The Tiger Lillies are a British musical trio formed in 1989 by singer-songwriter Martyn Jacques. Described as the forefathers of Brechtian Punk Cabaret, the Tiger Lillies are known for their unique sound and style which merges "the macabre magic of pre-war Berlin with the savage edge of punk".

History

The band's name is rumoured to have been inspired by a murdered Soho sex worker called Lillie who used to dress up in animal print. Jacques, however, has stated that he named the band after a painting he had on his wall. The band formed in 1989 when Martyn Jacques placed an ad on '' Loot'' looking for a drummer and a bass player for a new band. Adrian Huge and Phil Butcher (the band's first bassist who was succeeded by Adrian Stout in 1995) were the only musicians that got in touch with him and therefore became the original Tiger Lillies' drummer and bassist respectively. In Spring 2012 Adrian Huge decided to take a leave of absence and was replaced by drummer Mike Pickering who toured with the Tiger Lillies from 2012. In early 2015 Pickering was replaced by Jonas Golland. By late 2021 the band had recruited their current drummer, Budi Butenop. File:Adrian Stout 01.JPG, Adrian Stout File:Martyn Jacques 02.JPG, Martyn Jacques File:Jonas Golland performing with Tiger Lillies at Yotaspace, Moscow, Russia, May 8th, 2017.jpg, Jonas Golland

Musical style

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' has described The Tiger Lillies as "a provocative and avant-garde three-piece band that combines cabaret,

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

, music-hall and street theatre", while Tim Arthur of Time Out described them as: "Kurt Weill conjuring up images of prewar Berlin while a falsetto vocalist screams, squeaks and squawks his way through every number like some rambling madman". The Tiger Lillies' songs often involve bestiality, prostitution, blasphemy and other vices. Their musical style is mainly influenced by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

and

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

's masterpiece

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a 1928 German "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François V ...

and pre-war Berlin cabaret but other influences such as gypsy and circus music, French chanson and British music hall tunes are also evident.

Awards and nominations

* In 2002 their cult hit musical Shockheaded Peter was nominated for five

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

. The show won the Olivier for Best Entertainment and Martyn Jacques won the Olivier for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical or Entertainment. * In 2003 their album ''The Gorey End'' (in collaboration with the

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...

and writer, illustrator

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Awards, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for book ...

) was nominated for Dominique de Rivaz's ''Luftbusiness'' (2008) a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Classical Crossover Album. * In 2012 their show ''The Tiger Lillies Perform Hamlet'', produced by Copenhagen's Republique Theatre and directed by acclaimed Danish director Martin Tulinius, was nominated for a Reumert Award in the category Music Theatre/Show of the Year 2012.

Members

;Current * Martyn Jacques –

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

banjolele The banjo ukulele, also known as the banjolele or banjo uke, is a four-stringed musical instrument with a small banjo-type body and a fretted ukulele neck. The earliest known banjoleles were built by John A. Bolander and by Alvin D. Keech, both ...

(1989–present) * Adrian Stout –

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

jaw harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or Reed (mouthpiece), reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most like ...

musical saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque frict ...

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone, etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named aft ...

(1995–present) * Budi Butenop –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, (2021–present) ;Past * Phil Butcher – bass (1989–95) * Adrian Huge – drums (1989–2012) * Mike Pickering – drums (2012–15) * Jonas Golland – drums (2015–21)

Discography

Cassettes

* ''Bouquet of Vegetables'' (1989) * ''Spit Bucket'' (1990) * ''Little Death'' (1991)

Studio CDs

* ''Births, Marriages and Deaths'' (1994) * ''Spit Bucket'' (1995) * ''Ad Nauseam'' (1995) * ''The Brothel to the Cemetery'' (1996) * ''Farmyard Filth'' (1997) * ''Low Life Lullabies'' (1998) * ''Shockheaded Peter - A Junk Opera'' (1998) * ''Bad Blood + Blasphemy'' (1999) (+ vinyl 2015) * ''Circus Songs'' (2000) * ''Two Penny Opera'' (2001) * ''The Sea'' (2002) * ''Punch and Judy'' (2004) * ''Death and the Bible'' (2004) * ''Die Weberischen'' (2006) * ''The Little Match Girl'' (2006) * ''Love & War'' (2007) * ''Seven Deadly Sins'' (2008) * ''Freakshow'' (2009) * ''Cockatoo Prison'' (2010) * ''Here I Am Human!'' (2010) * ''Woyzeck'' (2011) * ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (2012) * ''Hamlet'' (2012) * ''Either/Or'' (2013) * ''Lulu – A Murder Ballad'' (2014) * ''A Dream Turns Sour'' (2014) * ''The Story of Franz Biberkopf'' (2015) * ''Madame Piaf'' (2016) * ''Love for Sale - A Hymn to Heroin'' (2016) * ''A Cold Night in Soho'' (2017) (+ vinyl 2017) * ''

