Biography
Bragg was born in December 1957. He was thus 19-years-old when, in 1977, punk made its indelible contribution to English popular culture. Bragg?s own particular contribution was to form a band called Riff Raff. True cultural significance, however, was to escape Riff Raff, who eventually split in 1981. Perhaps remarkably, given Bragg?s punk antecedents, he briefly joined a tank regiment of the British Army before buying his way out with what he later described as the most wisely spent ?175 of his life. Between time working in a record store, and absorbing his newfound love of blues and politically inspired folk music, Bragg launched himself on a solo musical career. Armed with a guitar, amplifier and voice, he undertook a maverick tour of the concert halls and clubs of Britain, ready at a moment?s notice to fill in as support for almost any act. His songs were full of passion, anger and wit, a ?one man Clash?. This was not, however, what the major record companies wanted at the time ? the punk attitudes of the late-Seventies had long since given way to the escapist rise of the New Romantics. Bragg, however, finally managed to grab some studio time, courtesy of the Charisma label?s indie subsidiary, Utility. The result was ?Life?s a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy? (1983) which, when eventually reissued as the first album on the new Go! Discs label, hit the UK Top 30 in early 1984. Bragg?s stark musical backdrop ? for the most part a roughly strummed electric guitar ? and even starker vocals belied a keen sense of melody and passionate, deeply humane lyrics. The album?s opening track, ?The Milkman of Human Kindness?, for instance, was a love song of the most compassionate variety, illustrating the very real humanist approach that informs his music. It was an early indicator that Bragg?s work would be infused with genuine insight and humour, as well as a sustained and personal commitment to political and humanitarian issues. After seeing how the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher was changing the fabric of British society, particularly with the decimation of the mining communities, Bragg?s songs became more overtly political. He became a fixture at political rallies and benefits, particularly during the 1984 Miners Strike. Indeed, his second album, ?Brewing Up with Billy Bragg? (1984), opened with the fierce ?It Says Here?, a strident song of political solidarity. The album went Top 20 in the UK. Bragg was on something of a roll and even had a Top 20 hit with the ?Between the Wars? EP (included as bonus tracks on ?Volume 1?), the title track of which he played live on BBC?s Top of the Pops ? something virtually unprecedented in those days of miming on television. Billy also toured extensively abroad, becoming one of the very few Western artists to play in such countries as East Germany, Lithuania in the then-USSR and Nicaragua ? historic concerts that are highlighted on the DVDs included in the ?Volume 1? boxed set. At home in the UK, much of Bragg?s time was occupied with Red Wedge - an initiative to persuade young people to vote Labour in the 1987 General Election ? for which he toured with such luminaries as The Style Council, Madness, The Communards and Morrissey. His credentials as a songwriter, however, were confirmed when Kirsty MacColl released her classic version of Bragg?s ?A New England? (a song he originally recorded on ?Life?s a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy?), which became a UK Top 10 hit in 1985. Bragg?s third album, ?Talking with the Taxman About Poetry?, was released in September 1986. It was his most successful and accomplished release to date ? a Top 10 UK album spawning a hit single, ?Levi Stubb?s Tears?, as well as ?Greetings to the New Brunette?, a collaboration with The Smiths? guitarist, Johnny Marr. Bragg entered the Nineties with his most political work to date. ?The Internationale?, released in May 1990, included such tracks as ?The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions?, ?Nicaragua Nicaraguita? and Bragg?s very personal rendition of the William Blake poem, ?Jerusalem? as well as the Socialist anthems, ?The Red Flag? and the title track, ?The Internationale?. Long since unavailable, ?The Internationale? is now restored and reissued on ?Volume 1? where the album?s seven original tracks are now complemented by the strident politics of Bragg?s ?Live & Dubious? EP and his versions of such songs as the Woody Guthrie epic, ?This Land is Your Land?, Phil Ochs? ?Joe Hill? and the Sam Cooke soul classic, ?A Change Is Gonna Come?. ?Billy Bragg Volume 1? will be followed by a further boxed set chronicling his career through the Nineties and into the current decade.
| 
