Back to Basics

Often described as the "one-man Clash", Billy Bragg is much more than that. As much as I love "The Only Band That Matters", Billy's songs are political in a way that the Clash's songs never were, mining a much more personal and confessional vein. This record (which is actually his first two albums plus an EP on one CD), to me, has him at his best, and while it does contain some amazing protopunk-sounding tunes, for me his most affecting are songs like "A New England", "The Saturday Boy" and "A Lover Sings".

Before he was "The" Billy Bragg, he was in a band called Riff Raff. Whilst researching this post I found a nice blog with a complilation of their singles. So head on over to SOMENOISE if you want to check that out!!

BACK TO BASICS

1. "The Milkman of Human Kindness"
2. "To Have and To Have Not"
3. "Richard"
4. "Lovers Town Revisited"
5. "A New England"
6. "The Man in the Iron Mask"
7. "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty"
8. "It Says Here"
9. "Love Gets Dangerous"
10. "The Myth of Trust"
11. "From a Vauxhall Velox"
12. "The Saturday Boy"
13. "Island of No Return"
14. "St Swithin's Day"
15. "Like Soldiers Do"
16. "This Guitar Says Sorry"
17. "Strange Things Happen"
18. "A Lover Sings"
19. "Between the Wars"
20. "World Turned Upside Down"
21. "Which Side are You on"

And here is a more recent song that has some great lyrics - "Waiting for the Great Leap Forward":