Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy
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| Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy | ||
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| Studio album by Billy Bragg | ||
| Released | 1 July 1983 | |
| Recorded | ??? | |
| Genre | Indie, Singer-songwriter | |
| Length | 15:57 | |
| Label | Charisma Records; reissued in November 1983 by Go! Discs | |
| Producer(s) | ??? | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Billy Bragg chronology | ||
| Life's a Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) |
Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) |
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Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy is Billy Bragg's first studio album, released in 1983. The album was more of an EP than an album as it contained only seven songs and lasts for only 15 minutes. It also played at 45rpm rather than the more usual 33.3rpm. 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.)
In 2006, as part of a series of re-issues of albums from his back catalog, Bragg re-released Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy on its own (it had previously only existed on CD alongside EP Between the Wars), along with several bonus tracks.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
(all songs written by Billy Bragg, except where noted)
- "The Milkman Of Human Kindness" – 2:49
- "To Have And Have Not" – 2:33
- "Richard" – 2:51
- "A New England" – 2:14
- "The Man In The Iron Mask" – 2:13
- "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" – 1:58
- "Lover's Town Revisited" – 1:19
[edit] Bonus Tracks (2006 Reissue)
- "Strange Things Happen" – 3:19
- "The Cloth [version 1]" – 2:50
- "Love Lives Here" – 1:42
- "Speedway Hero" – 2:39
- "Loving You Too Long" – 2:51
- "The Guitar Says Sorry" – 2:14
- "Love Gets Dangerous" – 2:32
- "The Cloth [version 2]" – 2:47
- "The Man in the Iron Mask [alt. take]" – 2:17
- "A13, Trunk Road to the Sea" (cover of "Route 66") (Troup) – 2:27
- "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" (Cale) – 2:32
[edit] Miscellanea
The opening lines of "A New England" ("I was 21 years when I wrote this song/I'm 22 now, but I won't be for long") are identical to the opening lines of Paul Simon's song "Leaves that are Green," which appears on Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 album Sounds of Silence. In concert, in Winnipeg, Manitoba , Canada, on September 27, 2006, Bragg stated that Simon and Garfunkel had a strong influence on him, and that he took the line from their song intentionally.
