I always wanted a Brown 10 incher in my hand, and the chance came in 1978 when my school mate said he was sick of 'Punk' and wanted to sell all his 'Punk' records. I managed to cobble together a fiver, and bought XTC's "White Music", The Heartbreakers "L.A.M.F" and this magnificent debut mini-album by the great Wreckless Eric.
My school chum is now dead! Threw himself under an arriving train at Leicester station in the nineties.....not because he regretted selling me this record though I may add.
A muddy rainbow of Pub Rock legends adorn this magnificent 10 inches of fecal brown vinyl,including Davey Payne and Larry Wallis, to cast their magic over some fine and witty songwriting by everyone's favourite new wave drunk.
Tracklist:
Reconnez Cherie
Rags + Tatters
Waxworks
Grown Ups
Rough Kids
Personal Hygiene
Brain Thieves
There Isn't Anything Else
(I have included the extra tracks from the 12" version"Telephoning Home","Be Stiff",plus "The Whole Wide World" , "Semaphore Signals" single.....one of thee most covered songs from the Stiff repertoire.....didn't Cliff Richard cover this?)
DOWNLOAD in colourless ,odourless digital form HERE!
So, consequently, we have the infamous "Live Stiffs" package tour of 1977, and the album of....; containing at least five pub rock legends. Luckily Nick Lowe improved vastly after the demise of the awful Brinsley Schwartz. Ian Dury became the poet laureate of the new wave. Wreckless Eric was a loveable drunk who made a fine debut album. Larry Wallis was in The Deviants, Pink Fairies, and Motorhead,among others, so he can't do wrong. In fact Stiff records did very little wrong in the first three or four years of existence; except sacking the Damned after the second album?...well I thought the second album was rather good. I may have thought different if I knew who Nick Mason was, but luckily i didn't.....I do now, and finally (recently) listened to some post-syd Pink Floyd.....it was all surprisingly enjoyable, except 'The Wall' which was effing terrible!.....very nearly the opposite of Stiff.
Tracklist:
A1 –Nick Lowe's Last Chicken In The Shop-I Knew The Bride
A2 –Nick Lowe's Last Chicken In The Shop-Let's Eat
A3 –Wreckless Eric & The New Rockets-Semaphore Signals
A4 –Wreckless Eric & The New Rockets-Reconnez Cherie
A5 –Larry Wallis' Psychedelic Rowdies-Police Car
B1 –Elvis Costello & The Attractions-I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
B2 –Elvis Costello & The Attractions-Miracle Man
B3 –Ian Dury And The Blockheads-Wake Up And Make Love With Me
B4 –Ian Dury And The Blockheads-Billericay Dickie
B5 –Live Stiffs-Sex, Drugs, Rock 'N' Roll & Chaos
