Looking back over 15 years now to when bis really broke big with ‘Kandy Pop’, it’s easy to forget just how big a deal it was. We were still running Chemikal Underground out of a tenement kitchen (with or without a computer, I can’t remember), bis were only about 8 years old (again, I can’t remember the exact details) and we ended up with them on Top of the Pops (ask your mum and dad). Irrespective of your thoughts or opinions on the song itself and, let’s be honest, everything about bis and their material was always going to divide opinion one way or the other, what they achieved as a band was extraordinary.
It was the success of bis, not Mogwai or Arab Strap – and certainly not The Delgados – that put Chemikal Underground on the map: the results we had with their two singles, the impact they had at retail; the money it brought in, all of these things empowered and enabled Chemikal Underground to grow and develop and anyone who has the slightest soft spot for us as a label should thank Steven, John and Amanda for making it possible. We do.
