''Laugh'' is the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Terry Hall. It was released in 1997 on the Southsea Bubble Company label. Hall wrote the majority of the album with guitarist

Craig Gannon Craig Gannon (born 30 July 1966) is an English guitar player, best known as the second guitarist in the Smiths. He is now a composer for film and television. Career Born in Manchester, Gannon had played in bands with friends since he was 12 ye ...

and collaborated with several acclaimed musicians namely singer-songwriter

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

the High Llamas The High Llamas are an Anglo-Irish avant-pop band formed in London circa 1991. They were founded by singer-songwriter Sean O'Hagan, formerly of Microdisney, with drummer Rob Allum and ex-Microdisney bassist Jon Fell. O'Hagan has led the group s ...

' bandleader

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and most notably Damon Albarn of Blur, whom Hall had collaborated with on Hall's 1995 EP ''Rainbows''. The album was produced by Hall with Gannon and

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. It received good reviews when original released on CD in October 1997 and peaked at number fifty on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and includes the singles "Ballad of a Landlord" and " I Saw the Light". A special edition of the album was released in 2009 by

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record label. The new version featured all of the B-sides from the two singles along with liner notes by

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Track listing

# "Love to See You" (

, Terry Hall) – 4:38 # "Sonny and His Sister" (

, Hall) – 3:42 # "Ballad of a Landlord" (Gannon, Hall) – 3:54 # "Take It Forever" (Gannon, Hall) – 4:10 # "Misty Water" (Gannon, Hall) – 4:03 # "A Room Full of Nothing" ( Damon Albarn, Hall) – 3:30 # "Happy Go Lucky" (Hall,

) – 3:38 # "For the Girl" (Albarn, Hall)– 4:22 # "Summer Follows Spring" (Gannon, Hall) – 5:32 # " I Saw the Light" (

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

) – 3:20 ; 2009 edition bonus tracks #

"Ballad of a Landlord" (acoustic version) – 3:48 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord") # "

Working Class Hero "Working Class Hero" is a song by John Lennon from his 1970 album ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'', his first album after the break-up of the Beatles. Theme Stridently political, the song is a commentary on the difference between social clas ...

" (live) (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

) – 3:24 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord") # " Close to You" ( Burt Bacharach,

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

) – 3:59 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord") # " Music to Watch Girls By" ( Sid Ramin, Tony Velona) – 2:54 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord") # "Bang Went Forever" (Hall, Paul Kennedy) – 4:45 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord") # "Love to See You" (acoustic version) (Gannon, Hall) – 4:04 (B-side of "I Saw the Light") # "Misty Water" (acoustic version) (Gannon, Hall) – 3:56 # "Interview" – 3:15 (B-side of "Ballad of a Landlord")

Personnel

;Musicians * Terry Hall – vocals, handclapping *

– guitar *Martyn Campbell – bass *

Chris Sharrock Chris Sharrock (born 30 May 1964) is an English drummer, hailing from Bebington, Cheshire (now Merseyside), England. He has been a member of the Icicle Works, the La's, the Wild Swans, World Party, the Lightning Seeds, Robbie Williams's liv ...

– drums *Terry Disley – keyboards *Simon Rogers – keyboards, programming * Stephen Street – handclapping *Dave Auty – handclapping *

Nick Heyward Nicholas Heyward (born 20 May 1961) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He came to international attention in the early 1980s as the lead singer and songwriter for Haircut One Hundred. He and the band parted ways after their first alb ...

– backing vocals *

– backing vocals *Angie Pollock – backing vocals *Mick Ball – trumpet *Caroline LaVelle – cello *Rosie Lindsell – bassoon *Jocelyn Pook – viola *Julia Singleton – violin *Angharad Warren – flute *Susanna Warren – clarinet ;Technical * Terry Hall – arrangements, producer *

– strings, arrangements, producer *

– producer * Stephen Street – remixing *Elain Constantine – photography

Chart positions

;Album ;Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laugh (Terry Hall album) 1997 albums Terry Hall (singer) albums