Goldie Lookin Chain

Biography

Goldie Lookin Chain are a Welsh comedy hip hop group from Newport, Wales. The group produces humorous and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, culture of Newport, and Welsh culture in general.

History

The group recorded six albums prior to securing a major record deal. They signed to East West Records, the then home of rock band The Darkness. The band came to the attention of label executive Korda Marshall, who heard their music played by members of The Darkness while on tour. GLC went on to support The Darkness in the latter stages of their UK tour. The group form part of an era known as Cool Cymru for the popularity of Welsh music and arts internationally in that period.
GLC's first UK chart entry was "Half Man Half Machine", which reached the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. When group member Rhys Hutchings was phoned by BBC chart presenter Wes on the Official Chart Show to be informed of this, Xain informed the rest of the band they had reached number 1, much to the shock of the DJ. "Half Man Half Machine" was a surreal song about Eggsy believing he was a robot, dressing up in foil, and going to the shops to buy cigarettes and crisps. The song namechecks many well-known 1980s 8-bit computer systems, including Binatone, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, ZX81 and BBC Micro.
In August 2004 the group reached number three on the UK Singles Chart with "Guns Don't Kill People, Rappers Do". With the tagline "The gun is the tool, the mind is the weapon", the track became a popular radio hit, satirising the American hip hop scene. The B-side was the album track "Soapbar".
Their first nationally released album was called Greatest Hits, a play on both the group's previous lack of commercial success and their 'stoner' image; it compiled a mixture of new material and selections from their previous six unofficial albums. It was released in September 2004, and debuted at number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. The album was released in May 2005 in the US with the title Straight Outta Newport, with cover art similar to N.W.A's album Straight Outta Compton. This version of the album was missing two tracks, "Maggot" and "You Knows I Loves You".
Their next single release was "Your Mother's Got a Penis", with an accompanying video using a supermarket theme. "Your Mother's Got a Penis" first appeared on their album The Manifesto, and reached No. 14 in the UK.
The band – informally known as "the Chain" or simply "the GLC" – released "You Knows I Loves You, Baby", a parody of 1980s love songs, from the albums Greatest Hits and The Manifesto on 13 December 2004: this reached number 22 in the UK chart. "Your Missus Is a Nutter" was the first single from second album Safe as Fuck. The album was originally going to be called "Safety in Numbers", a tribute to the album Power in Numbers by alternative L.A. rap group Jurassic 5. The single reached No. 14 in the UK.
In 2005, GLC were invited by the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to perform before the World Cup qualifying match against England at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The band dedicated "Your Missus Is a Nutter" to David Beckham about his wife, who was present at the match. The ensuing furore, with the Welsh football authorities having to apologise to the Beckhams, as well as expressing outrage at the band's perceived lack of respect, prompted many people to question why the organisers, knowing their reputation, had hired them to play in the first place.
On 17 October 2011 GLC released the album Blue Waffle, featuring new songs, including "Biscuit", "I Seen Your Mother", "K Hole" and "If I Told You". Later that year, group member and Doctor Who fan Adam Hussain contributed a memory about "How a first date was interrupted by The Doctor" to a forthcoming Doctor Who charity book, designed to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.
GLC released the follow-up to their album Greatest Hits, titled Greatest Hits 2, in 2015.
In 2024 GLC played a sold-out UK tour.

Sponsorship of Newport County Football Club

Since their inception in the early 2000s, the group have maintained a close affiliation with their home-town football club, Newport County. GLC sponsored the team's kit during the team's 2004–05 season, originally intended only for wear in matches in the FAW Premier Cup. County were drawn away to similar-colour-shirted Caernarfon Town in the competition, leading to the club's GLC sponsored shirt being worn for two league matches, away to Maidenhead United and at home against Redbridge F.C. In 2021 they designed Newport's third kit in collaboration with Hummel.

Members

Full-time
Part-time

Infrequent members

Former
Andrew Major (Maggot) (left 2014)
Leeroy Fashions

Other singles

"By Any Means Necessary" (Gold Dust Records)
"Everybody is a DJ" (Gold Dust Records)
"You'll Never Be Alone on Christmas Day" (Gold Dust Records)