''Night of a Thousand Candles'' is the first studio album by the band

The Men They Couldn't Hang The Men They Couldn't Hang (TMTCH) are a British folk punk group. The original group consisted of Stefan Cush (vocals, guitar), Paul Simmonds (guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, keyboards), Philip "Swill" Odgers (vocals, guitar, tin whistle, melodic ...

. It was released in 1985 on vinyl and cassette format, and then on CD format in 1987. The cassette version has two additional tracks, and the CD version has six bonus tracks added. Tracks from the album were performed before its release during the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

sessions on July 14, 1984, and January 22, 1985. Their cover version of

Eric Bogle Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is a Scottish-born Australian folk singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25, to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of ...

's, "

The Green Fields of France "No Man's Land" (also known as "The Green Fields of France" or "Willie McBride") is a song written in 1976 by Scottish-born Australian folk singer-songwriter Eric Bogle, reflecting on the grave of a young man who died in World War I. Its chorus r ...

" reached number 3 on John Peel's festive 50 in 1984 and "Ironmasters", the second single from the album, reached number 11 in 1985. The album also came 10th on

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

's End Of Year Critic Lists 1985.

Personnel

;The Men They Couldn't Hang *

Shanne Bradley Shanne Bradley (born 1957) is an English punk musician, songwriter, and artist. She founded a punk band The Nipple Erectors (The Nips) in 1976 playing bass guitar''Night of A Thousand Candles'' CD sleeve notes, FIEND CD 50, Demon Records, Brentf ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, Tibetan anus flute * Stefan Cush (a.k.a. Cush) – vocals,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Jon Odgers – drums, percussion * Philip Odgers (a.k.a. Swill) – vocals, guitar,

tinwhistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

* Paul Simmonds - guitar,

bouzuki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

;Additional musicians * Tom Keane –

Bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

Uilleann Pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...

* Lindsey Lowe –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

;Production * Harold Burgen – Tracks 12 & 13 *

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Philip Chevron Philip Ryan (17 June 1957 – 8 October 2013), professionally known as Philip Chevron, was an Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist and record producer. He was best known as the lead guitarist for the celtic punk band The Pogues and as the fron ...

- Tracks 4, 5, 6, 10 & 14 * Tony Poole - Tracks 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 16 ;Engineer * Nick Robbins ;Photography * David Howell

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 1985 debut albums The Men They Couldn't Hang albums Albums produced by Nick Lowe