Signals, Calls, and Marches

Signals, Calls, and Marches
EP by Mission of Burma
Released July 4, 1981 (1981-07-04)
Recorded Normandy Sound
January 1981 (1981-01)–April 1981 (1981-04)
Genre Post-punk
Length 20:47 (original EP), 27:00 (Rykodisc release), 33:02 (Matador release)
Label Ace of Hearts
Rykodisc CD Issue July 1, 1997 (1997-07-01)
Matador Records Reissue March 18, 2008 (2008-03-18)
Producer Richard W. Harte
Mission of Burma chronology
Signals, Calls and Marches
(1981)		 Vs.
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau (B+) [2]
Pitchfork Media (9.8/10.0) [3]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

Signals, Calls, and Marches is the first EP by Boston-based band Mission of Burma, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music). For the CD issue, Rykodisc remastered the six original songs and added the two tracks from the band's 1980 debut 7" single, "Academy Fight Song." The EP was remastered by Matador Records in 2008 with video material and extra tracks.[4]

The EP has a notable "cleaned-up" sound, which is quite different from the band's more intense subsequent recordings and live performances.[5] Guitarist Roger Miller has noted that the sound probably helped the band become more accessible, recalling:

We played a show in Cleveland ('81 or '82) and we were on the street in front of the club. A girl came up to us and said how much she was looking forward to the show, and that she loved "[That's When I Reach for My] Revolver." We thought we were golden. However, once we started playing, people backed up against the wall and after the first song did not applaud or respond to us one bit, even after we started heckling them. Even when we played Revolver. So, it is quite probably true that the "mild-mannered" recording we made on Signals reached more people than if we recorded it in a more furious or noisy fashion.[6]

Contents

Original track listing

  1. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (Clint Conley) – 3:53
  2. "Outlaw" (Roger Miller) – 2:33
  3. "Fame and Fortune" (Miller) – 3:35
  4. "This Is Not a Photograph" (Miller) – 1:53
  5. "Red" (Miller) – 3:37
  6. "All World Cowboy Romance" (Conley, Miller) – 5:13

1997 Rykodisc bonus tracks

  1. "Academy Fight Song" (Conley) – 3:09
  2. "Max Ernst" (Miller) – 3:04

2008 Matador Records track listing

  1. "Academy Fight Song" (Conley) (bonus track) – 3:09
  2. "Max Ernst" (Miller) (bonus track) – 3:00
  3. "Devotion" (Conley) (bonus track) – 3:41
  4. "Execution" (Miller) (bonus track) – 2:21
  5. "That's When I Reach for My Revolver" (Conley) – 3:53
  6. "Outlaw" (Miller) – 2:34
  7. "Fame and Fortune" (Miller) – 3:35
  8. "This Is Not a Photograph" (Miller) – 1:57
  9. "Red" (Miller) – 3:38
  10. "All World Cowboy Romance" (Conley, Miller) – 5:12

2008 DVD

Includes two concerts recorded at The Space in 1979 and The Underground in 1980)[4]:

  1. "This Is Not a Photograph" (The Underground, 1980)
  2. "Secrets" (The Space, 1979)
  3. "Devotion" (The Underground, 1980)
  4. "Manic Incarnation" (The Underground, 1980)
  5. "Eyes of Men" (The Underground, 1980)
  6. "Tremolo" (The Underground, 1980)
  7. "Break on Through" (The Space, 1979)
  8. "Head Over Head" (The Underground, 1980)
  9. "Peking Spring" (The Space, 1979)
  10. "OK/No Way" (The Underground, 1980)

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r44878
  2. ^ http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=mission+of+burma
  3. ^ Marc Masters, Pitchfork Media, March 24, 2008. Album review.
  4. ^ a b Matador Records | Matablog
  5. ^ http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=mission_of_burma
  6. ^ http://www.missionofburma.com/records/signals.html
Mission of Burma
Albums
EPs
Signals, Calls, and Marches · Peking Spring · Four Hands EP
Compilations
Forget · Mission of Burma · Peking Spring · Let There Be Burma · Accomplished: the Best of Mission of Burma · A Gun to the Head: A Selection from the Ace of Hearts Era
Live albums
Singles
"Academy Fight Song" / "Max Ernst" · "Trem Two" / "OK/No Way" · "Active in the Yard" · "Dirt" / "Falling" · "Innermost" / "...And Here It Comes"
Videos
Live at the Bradford · Live at Tsongas Arena · Not a Photograph
Related articles
Related bands