Kunt and the Gang is a British darkmusical comedysongwriter and performer from Basildon, Essex.[5] Despite the "and the Gang" in the stage name, the act comprises a single performer, whose real name is Wayne Clements.[6]
Kunt and the Gang has also released music under the pseudonym of his hand puppet sidekick, Little Kunt, and the moniker of Kunt and the Gang Presents (for Shannon Matthews: The Musical, a comedy musical based on the faked kidnapping of Yorkshire girl Shannon Matthews).
Kunt and the Gang rose to prominence making crude synthpop songs related to sexual intercourse and controversial public figures, and was initially active from 2003 to 2016. In 2010, he first achieved chart success when his single "Use My Arsehole as a Cunt (The Nick Clegg Story)" reached number No. 66 in the UK Singles Chart at Christmas time.[7][8][9] The following year, another single, "Fucksticks (Royal Wedding Souvenir Version)", also entered the same chart, this time at number No. 63.[10]
He released ten studio albums before retiring his main act in 2016, and published an autobiography iKunt[11] in December 2018. He returned to social media in 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic hosting a nightly livestream, Kunt's Korona Klub.[citation needed]
In September 2020 Kunt started a monthly nostalgia podcast, Acceptable In The Eighties, with his oldest childhood friend, Stuart 'Roy' Whiffen.[citation needed]
History
Kunt and the Gang's live show initially generated popularity through numerous years playing at pubs and smaller venues, and building a niche audience. He would then make content for early social networking platforms, predominately MySpace and then YouTube; and proclaimed himself a "minor internet hit singer"[12] who used social networking "before the thought police took it over".[5]
Kunt and the Gang's early work is best known for its simple electronic production and controversial lyrical content, dealing with such taboo subjects as masturbation and sexual fantasies. Kunt and the Gang's later work took a darker turn, following the Operation Yewtree police investigation, often touching on the subject of paedophilia and featured several ironic tributes to recently deceased celebrities.[13]
Until 2008, when his touring schedule became too intense, he was a council worker in Basildon.[citation needed] His early musical efforts included a Comedy Punk band called Serious Problem and a Synth-pop duo Pubic Cube. In the year prior to forming Kunt and the Gang, under the name Wayne Clements, he co-wrote and produced a number of songs for The Glambassador, an album by DJ and alternative scenester Boogaloo Stu, and also wrote and produced Synth-pop albums under the guise of Mister Midi and Macondo. He also put together a compilation of contemporary electronic pop music, Robopop: Volume I.
The song about Boris Johnson was revealed on BBC Radio 1 by Vick Hope and Katie Thistleton on 20 December 2020.[21] During the show, the presenters did not mention the song's title or play it on air because of the offensive language in it, stating: "Now at 19 we've got a track about Boris Johnson that has so many bad words in it we can't play it on daytime Radio 1."[22] The record was a new entry at number 19, with LadBaby at number 1,[23] climbing to number 8 the next day.[24] On 23 December 2020, it was reported that a number of bookmakers had put odds on the record being the Christmas number one at 8/1, after it had become the second most downloaded song on iTunes and Amazon.[25][26][20] The song ultimately reached number 5 on the Christmas chart, after accumulating 45,119 sales,[27][28][29] and unlike many of the other Christmas campaign singles (such as rivals LadBaby) made the Official Audio Streaming Chart as well.[30]
In November 2021, the Kunts launched an online campaign to get their single "Boris Johnson Is Still a Fucking Cunt" to Christmas number one. The song was released on 17 December 2021.[31] The song reached number 5 in the Christmas midweek chart.[32] During this campaign the band made numerous references to similarly subversive act the KLF, including in the music video (based, along with the song, on "Doctorin' the Tardis") and in promotional imagery, which shows Kunt and the band reading The Manual, a book written by The KLF as "the Timelords".[33] Similarly to their previous hit, The Kunts song for 2021 had several different versions, many of which were remixed by guest artists such as Cassetteboy and B3ta founder Rob Manuel. Again the song had a radio-friendly versions with no foul language, substituting the phrase "fucking cunt" for "sausage roll." It is believed this is made in reference to LadBaby, who have had three previous number one Christmas singles based around sausage rolls. While the 2020 single had 23 different mixes, the release for 2021 has scaled this back to 13.[34] The song reached number 5 in the Christmas chart.[35]
On 16 December 2022, the Kunts returned with "Fuck the Tories" in a third attempt to claim the Christmas number-one; the song ranked seventh in the chart.
On 5 May 2023, the Kunts released "Scrap The Monarchy" under the name of the Krown Jewelz. The song reached number 9 in the singles chart.[38]
Another Christmas number-one attempt was released on 8 December 2023, titled "Proper Christmas", and released under the name "The Krackpots". The song missed the top 100 of the official chart, but did chart at number 2 on the Official Singles Sales Chart.[39]
Shannon Matthews: The Musical
Theatre troupe Tuppence Ha'penny performed Shannon Matthews: The Musical (based on the 2010 album) at the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In September 2022, a film version was crowdfunded via Kickstarter. The funding goal was reached within 24 hours.[2]
