MILAN, Italy -- Success. A strange word for British anarchist act Chumbawamba.

And apparently a loaded one, too.

From the recent remarks in which singer Alice Nutter urged fans who want to shoplift Chumbawamba albums to steal from large chain outlets to singer Danbert Nobacon's run-ins with the law to the criticism that the band of self-proclaimed anarchists has been dealt since hitting the big time, their world of rock stardom has been wrought with controversy.

"We get a lot less sleep now," said blue-haired singer Alice Nutter, speaking from the local offices of EMI -- Chumbawamba's label in Europe. The band, which spent more than a decade on the fringes (at best) of popular music,

was in Italy to appear on TV as part of the promotional tour for its platinum (more than 1 million sold) LP, Tubthumper. The members took time to reflect on the trouble that their recent mainstream success has caused them since the release of their danceable, sing-along single, "Tubthumping" (RealAudio excerpt).

It all began last October when Chumbawamba earned their first tidbit of negative publicity for playing a rooftop gig in Washington, D.C., which was cut short by city officials who said that a local radio-station sponsor had not filed for proper permits. It was the first of several run-ins with big government and big business that the band would confront in the coming months.

The biggest controversy, however, for the eight-member politico-dance/punk band erupted last week in the wake of Nutter's remarks on ABC's "Politically Incorrect" round-table discussion show. The singer, responding to questions about the group's views on shoplifting, said that if fans want to steal Chumbawamba albums, they should do so from large chains rather than small stores. Virgin Megastore, one of the chains recommended via Chumbawamba's website that shoplifters visit, immediately pulled the top-selling album from shelves and placed them behind the counters. Other large retailers, including Tower and Blockbuster, blasted the band for its stance, though these stores have yet to follow Virgin's lead of physically removing the LPs from view.

"We were on a TV program, and somebody asked about our attitude to shoplifting," Nutter said. "I said that in an unequal world, where some people have nothing and cannot have luxury goods, it's reasonable for them to take from stores. In a lot of ways it's better to take from stores that are bigger, than from smaller ones."

In reaction, large chain stores criticized Nutter and her band on their position, saying that no record store makes a sizable profit on a popular album, due to competitive pricing. Rather, the stores argued, it is the artist and recording company who rake in the dollars. Nutter responded, explaining that Chumbawamba is only saying that shoplifting is an unavoidable consequence of poverty and want.

"We've been in a situation where we had to go out and shoplift to get some

things we needed, so we understand people who don't have money have to make those decisions," Nutter said of her band. Singer and percussionist Dunstan Bruce agreed with Nutter's statements. "The whole thing about that is that it's not a thing about Virgin, it's a thing about poverty and inequality of society," Bruce said.

Besides, Nutter added, shoplifters are the least of society's woes.

"There are many companies that steal by not paying," she said. "If you

take [names a corporate-owned running shoe company], they moved over the Mexican border, because they want

to pay smaller wages, and people don't say, 'Oh, that's morally

wrong.' But if somebody steals a pair of their trainers [sneakers], people say that's morally wrong. We think that's bullshit."

So what if somebody steals Chumbawamba records? "Who cares?" Nutter

promptly replied.

"In a totally practical sense," added Bruce, "if we hadn't shoplifted, we wouldn't exist as a band. Many of our instruments were shoplifted. When we get some money, we'll go back to the shop and pay."

And despite their success, Chumbawamba say they have not seen much of the financial rewards. Not yet, at least. "We haven't seen the money yet. The royalties are coming only at the end of March," said Nobacon who, like the rest of the band, has had to answer to a backlash from fans who say they sold out. "But our attitude is that everybody should have simple things like a roof, food and the possibility of being educated."

Still, there are the debts that have to be paid, Nutter added. "We have 15 years of debts," she said. "It's funny that people think that just because you have a record that sells, then suddenly you're a different person."

Bandmembers' higher profiles, expanding incomes and outspokenness have not been the only issues that the rock anarchists have run up against in the past year. The band of self-declared anti-establishment punks has also had several run-ins with the law.

Dressed in a Scottish kilt-like garment similar to the one that got him arrested in Florence, Italy, in December, Nobacon spoke of his most recent confrontation with police.

Stopped by Italian cops for walking around in a skirt during the Italian leg of Chumbawamba's tour, Nobacon was unable to produce a passport and was detained at the police station for six hours. "It was very irritating, but I can laugh at it now," he recalled. "Actually, I was arrested twice before in England for shoplifting, and nobody ever asked me about that. I was already in Chumbawamba. But nobody knew. They stopped me because I had a skirt. And that shows how small-minded the police are in Italy."

So what does the band make of all the attention, good and bad? "For 10 years nobody noticed us, so now it seems reasonable for us to think that if everybody wants to talk to us, we can say what we wanna say," Bruce said. "We want to provoke. In a personal sense, we're not looking for attention, because to have suddenly the spotlight on you is not pleasant. Maybe [U2 singer] Bono likes it, but for us it doesn't attain (sic) with our lives. But we accept this attention, and we think we should use it to go against rock 'n' roll traditions."

"And we want to have a good time," Nutter added.

"Our ideas will last longer than us anyway," Bruce concluded. [Tues., Jan. 27, 1998, 5 p.m. PST]