The Tiger Lillies

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

Musical style

The Independent has described The Tiger Lillies as "a provocative and avant-garde three-piece band that combines cabaret, vaudeville, 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 and Kurt Weill's masterpiece The Threepenny Opera 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 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 and writer, illustrator Edward Gorey) was nominated for Dominique de Rivaz's Luftbusiness (2008) a Grammy Award 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, lead vocals, piano, guitar, harmonica, ukulele, banjolele (1989–present)
• Adrian Stout – double bass, backing vocals, jaw harp, musical saw, theremin (1995–present)
• Budi Butenop – drums, (2021–present)

Past

• Phil Butcher – bass (1989–95)
• Adrian Huge – drums (1989–2012)
• Mike Pickering – drums (2012–15)
• Jonas Golland – drums (2015–21)

Discography

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

• Variete (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 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)

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

• Shockheaded Peter and Other Songs – Live in Concert in New York (2000)
• Mountains of Madness (with Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) and drawings by Danielle de Picciotto) (2006)
• The Tiger Lillies – The Early Years (2009)
• The Tiger Lillies Live in Prague (2011)

• The Gorey End (with The Kronos Quartet) (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) (2011)
• The Whore of Babylon (with Andréane Leclerc) (2020)

• Goodbye Great Nation (with Contrastate) (1996)
• Special Edition (2000)

• 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) - "Banging In The Nails" (Video Compilation)
• Kosmos 93.6FM - Ethnic Collection Vol.3 (2005, Minos EMI) - "Weeping Chandelier"
• Dimitris Papaspyropoulos presents Once Upon a Time (2005, Columbia Records) - "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"

• Mountains of Madness (with Alexander Hacke) (2020)

Books

• 1998 – The Ultimate Shockheaded Peter Book – ISBN 3-932909-99-2
• 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:

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