“Warriors Of Ghengis Khan” appeared on the 1987 debut album by Bad News, a band that was never meant to be taken seriously. It is a parody of heavy metal. The shouted warlord imagery is the joke, and it is delivered by musicians who play it with a perfectly straight face.
Bad News were a fictional English metal band invented for Channel 4’s The Comic Strip Presents…. The members were Vim Fuego (played by Adrian Edmondson) on vocals and lead guitar, Den Dennis (Nigel Planer) on rhythm guitar, Colin Grigson (Rik Mayall) on bass and Spider Webb (Peter Richardson) on drums. They made their television debut in 1983.
| Artist | Bad News |
|---|---|
| Released | 1987 |
| Album | Bad News |
| Length | 3:27 |
| Lyricist | Rik Mayall |
Source: MusicBrainz, as of October 2026.
A song inside a sitcom inside a record
The song was first a plot point. In the second Bad News television film, More Bad News, the band are shown recording their first single for a label called Frilly Pink. The single is “Warriors Of Ghengis Khan,” and they also make its promotional video. That story leads up to their disastrous slot at the Castle Donington Monsters of Rock festival.
In reality the band’s record deal was with EMI, not Frilly Pink. EMI issued the full-length album Bad News in October 1987, and the liner notes for its 2004 reissue make that point. The album was produced by Brian May of Queen and recorded at Sarm Studios. It runs under 24 minutes, about as long as a joke should.
What the song is doing
The song is a pastiche of metal’s love of conquest, mythology and swagger. A narrator announces his own ferocity in the most exaggerated terms available, then undercuts it by pitching himself at an admirer as a rock star. The violence is cartoonish by design. The target is the macho posturing of the genre, not any real event or person.
The track runs 3:27 on the original album. A 2004 reissue lists it at 3:25 under the spelling “Ghengis Kahn,” which shows how loosely the title has been spelled over the years. Songwriting credits also vary between listings. Some credit Vim Fuego alone. Others add Den Dennis, Spider Webb and Colin Grigson, reflecting the band as a four-person act.
The sound is deliberately big: crunching riffs and gang-style shouts. One credit detail adds to the fun. Vim Fuego, the band’s lead guitarist and singer, is also listed as playing bass on this track.
The video
The promo film is as much a part of the joke as the song. It opens with the band running through a burning, rocky landscape, waving large red flags. Clips of them playing, eating and rescuing a woman are cut through it, mimicking the epic clichés of 1980s metal videos.
Where Bad News stand
Bad News were a spoof band that crossed into real music. Besides the album, they released a cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a single, which reached the UK charts. An accompanying video was written and directed by Edmondson. They are often described as a British counterpart to Spinal Tap. AllMusic calls them “a particularly British answer to Spinal Tap.” Their television specials built a cult following over the years through repeats and home video.
“Warriors Of Ghengis Khan” remains one of the band’s best-known original songs. It sits alongside “Hey Hey Bad News” and the “Bad News” theme as a key track for anyone who wants to hear how Edmondson, Planer, Mayall and Richardson mocked rock excess while making it sound big.
The 1987 album was reissued by Rhino in 1989 and again in 2004. Both editions kept the song, and the 2004 release added extra tracks and an early take of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Taken on its own terms, the track works as a short, noisy sketch with a riff attached. Its violent talk should be heard as satire of metal’s most inflated poses.
Frequently asked questions
– When was "Warriors of Ghengis Khan" by Bad News released?
"Warriors of Ghengis Khan" was first released on 1987.
– Who wrote "Warriors of Ghengis Khan"?
"Warriors of Ghengis Khan" was written by Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer and Peter Richardson.
– Which album is "Warriors of Ghengis Khan" on?
"Warriors of Ghengis Khan" appears on the album Bad News.