Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy

Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy
Studio album by Billy Bragg
Released	May 1983
Recorded	Chappell Music, London 2-4 February 1983
Genre	Indie, singer-songwriter
Length	15:57
Label	Charisma Records
Producer	Oliver Hitch
Billy Bragg chronology
Life's a Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983) Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy is Billy Bragg's first studio album, released in 1983.

The original album played at 45 rpm rather than the more usual 33.3 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.^[2]

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.)

Contents 1 Versions 2 Track listing 2.1 Disc one 2.2 Disc two (2006 reissue) 3 Personnel 3.1 Musicians 3.2 Production 4 Footnotes 5 References

Versions

The album was originally released by Charisma Records in May 1983. The cassette version of the album was recorded on only one side of the tape; the second side of the tape was blank, inscribed with a message that fans should use it to bootleg his concerts. The album was then reissued in November 1983 on Go! Discs. In 1986 the tracks from the album along with the tracks from Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984) and the tracks from the Between the Wars EP (1985) were issued on an compilation album called Back to Basics by Go! Discs. This compilation was reissued by Cooking Vinyl in 1996. Cooking Vinyl released another compilation album in 1996 combining the tracks from the album with the four tracks from the Between the Wars EP and titled Life's a Riot Between the Wars.[1]

In 2006 as part of a series of reissues of albums from his back catalogue, the album was reissued as Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, with the original tracks on one disc along with a bonus CD of alternate versions and previously unreleased material. The tracks on the bonus CD were produced and compiled by Grant Showbiz.

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Bragg, except where noted

Disc one

1. "The Milkman Of Human Kindness" – 2:49
2. "To Have And to Have Not" – 2:33
3. "Richard" – 2:51
4. "A New England" – 2:14
5. "The Man In The Iron Mask" – 2:13
6. "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" – 1:58
7. "Lovers Town Revisited" – 1:19

Disc two (2006 reissue)

1. "Strange Things Happen" (alternative version) – 3:19
2. "The Cloth I" – 2:50
3. "Love Lives Here" – 1:42
4. "Speedway Hero" – 2:39
5. "Loving You too Long" – 2:51
6. "The Guitar Says Sorry" (alternative version) – 2:14
7. "Love Gets Dangerous" (alternative version) – 2:32
8. "The Cloth II" – 2:47
9. "The Man in the Iron Mask" (alternative version) – 2:17
10. "A13, Trunk Road to the Sea" (music by Bobby Troup, words by Bragg) – 2:27
11. "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" (John Cale) – 2:32

Personnel

Musicians

• Billy Bragg – vocals, guitar
• Dave Woodhead – trumpet on "The Man in the Iron Mask" (alternative version)

Production

• Oliver Hitch – producer, engineer, recorded by (original album plus "The Guitar Says Sorry" (alternative version), "Love Gets Dangerous" (alternative version), "The Cloth II", "A13, Trunk Road to the Sea", "Fear is a Man's Best Friend")
• Grant Showbiz – reissue producer, reissue compiled by
• Tim Young – digitally remastered by (original album tracks)
• Duncan Cowell – digitally remastered by (bonus tracks)
• Steve Goldstein – record by ("Strange Things Happen" (alternative version), "The Cloth I", "Love Lives Here")
• Wiggy – recorded by ("Speedway Hero", "Loving You too Long")

Footnotes

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ British Hit Singles & Albums (19th edition ed.). 2006. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

References

• Official Billy Bragg discography
• 2006 reissue CD liner notes

Billy Bragg Studio albums Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy · Brewing Up with Billy Bragg · Talking with the Taxman about Poetry · Workers Playtime · The Internationale · Don't Try This at Home · William Bloke · Mermaid Avenue (with Wilco)  · Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (with Wilco)  · England, Half-English · Mr Love & Justice Compilations, and boxsets Back to Basics · The Peel Sessions Album · Victim of Geography · Life's a Riot Between the Wars · Bloke on Bloke · Reaching to the Converted · Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg · Volume 1 · Volume 2 Singles and EPs "Between the Wars EP" · "Days Like These" · "Levi Stubbs' Tears" · "Greetings to the New Brunette" · "She's Leaving Home" · "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards" · "She's Got a New Spell" · "Won't Talk About It" · "Sexuality" · "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" · "Accident Waiting to Happen EP" · "Upfield" · "The Boy Done Good" / "Sugardaddy" · "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (with Wilco)  · "She Came Along to Me EP" (with Wilco)  · "England Half English" / "St Monday" (with The Blokes)  · "Take Down the Union Jack" (with The Blokes)  · "We Laughed" (Rosetta Life feat. Billy Bragg)  · "I Keep Faith" · "The Beach Is Free" / "I Almost Killed You" · "Never Buy The Sun" Live albums "Help Save the Youth of America" · "No Pop, No Style, Strictly Roots" · "Mermaid Avenue Tour" · "Going to a Party Way Down South" · "Live at the Barbican" Related articles Wilco · Discography · Red Wedge · "A New England"