Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy
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Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy
''Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy'' is Billy Bragg's first album, released in 1983. All songs on the original album consisted of Bragg singing to his electric guitar accompaniment. The original album played at 45 rpm rather than the more usual 33⅓ rpm, contained only seven songs and lasted for only 15 minutes and 57 seconds. However, rather than being classified as an EP, it qualified for the UK Albums Chart and reached number 30 in January 1984. The album contains both politically charged songs, such as the attack on the school system and unemployment, "To Have and to Have Not", and love songs such as "The Milkman of Human Kindness" and "A New England" (which was later a hit for singer Kirsty MacColl). Reception It was ranked at number 3 among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by ''NME''; thirty years later, the magazine ranked it at number 440 in its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". ''Spin'' wrote the album would, "probably fully launch Bragg on th ...
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Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes. Early life Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, Essex (which is now in Greater London) to Dennis Frederick Austin Bragg, an assistant sales manager to a Barking cap maker and milliner, and his wife Marie Victoria D'Urso, who was of Italian descent. Bragg's father died of lung cancer in 1976, and his mother died in 2011. Bragg was educated at Northbury Junior School and Park Modern Secondary School (now part of Barking Abbey Secondary School) in Barking, where he failed his eleven-plus exam, effectively precluding him from going to university. However he developed an interest in poetry at the age of twelve, when his English teacher chose him t ...
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Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its coverage of rock music and political reporting by Hunter S. Thompson. In the 1990s, the magazine broadened and shifted its focus to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors, and popular music. It has since returned to its traditional mix of content, including music, entertainment, and politics. The first magazine was released in 1967 and featured John Lennon on the cover and was published every two weeks. It is known for provocative photography and its cover photos, featuring musicians, politicians, athletes, and actors. In addition to its print version in the United States, it publishes content through Rollingstone.com and numerous international editions. Penske Media Corporation is the c ...
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Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairman, while Rob Collins is managing director. The company focuses on artist service-based deals where the artist retains ownership of their copyrights. History 1986–1992 Cooking Vinyl was set up in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and distribution manager Pete Lawrence, who initially ran the business as a part-time venture out of a spare room in Goldschmidt's council house in Stockwell, South London. In 1986 Cooking Vinyl recorded an impromptu live performance around a campfire at a folk festival by the singer Michelle Shocked, on a Sony Walkman with fading batteries. One of its first releases, Cooking Vinyl released the recording as The Campfire Tapes, and it sold 250,000 copies worldwide. In 1989, the company w ...
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Back To Basics (Billy Bragg Album)
''Back to Basics'' is a 1987 collection of Billy Bragg's first three releases: The albums '' Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy'' and ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' and the EP '' Between The Wars'' –all of which make their debut in the United States here. This collection did not contain any new material, but did document Billy Bragg's early "one man and his guitar" approach. The songs collected on this release demonstrate major recurrent themes in Bragg's work: highly critical commentary on Thatcherite Britain, laced with poetic love songs. The collection was re-released in November 1993 on the Cooking Vinyl label. Track listing #"The Milkman of Human Kindness" (Life's a Riot) #"To Have and To Have Not" (Life's a Riot) #"Richard" (Life's a Riot) #"Lovers Town Revisited" (Life's a Riot) #"A New England" (Life's a Riot) #"The Man in the Iron Mask" (Life's a Riot) #"The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" (Life's a Riot) #"It Says Here" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg) #"Love Gets Dangerous" (Br ...
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Compilation Album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology. Content and scope Songs included on a compilation album may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may ...
