Billy Bragg released his fourth album Workers Playtime in 1988 and had another small UK hit with “Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards”. Workers Playtime was Bragg’s first album to be recorded with a full backing band. The album also proved to be his first song to chart in the US when it went to #20 on the American alternative rock chart. Bragg followed this up in 1990 with an EP of left-wing political and protest songs titled The Internationale. However, 1991 saw the end of the Cold War, leaving Bragg’s leftist politics sounding dated and seeming flawed. Whether true or not, Bragg decided to go in a new direction with his 1991 album Don’t Try This At Home, an album that dealt more with the personal than the political (or found the political in the personal) and continued to expand the cleaner production and full band sound of Bragg’s recent work. The lead single “Sexuality”, co-written with Johnny Marr and featuring backing vocals from Kirsty MacColl, became one of Bragg’s most successful singles when it hit #27 in the UK and #2 on the US alternative rock chart. “Sexuality” was perhaps Bragg’s most pop-oriented moment to date, twisting his inclination toward leftist political protest into a promotion of safe sex and against homophobia that was well ahead of its time, while also being undeniably catchy. With Don’t Try This At Home Bragg had found a successful way to update both his sound and his political leanings for a new era.
(From the album Talking With The Taxman About Poetry)
1986
Billy Bragg’s Talking With The Taxman About Poetry became his first album to enter the UK Top Ten; doing so on the back of the album’s moderately successful singles and its political protest anthems that opposed the policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. However, the song that maybe best captured Bragg’s combination of righteous political anger and cutting wit is his wryly clever attack on the policies of the US in “Help Save The Youth Of America”. Never released as a single, “Help Save The Youth Of America” cleverly draws on the breezy Americana of the Beach Boys and on the ads one might see to help save the children in Africa or some other downtrodden and oppressed part of the world; only redirecting the message to save “the youth of America”, those poor “sun-tanned surfer boys and California girls”. In this witty satire, Bragg pleads with his listeners to help him save the youth of America from American wars around the world, the mistreatment of its own poor in the land of plenty, from nuclear holocaust, and a litany of other American political and policy ills. Whether or not one agrees with Bragg’s message (and most Americans of the time didn’t if Bragg’s American sales say anything) it is a cleverly written, thought-provoking, and catchy song that is underrated in Bragg’s catalog. Bragg followed up the success of Talking With The Taxman About Poetry by scoring his only #1 hit, a cover of The Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home” released as a double A-Side single with Wet Wet Wet’s cover of “With A Little Help From My Friends”; both songs being part of an NME backed charity album called Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father which saw a variety of artists covering songs from The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
(From the album Talking With The Taxman About Poetry)
1986
Billy Bragg followed up his first real taste of mainstream success in the UK by touring America as the opener for Echo & The Bunnymen. Upon returning to Great Britain Bragg went back into the studio to record his third album Talking With The Taxman About Poetry, which was released in September of 1986. Talking With The Taxman About Poetry continued to expand the sound of Bragg’s music by adding more production and instrumentation to his sound (although by the standard of 1980’s music Bragg’s music is still quite raw here) as well as continuing the success he had earned with “Between The Wars”. The lead single “Levi Stubbs’ Tears” was a moderate hit for Bragg, going to #29 in the UK. It was followed up by second single “Greetings To The New Brunette” which featured The Smiths’ Johnny Marr on guitar and Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals. “Greetings To The New Brunette” only hit #58 on the British charts but has become one of Bragg’s signature songs over the years. Much of Talking With The Taxman About Poetry however continues the leftist politics and protest songs found on Bragg’s Between The Wars EP and the centerpiece of the album is Bragg’s raw, pro-workers union anthem “There Is Power In A Union”. Bragg wrote the lyrics and set them to a tune written by an American songwriter from the era of the American Civil War; however, the song is also inspired by an older song of the same title by American union activist Joe Hill. Thus, Bragg’s “There Is Power In A Union” is both new and rooted in the pro-labor traditions of the previous hundred years. While “There Is Power In A Union” was never a “hit” it has become one of Bragg’s signature songs, both musically and in its message.
While not a smash hit Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy earned Bragg both critical respect and a devoted fan base. Bragg released his second album Brewing Up With Billy Bragg a year later in 1984. Brewing Up With Billy Bragg slightly expanded Bragg’s sound by adding trumpet, organ, and the occasional backing vocals on a few songs but for the most part the album continued his stripped-down folk/punk approach that balanced leftist political songs with more personal affairs. 1985 saw Bragg release the EP Between The Wars. The Between The Wars EP was inspired by the UK miners’ strike of 1984-1985 and the title track was written by Bragg in support of it. The song “Between The Wars” was released as a single and it took the EP to #15 on the UK singles chart and earned Bragg an appearance on the British television music show Top Of The Pops. The other songs that were chosen to be on the Between The Wars EP were also chosen to support the striking miners and Bragg donated all the proceeds of the sales from the record to the striking miners’ fund. With “Between The Wars” Bragg had been able to gain the attention of the mainstream both with his music and in support of a cause the felt was just.
