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More photos of Riff Raff and early Bragg in our Gallery.
Riff Raff compilation out now!
'Riff
Raff - the Singles 1977-1980' features 13 tracks by the band
whose line-up included Wiggy, Billy's neighbour
and
boyhood friend who taught him guitar and later produced his
early albums and played in the Red Stars. Spot the influences:
the Stones, the Faces, the Clash... And then spot the early incarnation
of what became a Bragg solo classic.
The original CD release of the album in the middle
of December 2002 marked the 25th anniversary of Riff Raff's first
EP; it
was the first time the songs had been made available on CD. Now
you can get them as a download too.
Tracks:
1. I Wanna Be a Cosmonaut
2. Romford Girls
3. What's The Latest
4. Sweet As Pie
5. Barking Park Lake
6. Richard
7. Fantocide
8. Every Girl
9. You Shaped House
10. She Don't Matter
11. New Home Town
12. Little Girls Know
13. Kitten
Finally, Riff
Raff Speak!
Only on this web site - Wiggy, SDR Gol’Fish,
Robert Handley and Billy Bragg comment on the songs on the
CD re-issue: I WANNA BE A COSMONAUT
A bit of a joke initially. All brought about by Robert playing
too many
Ramones records within earshot of Billy. It was this song during
our second London gig (at the Red Cow, Hammersmith in September
1977), which was probably responsible for getting us signed to
Chiswick Records. Either that or S.D.R.’s vocalising whilst
wearing a budgie cage on his head.
P.S. This is probably one of the slowest versions. Ever.. W
I can remember running around to get puffed out enough to record
this
(outside the studio with a mic trailed out to the back yard).
Also
listen out for the backing vocals multi overdub to give the massive
'Soviet Choir' vibe to the chorus. SDR
A turning
point in my songwriting. I think of the ballads and Rolling Stones
parodies what preceded it as being BC (Before Cosmonaut). What
had happened to initiate this sea-change? I saw the Clash for
the first time. BB
ROMFORD GIRLS
The first real Riff Raff song. This track marked the point where
we
ceased being a Stones, Clash and Faces covers band. We became
part of musical history instead of simply copying it. Robert
wrote the words. Braggy wrote the riff. I just played it louder. W
This track no doubt contributed to a scandalous rumour that we
were from
Romford. Not so - although we do have fond memories and had several
ties with this charming old market town in Essex. SDR
If ‘Cosmonaut’ was,
as Wiggy suggests, a bit of a novelty song, Romford
Girls was the definitive Riff Raff song. It places us in late
70s Essex, has
sartorial pretensions whilst being About Girls and is based around
a cracking riff, part of the classic Thames Estuary R&B/punk
tradition in fact. BB
WHAT’S THE LATEST?
"I have forgotten all the choruses. And the consequential song." One
of the
many Bragg live lyric changes that have superseded the original in my head. A
story of love and lust on the District line, accompanied one of the greatest
and loudest guitar overdubs by the Braggster. W
The title was inspired by the catch phrase of a singular fellow called
Ear'oles, one of the many good ol' boys who covered my back when I was
supposed to be at Ford Motor Company, Dagenham, but was off recording and performing
popular dance music (among other things). SDR
What ever happened
to those guys from Fords, Shaker and Steamwash Steve? Another song about chasing
girls around the drafty shopping centres of the Essex border
towns. BB
SWEET AS PIE
A definitive recorded version that doesn't put a foot wrong. Enough said.. W
Wonder at Mr. R. Handley's machine gun drumming. I still don't know how
he did it. Best played as loud as you can - you'll hear us laughing and
shouting to each other in the background. SDR I always felt
that there was a bit of an early Stones vibe on this one, like
it started off somewhere in the fade out of Let’s Spend The Night Together.