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

's Haunted Palace'' (2017) * ''The Devil's Fairground'' (2018) * ''Corrido De La Sangre'' (2018) * ''COVID-19'' (2020, digital only) * ''COVID-19, Vol. II'' (2020, digital only) * ''Litany of Satan'' (2020, digital only) * ''Requiem for a Virus'' (2021, digital only) * ''A Christmas Carol'' (2021) * ''Onepenny Opera'' (2022) * ''The Last Days of Mankind'' (2022) * ''Ukraine'' (2023) * ''Lessons in Nihilism'' (2024) * ''Thank You and Good Night'' (2025)

Soundtracks

* '' Varieté'' (1925) (New music composed and played by The Tiger Lillies for the E.A. Dupont silent movie) (2015) (DVD) * ''Goosebumps'' (2016) (CD) * ''Cravendale advert: Barry the Biscuit Boy (2014)''

Live CDs

* ''Live in Russia 2000–2001'' (2003) * ''Live on WFMU'' (2004) * ''Live in Soho'' (2007) * ''Urine Palace'' (with The Symphony Orchestra of Norrlandsoperan) (2007) * ''Live at the New Players Theatre – London 2009'' (2009) * ''Lemonaki'' (2020)

Compilation CDs

* ''Bouquet of Vegetables - The Early Years'' (2000) * ''The Tiger Lillies'' (2006)

DVDs

* ''Shockheaded Peter and Other Songs – Live in Concert in New York'' (2000) * ''Mountains of Madness'' (with Alexander Hacke (

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The band currently comprises founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments, percussion, ...

) and drawings by Danielle de Picciotto) (2006) * ''The Tiger Lillies – The Early Years'' (2009) * ''The Tiger Lillies Live in Prague'' (2011)

Collaborations CDs

* ''The Gorey End'' (with The

) (2003) * '' Huinya'' (with Группировка Ленинград) (2005) * ''Sinderella - The Twisted Tale of a Christmas Crack-Whore'' (with Justin Bond) (2008) * ''The Ballad of Sexual Dependency'' (with

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the Bohemian style, bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing w ...

) (2011) * ''The Whore of Babylon'' (with Andréane Leclerc) (2020)

Extended play CDs

* ''Goodbye Great Nation'' (with Contrastate) (1996) * ''Special Edition'' (2000)

Contributions / various artists

* ''Misfits'' (1996, Volume) - "Heroin And Cocaine" * ''Torture Garden'' (1999) "Roll Up" * ''Mixx On The Fly - Live From Studio A - WCBE Vol. 7'' (2000, WCBE) - "Flying Robert" * ''Fly On The Wall: Lost Tracks From Studio A'' (2001, WCBE) - "Snip Snip (Suck-A-Thumb)" * ''Дед Мороз Против Анти Деда Мороза Bad Taste Новый Год'' (2002) "Drunken Sailor" * ''WFMU Gone Wild!'' (2005,

WFMU WFMU (91.1 MHz) is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, independent radio, independent community radio station city of license, licensed to East Orange, New Jersey, with studios in Jersey City. It is owned by ...

) - "Banging In The Nails" (Video Compilation) * ''Kosmos 93.6FM - Ethnic Collection Vol.3'' (2005,

Minos EMI Minos EMI is a record label, record company based in Athens, Greece. The company serves as the Greek record label and offices of the multinational Universal Music Group. EMI is credited for founding the record business in Greece in the 1930s, b ...

