AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Billy Bragg

Artist:Billy Bragg
Song:A New England
Album:Must I Paint You A Picture?: The Essential Billy Bragg




Billy Bragg reminds me of protest singers of the 60s like Phil Ochs. Bragg has been very popular in his native England since the 80s. A New England is one of his signature songs. He was born Dec. 20, 1957 in Barking, Essex, England. Though Bragg was not a good student, he wrote poetry and learned to play guitar. Influences include Faces, Bob Dylan and especially The Clash who mixed punk rock with political activism. In 1977 Bragg formed Riff Raff with his long time pal Phil "Wiggy" Wigg. After releasing a few unsuccessful singles and touring England, they split up in 1980. Unhappy with that, Bragg enlisted in the British Army. He left after three months training. He started performing solo around London as Spy vs Spy named of course after the Mad Magazine comic strip. He sent out demos and pretended to be a TV repairman to get into the office of Charisma Records A&R man Peter Jenner. He told Bragg the company was near bankruptcy so they weren't signing anyone. But he agreed to release some demos Bragg recorded for a song publisher. And that was the 1983 EP Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy. A New England was one of the songs on that EP. When Bragg heard on air that legendary BBC DJ John Peel was hungry, he brought him food and Peel played Bragg's EP. After Virgin Records bought Charisma, Jenner became Bragg's manager. They signed with the new label Go! Discs and they re-released the EP. Though Bragg's recording of A New England was never released as a single, Kirsty MacColl's cover was a top ten hit in England in 1985. That got him a lot of attention. The 1986 album Talking with the Taxman About Poetry was Bragg's first top ten album in England. Bragg has been recording regularly ever since. Sometimes he tours with a band. But usually he returns to performing solo with a guitar. This 2CD budget comp is a good intro to Bragg's music. Bragg currently records for Cooking Vinyl and his latest album was released in 2017. Here's Billy Bragg performing A New England on Suggs in the City 2008.