| Billy
Bragg : Don't Do This At Home
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| Review |
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As Brian Clough once said.."There is only one card game I like! Bragg", in fact that may have been Mike Yarwood, but I bet both have this special recording in their collection. Coming hot on the tail of the 1980's Grass Strike, when Arthur Trubshaw very nearly brought the country to its knees, until
famously and cruelly beaten into submission by the Dutch government, this whole epic is inspired by the social injustices of that conflict and how (in retrospect) we should never allow a low-land country to
interfere in British politics.
And so young William embarked on this, his 27th album, fuelled with "Turfpolitik" and produced what many see as his
definitive composition of horticultural social awareness. My only gripe is the constant use of washboard, only die-hard Eric Goya fans will
appreciate that.
This was a watershed album for all concerned. Billy was stacking shelving in the local "Tinsbury's", Brian Clough and Sherringham Forest were cruelly relegated on a last minute kicking, on the last linesman of the season and Mike Yarwood emerged from a bunker on a Southend Golf Course and declared Anglian Glasnost on Suffolk.
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| Standout
Tracks |
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"I do want to work on Maggies Farm", "Essex Mandolin" and "Trotsky's Last Cheese" |
| Standout
Moments |
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2:02 into "Basildon or Bust-ski" you can hear the Sound Engineer cry "Revolution Number 4" |
| Try This |
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"Unknown Bolivian protest Songs" - REM, "Vietnam Tart" - Steve Howe, "Tel a Vauxhall Viva" - Morrisey |
| Rating |
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**** |
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Mark Tallon |
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