I saw two shooting stars last night - I wished on them but they were only satellites

Yes - it's time for another list!  

I enjoyed doing all the R.E.M. albums so was trying to decide who to do next - I felt I needed someone who was around in my youth (ie a long time ago), has hung around for some time and has been on a bit of a journey that'll be fun to write about.  But inspiration hadn't struck until I was sitting in my car and Billy Bragg's "A New England" came on and something in the corner of my mind reminded me that Murmur was released in the same year as this particularly fine album, so my mind was made up - the fact that Billy and R.E.M. are good mates is also a very pleasing state of affairs.

Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983)

This was the first of his albums I heard, but not the first I bought - which is a bit weird because I liked it, but I did pick it up on CD several years down the line (and I'm pretty certain it cost me more than £2.99).  It's a very rough and ready album but it's one that's stood the test of time for me, with the lyrics being as relevant today as they were to teenage me back in the day.

Given that I produced an R.E.M. playlist out of that exercise, I will do the same for Billy and I think it's going to be interesting to see how the contribution from each album varies, particularly because some of them I don't have the greatest memories of (I'm looking at you Wilko).  And obviously that gives me the opportunity for a track-by-track breakdown - for this album, I don't need to listen to most of them to write about them, but I will anyway!

A Side

1. The Milkman Of Human Kindness
This is a lovely track and has a strong resonance today given the lack of empathy often on display (although I'm not pretending everything was way better back in the day) - "If you're lonely, I will call.  If you're poorly, I will send poetry".  Even within the standards of this album, it's a very simple arrangement but one that showcases his ability for lyrics and tune, if not necessarily his ability to hold one.  "I love you - I am the milkman of human kindness.  I will leave an extra pint"

2. To Have And Have Not

Well, he held back from politics for all of one song - here he lays into the education system.  It's maybe a little too strident for me, so not one of my favourites but he's wearing his heart on his sleeve (and we might just get to hear this again over the coming albums).

3. Richard
I like this one, but I've never had the faintest idea what it's all about.  But you've got to love a song that features the lyric "How can I go on when every alpha particle hides a neon nucleus?" 

B Side

1. A New England
Everyone knows this one, right?  If you see Billy live he always sings "Kirsty's verse" which was added by the pair of them to make it more of a pop song for her.  What I didn't know was that "I was 21 years when I wrote this song, I'm 22 now but I won't be for long" originally came from this song.

2. The Man In The Iron Mask
I've never been entirely sure what this is about either - it's obviously about someone feeling isolated or left behind in a relationship, but it's not clear how much they accept it.  You can really feel the yearning though.

3. The Busy Girl Buys Beauty
The message is pretty clear here - just because they tell you to buy it, you don't have to (but you will anyway, won't you?).  There's also an interesting use of variety of pace on this one.

4. Lovers Town Revisited
I like this one because I think it's evocative of a time and place, without me being able to explain why.  The last line also resonated with teenage me (and let's face, I've not changed that much over the years, so it's hardly unrepresentative now) - "Sometimes it makes me stop and think, sometimes it makes me turn away.  Sometimes it makes me stop and think, but most times it makes me run away".

How many tracks for the playlist?  Obviously "New England" and "The Milkman Of Human Kindness" - and I think both "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" and "Lovers Town Revisited" do enough to make it as well, so it's a strong opener with 57% of the entire album making the playlist.

Wikipedia tells us the title comes from the fact that Billy used to call himself Spy Vs Spy (a strip in Mad magazine) when he was busking.  The initial release of the album was a mere 15:57 long, only qualifying for the charts because of the number of tracks it had - the vinyl version played at 45rpm (as opposed to 33 rpm, kids) and the cassette version only took up one side, with a message on the other side telling you if was there for you to bootleg his shows.

The critics were very nice about the album with Spin declaring it would "probably fully launch Bragg on the already friendly seas of college radio, and maybe beyond" - I think it's fair to say he's done OK "beyond" over the years.  Commercially, it's only done anything over here, but it's done considerably better than I (and probably you) expected - 30 weeks on the chart with it peaking at #30 (in '85, so it took its time but I'm sure he was well chuffed!).

The other thing I have to say about this album is that I had the pleasure of seeing him play it live twice year at Glastonbury and the Roundhouse - both times, surprisingly, without any banter (this is VERY rare for Billy).  Generally, I prefer the later, slightly more polished (both musically and lyrically) version of Billy but this album (and particularly "A New England") take me right back to the early 80s and it's always nice to be reminded of those musically formative times.

Live - The End! (R.E.M.)
Brewing Up With Billy Bragg - some definite growth