) - "Weeping Chandelier" * ''Dimitris Papaspyropoulos presents Once Upon a Time'' (2005,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

) - "Russians" * '' Plague Songs'' (2006, 4AD) - "Hailstones" * ''A Sepiachord Passport'' (2010, Projekt) - "Roll Up" * ''The Devil In Love: A Soundtrack To The 1772 Occult Novel'' (2011, Malort Forlag) - "I'm In Love With The Devil" * ''Un-Herd Volume 62'' (2017, R2 Records) - "You Wouldn't Know"

Digital release

* ''Mountains of Madness'' (with Alexander Hacke) (2020)

Books

* 1998 – ''The Ultimate Shockheaded Peter Book'' – * 2003 – ''Farmyard Fantasy Book'' – made by b7UE * 2007 – "The Tiger Lillies Book" – b7UE 02 * 2007 – "The Tiger Lillies – Selected illustrations of songs" – by Anne Sophie Malmberg * 2008 – "The Inquisitorial Skeleton Shooting" – limited edition shot by b7UE

Shows and films

;Shows The Tiger Lillies have appeared in numerous shows, the following are listed according to their premiere date: *1998: '' Shockheaded Peter'' *1998: '' The Tiger Lillies Circus'' *2004: ''

Punch & Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Mr Punch and one other ...

'' *2005: '' The Little Matchgirl'' *2006: '' Die Weberischen'' *2006: '' The Mountains of Madness '' with Alexander Hacke and Danielle de Picciotto *2008: '' 7 Deadly Sins'' *2008: ''Sinderella'' with Justin Bond *2009: ''The Tiger Lillies' Freakshow'' *2010: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency with

*2010: ''Cockatoo Prison'' *2010: ''Here I Am Human!'' *2011:

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...

' ''

Rain Dogs ''Rain Dogs'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, released in September 1985 on Island Records. A loose concept album about "the urban dispossessed" of New York City, ''Rain Dogs'' is generally considered the middl ...

Revisited'' *2011: '' Woyzeck & The Tiger Lillies '' *2012: ''

Rime of the Ancient Mariner ''The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' (originally ''The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere''), written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of ''Lyrical Ballads'', is a poem that recounts the ...

'' *2012: ''The Tiger Lillies Perform

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' – nominated for a Reumert Performing Arts Award *2013: ''Either/Or Cabaret'' *2013: ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

– A Murder Ballad'' with Opera North *2014: ''A Dream Turns Sour'' *2015: ''Die Geschichte vom Franz Biberkopf'' – Schauspiel Frankfurt *2016: '' Love for Sale - The Songs of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

'' with Opera North *2016: ''Madame Piaf'' *2017: ''Cold Night in Soho'' *2017: ''The Very Worst of the Tiger Lillies'' *2017: ''Edgar Allan Poe's Haunted Palace'' - Bergen International Festival *2018: ''Corrido de la Sangre'' *2018: ''The Last Days of Mankind'' ;Films *Jake Scott's Plunkett & Macleane (1999) * Sergei Bodrov's ''The Quickie'' (2001) – a music band in celebrations. * Sergei Bodrov's ''Drunken Sailor'' (2007) – a documentary on The Tiger Lillies by the director of Oscar-nominated epic ''

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

'' *Penny Woolcock's ''The Margate Exodus'' (2007) – a contemporary re-telling of the Book of Exodus. Martyn Jacques appears in the film as Shebeen Singer performing "Hailstones". *Dominique de Rivaz's ''Luftbusiness'' (2008) *Valdís Óskarsdóttir's ''Country Wedding'' (2008) *

Troma Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. They are the longest running independent film studio in the world. The company produces low-budget inde ...

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...

's ''Return To Nuke 'Em High'' (2013) *Andrey Proshkin's '' Orlean'' (Russian title ''Орлеан'') (2015) – soundtrack. * E.A. Dupont's '' Variete'' (1925) (2015) – soundtrack.

References

External links

*
The Tiger Lillies Book
The complete lyrics from 1989–2007 and 340 unreleased pictures shot b
b7UE

VIDEOCLIP of "Living Hell"

Live acoustic session in Vienna by 'They Shoot – Music Don't They'

Pictures of the concert in St.-Petersburg (11.09.2005)

Pictures of another concert in St.Petersburg, Russia (13.06.2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiger Lillies, The British comedy musical groups Black comedy music Dark cabaret musicians Musical groups established in 1989