Details
Track Listing
1. She's Got a New Spell
2. Must I Paint You a Picture
3. Tender Comrade
4. Price I Pay, The
5. Little Time Bomb
6. Rotting on Remand
7. Valentine's Day Is Over
8. Life With the Lions
9. Only One, The
10. Short Answer, The
11. Waiting For the Great Leap Forwards
| Details | | Producer: | Joe Boyd, Wiggy | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
Album Notes
Personnel: Billy Bragg (guitar); Kenny Jones (acoustic guitar); Wiggy (guitar, background vocals); Martin Belmont (guitar); B.J. Cole (pedal steel guitar); Camilla Brunt, Donna Welchman (violin); Theresa Pamplin (viola); Julia Palmer (cello); Barb Jungr (harmonica); Dave Woodhead (trumpet, flugelhorn); Cara Tivey (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Bruce Thomas (bass); Danny Thompson (acoustic bass); Mickey Waller (drums); Tony Maronie (percussion); Jayne Creamer, Kaya Jenner, Michelle Shocked, Cara Tivey, Porky (background vocals).
WORKERS PLAYTIME finds Billy Bragg continuing his proud tradition of mixing earnest tales of failed romance with unapologetically leftist political rants, a melange addressed rather humbly on the powerful, anthemic closer, "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards." The album features notable accompaniment from frequent collaborators Cara Tivey on piano and the ever-present Wiggy on all matter of stringed instruments. It showed a new level of maturity and craftsmanship for Bragg, both as a songwriter and a performer.
Opening with the bright, jumpy "She's Got A New Spell," WORKERS PLAYTIME displays Bragg's romantic side at its height. His lyrical wit is also at an apex, from the wordplay of "The Short Answer" to the soulful drama of the timeless-sounding "Valentine's Day Is Over." Political numbers are few, but potent--"Rotting On Remand" has a Tin Pan Alley feel and decries the desperate state of Britain's penal system, while Bragg is stripped to his sparest yet on the a cappella "Tender Comrade."
Industry Reviews
Included in Q Magazine's Best Relationship Albums Of All Time - ...At least some good came of the doomed, turbulent affair [with Mary]....The sound of Labour losing in '87.
Q (03/01/2000)
Rolling Stone 3.5 Stars - Very Good
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