BB
BARKING PARK LAKE
The first (but not the last time), I got banned from singing. This time,
in
favour of Robert (but only because he could stay in tune.) Still, I managed
to keep the centre microphone spot for the live outings. Contains one free,
Braggy, "Scudding Penguin" guitar solo. W
Like
Wiggy, I have always believed that staying in tune is dreadfully
overrated. Why is it called Barking Park Lake? Because “I Believe
I’m
So In Love With You” is such a naff title. The only time (ever)
I was allowed to “Scud” the old “Penguin”. BB
RICHARD
No stranger to Bragg fans, this track is the sole survivor of our sizable
catalogue (save A13), to make the great leap forwards...Due to high
turnover of Riff Raff staff and Robert only having one afternoon off
during these sessions, drumming duties were delegated to Oscar O'Lochlainn
(who was 13 at the time), and the piano to Mark Earwood. W
Written
in March 1979, I always felt that this was the first real Billy Bragg
song, in that it had a certain flippant quality in the way it dealt with the
break-up of relationships. That’s why it survived to appear on Life’s
A
Riot. BB
FANTOCIDE
People ask me "What is this all about?" I reply, "Look,
I've only just learnt how to spell the title for the running order!!
Ask Robert, he wrote the words." For me, it's our token quiet
number. W
It's about the death instinct innit, and me wanting to be Barking's
Jacques Brel (Jack Brill?). Read Freud's "Beyond the Pleasure
Principle" while listening to Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas" and
guff will flow from your Biro. RH
I was busy getting ready for the
80's when this was recorded, so Mark
Earwood did the keyboard honours on this track. When it was done
live, the audience used to go very, very quiet when Robert got out
from behind the drums and stepped forward to sing. I'm sure they
thought he was coming to get them for being too rowdy. SDR
It was a bit
more than the token quite number, Wiggs. It was the only song in
the set that wasn’t About Girls and Breaking Up With Girls.
BB
EVERYGIRL AN ENGLISH ROSE
"Ummm. It's about wanking." It's also the title of the video we made
to
accompany these Pathway sessions. On a rare showing of the aforementioned
V.T. to a friend he said, "You look like a boy band!" You
know what!! He was right!! W
A selection of finest Wiggy chops, served with just enough Billy Bragg
sauce. SDR
“All great artists have their hand down the
front of their trousers” -
Patti
Smith. BB
YOU SHAPED HOUSE
Possibly the weirdest track we ever did. That's because Robert
wrote it,
and sung it. W
A smidge of Cream's "N.S.U.", Eno's "Mother Whale Eyeless",
a bunch of
confused emotions and a filter of limited technique and there you have it.
More seriously, I have been advised that your hurtful allegation
that I am, or my work is, "weird" constitutes slander.
You will be hearing from my gerbils in the morning. RH
SHE DON’T MATTER
A live fave. Always placed towards the end of the set. - Unless we opened
with it. A classic Riff Raff romp. W
To watch Braggy spitting these lyrics into the mic was always a delight. SDR
I always liked the Ramones. BB
NEW HOME TOWN
The only "proper recording" of this document of life
in Oundle. During the
mastering of this collection I've endeavoured to keep everything as it was
was. But, I was seriously tempted to add the sound effect of
a Hawker Harrier passing overhead at a height of 200ft, panning
from right to left, when Bill sings "When jets fly low".
Having mentioned it, I don't have to. You can now do your own
overdubs. W
Despite Wiggy’s
assertion below, NHT was actually the last Riff Raff song
that I wrote. Like Romford Girls, it describes the place where we lived
together during 1979, Oundle, a market town in east Northamptonshire.
By the time this song came along it was December and the band
was beginning to drift back to London in disarray. To me, going
home meant admitting defeat, giving up and joining the real world. “But
I don’t want
to go...will Gabriel wait for me?” BB
LITTLE GIRLS KNOW
A solid contributor to the Riff Raff catalogue. "What has
love got to do with hap-happiness?" Indeed. I would have
loved to have heard The Clash do this one. W
Wiggy’s wailing riff over the choruses
makes this one for me. BB
KITTEN
The closer of this compilation
is the last Riff Raff song ever written and
consequentially recorded. Any similarity between this and "A
New England" is purely debatable. W Funny you should mention
that because A New England was written on 15th August 1979 and
Kitten was written the day after. BB
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