson- And Die music.
that, or I got it from the CD store in Cleveland, a big one in .... god, I can't remember now, a few blocks away from Case Western Reserve.
would spend hours in those stores, looking through the racks for rare CDS from bands I was into.
got the first three ned's CDs and then a rare compilation import called 522.
had some nice remixes.
@donniedarko1345
I'll never regret being born in the 70's, grew up in the 80's, found the best music in the 90's.
@colonialstraits1069
Ditto.
@colonialstraits1069
Ditto.
@rosser9916
old
@emzzzz905
Me me me
@astraluna6is9
Yes you did. And still do. 20th century child. You need no more man.
@pan0ptix
If this song were written today, it’d be called ”Deactivate Your Facebook.”
@midnightdeluxegaming6582
If it was written today it would be called, "CaNcEl CuLtUrE"
@Brewnoe
@@midnightdeluxegaming6582 or "ignore your democracy"
@dystopian2153
👍