Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) was formed in Stourbridge, England in 1986. Made up of frontman Clint Mansell, keyboardist Adam Mole, drummer Graham Crabb and bassist Richard March. PWEI began as an indie guitar band, and issued their self-produced debut EP The Poppies Say Grrr in 1986. The Poppies (what PWEI is referred to as) helped to futher increase their popularity with their 1987 full-length debut Box Frenzy and the hit "There Is No Love Between Us Anymore". This style, proclaimed as "grebo" (subculture of similarly grimy and raunchy bands) was a very popular alternative to the mainstream in England at that time. The influence of hip-hop on PWEI's music was even more evident in their 1989 release "This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This!" (their debut for RCA). Their 1991 "Cure for Sanity" marked an increasing interest in dance music. By 1992 with the release of "The Looks" PWEI added live drummer to the group to replace Graham Crabb who had earlier stopped drumming and became co-frontman with Clint Mansell, to replace him added Fuzz (born Robert Townshend).
In early 1993, the Poppies released, "Get the Girl, Kill the Baddies" which was their biggest hit in England; picked up in the U.S. by Nothing Records after being released by RCA; PWEI resurfaced in 1994 with "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos". Prior to the release of a 1995 remix record, "Two Fingers, My Friends", Crabb left the group to focus on his side project, Golden Claw Musics. PWEI has now become just Clint Mansell.