Billy Bragg 'Greetings To The New Brunette'

Chart Peak: 58
YouTube

His previous single 'Levi Stubbs' Tears' was a Top 30 hit... 'Greetings' was released as the follow-up in late October.

OK, a couple of things to mention early on. Firstly, some discographies list this track as "Billy Bragg with Johnny Marr and Kirsty MacColl" [also how it was listed on the chart] so for consistency with earlier posts I'm continuing to credit them even though they're not mentioned on the sleeve of Now 8. Kirsty MacColl sings a prominent backing vocal towards the end of the track and Johnny Marr, he plays guitar. And as for that video, since it's been copied from VH-1 I have to assume that it's official, even though the combination of stock footage and home movies of Bragg not singing give it an oddly posthumous feel.

Billy Bragg is of course still very much among us but despite his high profile he's never been a consistent singles chart performer so Ashley Abram was taking quite a risk placing this track on the album. It of course didn't pay off as this is one of two singles on Now 8 that missed the Top 50. Interestingly both of them are the only solo appearances in the series by performers who had Top 20 hits that were uncompiled; Bragg can technically claim that his next chart appearance after this was at Number One with 'She's Leaving Home', though inevitably it was Wet Wet Wet's flipside that made it to Now 12. It's a bit of a cliche to say that most of Bragg's best writing deals with the personal rather than the political, but it's not entirely untrue; not least of course because the emotions he's discussing here are eternal. Throughout the song his protagonist addresses the unseen "Shirley" with whom he evidently has a testy but enjoyable relationship - not an over-the-top Burton/Taylor kind of thing, the sort of relationship normal people have. Though Bragg possibly thinks of himself as cleverer than his narrator he still leaves him and Shirley as sympathetic characters and throws in perhaps his most-quoted lyric "How can you lie back and think of England when you don't even know who's in the team?" Although this doesn't quite have the same emotional impact as the aforementioned 'Levi Stubbs' Tears', neither does it have the hectoring tone of some of his songs, and the conversational tone of the performance is safely within his limited vocal range. A good song that could even have been a hit were it not for the confusing title; Bragg did eventually give in and re-record the song as 'Shirley' a decade later. If it seems out of place here, at least Bragg is sometimes better enjoyed in smaller doses.

Kirsty MacColl also appears on: Now 10 [with the Pogues], 15, 31
Available on: Must I Paint You a Picture?: The Essential Billy Bragg

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl 'Fairytale Of New York'

Chart Peak: 2

YouTube

"...And the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day". Well, for the 31st of March anyway. Still, I suppose it's enough of a tribute to this song that I knowingly chose to do this album now, knowing what was at the end of it: I wouldn't have done that for Shakin' Stevens. In fact, this is the only Christmas song I can think of ever to appear on a regular Now album (as opposed to the various Now Christmas releases over the year), even though it wouldn't have had the legendary status it now has when the album was originally compiled in October or November of 1987. Perhaps that's because, unlike most successful Christmas songs in pop, this wasn't specifically recorded for the season: not that the release date was a coincidence, obviously, but it was a trailer for an album to be issued early in 1988. Indeed, I don't remember this one having the reputation it now has as the nation's favourite for the festive season until much later. For a while, it seemed to be viewed as the alternative to all the other big songs of the season, but now, through no fault of its own it's become almost as obvious as the others, which is another advantage of listening to it now.

All that said, it's not an easy one to review because it's so hard to make any original observations about it. Er... maybe Kirsty MacColl's vocals are a bit too good to be strictly in character, but they do add to the quality of the record itself, particularly as a contrast to Shane MacGowan. Apparently hers were only intended as guide vocals at first, but somebody had the right idea. "I could have been someone/Well so could anyone" is one of my favourite pieces of dialogue in any lyric ever. But maybe this song is a little too famous for its own good.

Kirsty MacColl also appears on: Now 8 [with Billy Bragg and Johnny Marr], 15, 13
Available on: If I Should Fall From Grace With God (Remastered & Expanded)