Well, the octet will get a chance to test that philosophy now that Virgin Megastores has thumped the group's storied tub. (Or something like that.)
The international music retailer has yanked Chumbawamba's multiplatinum album Tubthumper (currently No. 7 on the charts) from U.S. store shelves to teach the so-called anarchist collective that stealing is bad.
The whole mess started when bandmember Alice Nutter wrote on the official Church of Chumbawamba Website that it was OK for fans to swipe CDs from giant retailers if they couldn't afford to buy them.
"I personally think that stealing from chain stores (as opposed to small private shops) involves fewer moral dilemmas... We've no sympathy for the bigger stores," Nutter says. "If you get caught, just tell the store detective that you have the full support of the band."
She goes on to list "shops we recommend nicking our albums from"--the list includes Virgin, HMV, Tower, Woolworth's and some British outlets.
After Nutter's pro-shoplifting stance got national exposure during her appearance on ABC's Politically Incorrect this week, Virgin had enough and boxed up all Chumbawamba CDs. (The store is still selling the discs--you just have to go to the counter and ask.)
"We don't think people are going to steal it," says Virgin Megastore marketing VP Christos Garkinos. Instead, he claims the chain just wanted to make a statement.
"We were one of the earliest supporters of the band...We've been pushing the band since the beginning, and this is the kind of thanks we get?"
Nutter, meanwhile, thinks Virgin is taking her "tongue-in-cheek" comments too seriously. "We don't have a problem with Virgin's actions," she says in a statement. "They can feel singled out and outraged if they want.
"But if we're going to talk about shoplifting, let's widen the debate and talk about why people steal, as opposed to just talking about Chumbawamba."