In the history of rock and roll generally, and alternative rock more specifically, there are a group of British artists who for a variety of reasons found real success in their native UK but never really saw that success translate to the United States outside of a cult following or odd hit. This list, at least to some degree, includes artists like The Kinks, The Jam, James, and The Smiths among others. However, for English singer-songwriter and activist Billy Bragg this is more true than for most. The reasons why this is the case are not that hard to understand. First, Bragg’s music is especially British in its topics, references, and themes. Second, his raw and stripped-down folk/punk sound was very out of step with the slick synths and glossy production of the mainstream 1980s sound. Third, his extreme leftist politics put Bragg out of step with much of mainstream America during the waning days of the Cold War under Reagan in the USA (although it also did help create his cult of fans in the USA as well). Bragg grew up influenced by the folk and protest music of artists like Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel until punk rock hit. At that point, like so many other young people who felt disaffected by the political climate and economic bleakness in the UK, Bragg embraced punk rock and formed the punk group Riff Raff with a childhood friend. Riff Raff released a few unsuccessful singles and the group split up in 1980. Feeling that his music career had failed and seeing few other options for himself Bragg joined the British armed forces. However, after completing his basic training Bragg decided that the military was not his path and paid an exit fee to be released from his service commitment. After his brief stay in the armed forces, Bragg decided to return to music and began busking around London under the name Spy vs Spy, fusing his punk and folk influences. Initially, record labels didn’t show interest in Bragg’s music but eventually Bragg was able to get Peter Jennings, an A&R man at Charisma Records, to listen to his demo tape when he snuck into Charisma’s headquarters disguised as a TV repairman. Jennings liked the demo but couldn’t sign Bragg since Charisma was on the edge of bankruptcy and had no money. Ultimately, Bragg was able to find funding to record some more demos and Jennings agreed to release all of Bragg’s demos as a record since their would be only a small cost to release his demos as an album. Thus, Billy Bragg’s debut album, the rough and raw Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy was released in May of 1983. Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy was short and ragged, its seven songs all featuring only Bragg’s vocals accompanied by just Bragg himself on electric guitar. The songs were a combination of social/political commentary and love songs and merged his interest in folk and punk music. Bragg got some of his first widespread exposure when he heard famed BBC DJ John Peel mention on air that he was hungry. Being close to the studio where Peel broadcast from Bragg rushed over with some mushroom biryani for Peel to eat and Peel repaid the kindness by playing Bragg’s song “The Milkman Of Human Kindness” on his show that night. However, the best-known song from Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy is probably Bragg’s “A New England”, a song about regret over a missed opportunity for love. The song was an early signature song for Bragg but its most famous version was the 1985 version released by Kirsty MacColl, which became her biggest hit when it went to #7 in the UK.
I truly appreciate your support over the past few years and am excited about how much the site has grown thanks to you. I feel like this year I have had more interruptions than usual and I apologize for that. That said, I am taking a two week break starting today. There are two purposes for this break. First, I am taking my family on a summer vacation. Second, I try to stay at least a week or two ahead in my writing of what I am posting and I have sadly run out of by reserve so I am hoping to use some of this time to build up a bank of already written posts. Thanks for your patience and understanding and I’ll see you soon. This truly is a labor of love and I appreciate you reading, listening and commenting on what I do.
After Natalie Merchant’s departure from 10,000 Maniacs she started her solo career and scored immediate success with her debut album Tigerlily, which spawned off hits like “Carnival” and “Wonder”. Later Merchant solo albums saw some success as well, although not as much as Tigerlily. Merchant’s former bandmates were left with the 10,000 Maniacs name but no singer. The solution to that problem however was closer than expected. When original guitarist John Lombardo had left the Maniacs he had started a folk duo with singer/violinist Mary Ramsey called John & Mary. The duo had opened for 10,000 Manaics on their Hope Chest tour in 1990 and Ramsey had contributed both violin and viola parts on 10,000 Maniacs’ 1992 album Our Time In Eden. Needing a new vocalist and wanting to reconnect with the band’s own pre-Merchant past 10,000 Maniacs simply brought John and Mary into the fold, bringing John Lombardo back into the band he had helped establish and providing the group a new singer with Mary Ramsey. This line-up released their first album, Love Among The Ruins, in 1997 and had a moderate hit with their cover of Roxy Music’s “More Than This”. The follow up single, the band-penned “Rainy Day”, also earned some airplay and showcased the new version of the band. This version of the band released another record in 1999 called The Earth Pressed Flat but saw guitarist Rob Buck die just a few months later of liver failure. The Mary Ramsey led line-up of 10,000 Maniacs continued to occasionally perform and tour and released a new album of original songs in 2013 titled Music From The Motion Picture that is their first studio recording with guitarist Jeff Erickson who joined the group after the death of Rob Buck. 2015 saw another studio release titled Twice Told Tales, which finds the group performing traditional folk songs from the British Isles.
