Alternative chartbusters
| Alternative chartbusters | ||||
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| Studio album by The Boys | ||||
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Publication |
March 17, 1978 |
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| Label (s) | NEMS, Captain Oi! Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
14/20 |
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running time |
49 min 21 s (Captain Oi!) |
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| occupation |
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The Boys |
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Studio (s) |
Roundhouse Studios, London |
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Alternative Chartbusters is the second album by the British punk rock band The Boys . It was released on March 17, 1978 on NEMS.
History of origin
In the run-up to the album, the single Brickfield Nights b / w Teacher's Pet was released . A promo clip was shot for Brickfield Nights , which was very unusual at the time. The album itself was produced by The Boys at the Roundhouse Studio in London when sound engineer Mark Dearnley was present.
The songs were mostly written by Casino Steel and Matt Dangerfield. For the first time, Honest John Plain and Kid Reid got involved in songwriting . Dangerfield and Reid shared the vocals.
NEMS, the boys' record company, ran into financial problems shortly afterwards and failed to get the album out in time for the tour. An adequate marketing of the album was not possible. The problems with NEMS ultimately led to the successor To Hell with the Boys not being published until November 1979.
The actual promotion for Alternative Chartbusters began in the Marquee Club , the then Mecca of the London music scene. After the party, radio host John Peel invited The Boys to record a second session with him. It was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 on May 15th . A total of three songs from the album ( TCP , Brickfield Nights and Classified Susie ) were played.
Track list
- Brickfield Nights - 3:19
- USI - 1:46
- Taking on the World - 2:08
- Sway (Quien Sera) - 1:17
- Do the Contract Hustle - 2:04
- Heroine - 4:35
- Not Ready - 1:04
- Classified Susie - 2:29
- TCP - 2:09
- Neighborhood Brat - 1:35
- Stop Stop Stop - 2:19
- Backstage Pass - 2:28
- Talking - 1:22
- Cast of Thousands - 3:17
Versions
A first CD version, together with the debut album The Boys, was made in 1993 via DoJo. In 1999 there was a publication about Captain Oi! Records , which contains a total of six bonus tracks , including the B-side Teacher’s Pet and a song from the side project The Yobs . She's No Angel is actually a track from The Rowdies project, in which Plain and Black participated. Other musicians were Alan Anger, a music journalist, Phil Spalding (bass) and Mark Harrison (piano), both members of Bernie Tormé's band . The other three songs were released for the first time.
- Teacher's Pet - 2:24
- Schooldays - 2:26
- Read - 2:42
- She's No Angel - 3:26
- You're the Other Man - 3:16
- Silent Night - 3:15
Song info
Brickfield Nights , released as a single in March 1978, is next to First Time one of the most famous boys' pieces. Brickfield is a pasture area in the London Borough of Croydon . The text deals with a sleepy nest where nothing is going on and the teenagers always meet in the same place. In it Dangerfield looked back on his youth in Leeds . The song also became known through a cover version of the Toten Hosen on their album Learning English Lesson One . Dangerfield himself took part in this cover version.
USI treats love for a minor who lies about her real age. The song was written by Honest John Plain.
Taking on the World , a composition by Reid, is about growing up.
Do the Contract Hustle is an ironic satire on the interplay in the music business. The song alludes to the band's own experiences. Hustle is both a dance (see Discofox ), as well as the English verb to hustle (dt .: jostle, do something quickly), also a slang expression for slight cheating.
Classified Susi is about a bisexual woman who cheats on her husband.
Stop Stop Stop is a cover version of a song by The Hollies . Also Sway (Quien Sera) is another cover, this time from Dean Martin .
TCP is short for Trichlorophenylmethyliodosalicyl, an antiseptic that was popular in the UK. In the text, a reference to the Ramones is also made, as a line of text Johnny Joey / Tommy Dee Dee / TCP will leave you pimple free hey! reads.
Backstage Pass is about the decline of the punk scene and the love for a punk girl that never dies. There are cross-references in the text to Johnny Rotten ( Sex Pistols ), The Jam and The Boomtown Rats .
reception
Due to the bankruptcy of the record company, the album went under a bit in its time. Today it is considered a milestone for power pop , a slightly more pop version of punk rock. The clean production, which in places reminds of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound , is often emphasized .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Booklet of the 1999 re-release of Captain Oi!
- ^ Biography of the rowdies
- ↑ a b Review by Steve Metcalfe (June 1999) ( Memento from August 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Review in the All Music Guide