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Between The Wars EP
''Between the Wars'' is an extended play released by Billy Bragg in 1985. It reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The title track was inspired by the UK miners' strike (1984–1985). The choice of other songs on the record was also relevant to the dispute - "Which Side Are You On?" is an updated version of the American pro-trade union song of the same title from the 1930s, whilst "It Says Here" is critical of the political bias of British newspapers, most of which opposed the strike. The proceeds from sales of the record were donated to the striking miners' fund.Family Detective: Billy Bragg
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Go! Discs Records
Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at Stiff Records, and Symons provided the seed funding. The first signing to the label was Billy Bragg and early releases also came from Sheffield band The Box and Hull band The Housemartins. Records by the latter's spin-off group The Beautiful South were subsequently issued. Key staff contributors, following a move to Hammersmith, included comedian Phill Jupitus and Cathal Smyth (Madness' Chas Smash). Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for artists like Beats International, Gabrielle and Portishead. In 1992, Paul Weller signed for the main Go! Discs label. In 1996, Macdonald resigned when PolyGram acquired a majority stake in the label, which folded not too long afterwards. However, Go! Discs' dance offshoot Go! Beat Records continued and became a unit ...
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Reissue
In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Recordings originally released in an audio format that has become technologically or commercially obsolete are reissued in new formats. For example, thousands of original vinyl record, vinyl albums have been reissued on Red Book (audio CD standard), CDs since introduction of that format in the early 1980s. With the introduction of the LP record in 1948, some collections of 78 rpm records were reissued on LP. More recently, many albums originally released on CD or earlier formats have been reissued on Super Audio CD, SACD, DVD-Audio, digital music downloads, and on streaming media, music streaming services. Budget records Beginning with Pickwick Records, which acquired the rights to reissue many of Capitol Records' non-current ...
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Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Agency. History Early years In an interview for Jethro Tull's video ''20 Years of Jethro Tull'', released in 1988, Wright states "''Chrysalis Records'' might have come into being anyway, you never know what might have happened, but ''Chrysalis Records'' really came into being because Jethro Tull couldn't get a record deal and MGM couldn't even get their name right on the record". This was after the single " Sunshine Day/Aeroplane" was incorrectly credited to 'Jethro Toe'. Chrysalis entered into a licensing deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records for distribution, based on the success of bands like Jethro Tull, Ten Years After and Procol Harum, which were promoted by the label. Jethro Tull signed with Reprise Records in the United Stat ...
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Spin (magazine)
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. History Early history ''Spin'' was established in 1985 by Bob Guccione, Jr. In August 1987, the publisher announced it would stop publishing ''Spin'', but Guccione Jr. retained control of the magazine and partnered with former MTV president David H. Horowitz to quickly revive the magazine. During this time, it was published by Camouflage Publishing with Guccione Jr. serving as president and chief executive and Horowitz as investor and chairman. In its early years, ''Spin'' was known for its narrow music coverage with an emphasis on college rock, grunge, indie rock, and the ongoing emergence of hip-hop, while virtually ignoring other genres, such as country and metal. It pointedly provided a national alternative to ''Rolling Stone's'' more e ...
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NME's The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine ''NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The list presented was compiled based on votes from current and past ''NME'' journalists. The list and writer's choices voting several times for the same act, were criticized by several papers including ''The Guardian''. The number one album was ''The Queen Is Dead'' by the Smiths. Background Made in a similar fashion to the ''Rolling Stone''s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the list was voted for by ''NME'' journalists past and present, each of whom submitted a weighted list of 50 albums. Reception This ''NME'' listing was criticized by the media. ''The Guardian'' noted that ''NME''s Features Editor in 2013, Laura Snapes, rated in her top four spots four albums by the same band, the National. Snapes included a fifth National album at number 7 in her top ten greatest albums of all time. Similarly another ''NME'' journalist, Kevin EG Pe ...
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Uncut (magazine)
''Uncut'' is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the ''Uncut'' brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, and has been published by NME Networks since December 2021. ''Uncut'' (main magazine) ''Uncut'' was launched in May 1997 by IPC as "a monthly magazine aimed at 25- to 45-year-old men that focuses on music and movies", edited by Allan Jones (former editor of ''Melody Maker''). Jones has stated that " e idea for Uncut came from my own disenchantment about what I was doing with ''Melody Maker''. There was a publishing initiative to make the audience younger; I was getting older and they wanted to take the readers further away from me", specifically referring to the then dominant Britpop genre. According to IPC Media, 86% of the magazine's readers are mal ...
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