The second single from 10,000 Maniacs last album with Natalie Merchant on vocals was the horn-kissed “Candy Everybody Wants”. 10,000 Maniacs had long been masters of combining hook-filled, warm music with darker-themed lyrics that send a message and/or make a point and “Candy Everybody Wants” may be their best example of this yet. Musically, “Candy Everybody Wants” is upbeat, uptempo, and has a warm and punchy horn section provided by none other than James Brown’s brass and woodwind players. “Candy Everybody Wants” has a warm, sunny glow that draws on 60’s and 70’s soul music that is melodic and catchy. Married to this though is Merchant’s lyrics about the love of Americans for sex and violence on television, and the willingness of big business to give the people what they want for good or ill. The song proved to be another hit for 10,000 Maniacs, peaking at #5 on the alternative rock charts even while being wildly out of step with the grunge rock revolution of the time. 10,000 Maniacs would release one more single from Our Time In Eden, “Few And Far Between”, but it proved to not be commercially successful. Merchant would also perform with the rest of 10,000 Maniacs for MTV’s acoustic performance show Unplugged and 10,000 Maniacs would release their performance as the live album MTV Unplugged. MTV Unplugged would be 10,000 Maniacs final release with Natalie Merchant as their lead vocalist and give the group their biggest hit with their acoustic performance of Patti Smith’s “Because The Night”, which went all the way to #11 on the Billboard Top 40 in the USA, while also hitting #7 on the alternative rock charts.
Following the release of Blind Man’s Zoo 10,000 Maniacs took off most of 1991 from touring and Natalie Merchant spent her time working with homeless youth in Harlem. When the band reconvened Merchant announced that she was planning to leave the group for a solo career in two years time. This gave 10,000 Maniacs time to record more material and to plan for her departure. The group then began to work on what would be their final studio album with Merchant in the band, 1992’s Our Time In Eden. A slight evolution from 10,000 Maniacs previous albums, while much of Our Time In Eden still addresses social ills and other concerns, there is also more songs that seem to deal with the personal than on past records. One of the best examples of this, and one of the best songs 10,000 Maniacs ever made, is the warm and nostalgic lead single “These Are Days”. While the exact meaning of the song is open-ended, “These Are Days” has a warm and uplifting tone with just an underlying hint of wistfulness and nostalgia. It is a song looking back on something that has been both difficult and joyous with fond memories before they move on. It could be about a romantic relationship, the end of childhood innocence, or even possibly the ending creative relationship between Merchant and the band (although her decision to leave had not been announced to the public yet at the time of the song’s release). Whatever its inspiration for the band themselves the song reached a lot of people and became 10,000 Maniacs first and only song to top the American alternative charts (or any chart) when it hit #1 in late 1992.
10,000 Maniacs released Blind Man’s Zoo, the follow-up to their breakthrough album In My Tribe, in 1989. Blind Man’s Zoo very closely followed the template the band had created with In My Tribe and was their first album to receive somewhat mixed critical reviews. However, in spite of mixed critical grades Blind Man’s Zoo was 10,000 Maniacs’s most commercially successful album yet as the record peaked at #13 in the USA and #18 in the UK. The album’s lead single “Trouble Me”, which dealt with Merchant’s relationship with her now ill father, saw some success on both sides of the Atlantic (and did especially well on American alternative radio where it hit #3). 10,000 Maniacs followed up “Trouble Me” with the second single “Eat For Two”. “Eat For Two” is the opening track on Blind Man’s Zoo and is about a scared young woman who has become pregnant by an unsupportive young man. It is a musical propulsive and tense song whose music matches the stressful nature of the vocals and is one of the stand out tracks on Blind Man’s Zoo. “Eat For Two” was not as commercially successful as “Trouble Me” but ultimately has become one of 10,000 Maniacs best-known songs. This is partially due to the fact that Merchant was friends with R.E.M.’s lead singer Michael Stipe who decided to write a companion piece to “Eat For Two” from the scared young man’s point of view. That song turned out to be R.E.M.’s “Me In Honey”, which would be the closing track on their 1991 album Out Of Time. 10,000 Maniacs eventually released “You Happy Puppet” as a third single from Blind Man’s Zoo and became one of the leading bands of the late 80’s college rock scene. 10,000 Maniacs would also release Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982-1983 in 1990. This release compiled their first two releases, the Human Conflict Number Five EP and their debut album Secrets Of The I Ching, which had been released in limited numbers on small independent labels as one album. The songs were also remastered with assistance from 10,000 Maniacs’ original guitarist John Lombardo. Lombardo was now part of the folk duo John & Mary with vocalist Mary Ramsey and John & Mary toured with 10,000 Maniacs as their opening act on the tour supporting Hope Chest, a reconciliation that will have an eventual impact on the group.
Alternative Reality: An Alternative Music Blog 