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Billy Bragg was born in a district of Essex that is now part of Greater London. He grew up in the district of Barking, which he has always considered his home. However, his successful career was to take him across the globe, singing songs of freedom and advocating social change. He is still associated with his London roots and is sometimes known, jocularly, as 'the bard of Barking.' At an instore promoting " Must I Paint You A Picture ", Borders Bookshop, Oxford Street, December 2003 Attending a comprehensive school, Bragg's educational career was uneventful. One source states that the only class he got an A in was English. He left school with few qualifications, but determined to do something with his life. He teamed up with his next door neighbour, Wiggy, and practised guitar. They would teach each other new riffs that they had listened to from their widening record collection. Their main influences in the early 1970s were The Faces, The Small Faces, The Rolling Stones and eventually, punkPunk rock is the anti-establishment music movement of the period 1976- 80, exemplified by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. This term is also used to describe subsequent music scenes that share key characteristics with those first-g.
They formed a punk/ pub rockPub rock was a mid to late 1970s musical movement, largely centred around North London and South East Essex, particularly Canvey Island and Southend on Sea. Pub rock was largely a reaction to much of the popular music of the era, which tended to be domina band called Riff RaffAs an epithet, Riff Raff belongs to a category of insults focusing on behavioral characteristics (such as mannerisms, lifestyle) rather than overt racial characteristics (as with nigger, yid). Other specific meanings pertain to music and films. Music Riff and toured London's pubs and clubs. The band also practised in a farm house in the county of NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire (abbreviated Northants is a county in central England with a population of 629,676 ( 2001 census). It has borders with Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire (inc. Peterborough), Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire (inc. Milton K, and released several singles. However these records didn't receive wide exposure and consequently the band failed.
Following the Riff Raff experience, Bragg became disillusioned with his musical career and joined the British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces of the United Kingdom. It numbers 99,400 fully trained and professional regulars (as of April 2004). In contrast to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, the British Army does not include royal in its title, bec. This move turned out very quickly not to be the right one for him, but it would never the less act as an inspiration for his later work. He bought his way out of the army and returned home to his parents and his music.
Bragg turned to tirelessly gigging (and even buskingSydney, Australia Busking is the practice of performing in public places to receive donations of money. The performance is often musical, but juggling, comedy and sometimes magic are also displayed. People Many people perform on the street for a variety o) around London, performing solo with an electric guitar. His demo tape fell initially on deaf ears, but by pretending to be a television repair man he got into the office of Charisma RecordsCharisma Records was started by former journalist Tonny Straton-Smith in 1969. The label was bought in 1984 by Virgin Records. Tonny Straton-Smith died in 1987. See also List of record labels Record labels.' A&R man Peter JennerPeter Jenner is a manager of rock bands and acts, and a record producer. He has also worked as a record label's A&R man. With Andrew King, he was part of Blackhill Enterprises, who managed Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett's solo career, and Marc Bolan. He has also. Jenner liked the tape, but the company was near bankruptcy and he had no budget to sign new artists. Bragg had an offer to record more demos for a music publisher, so Jenner agreed to put them out as a record with Bragg's industrious gigging as the only promotion. Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy came out on Charisma's new "Utility" imprint in July 1983. The album was widely received as a demonstration of a promising new talent. Hearing DJ John Peel mention on-air that he was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani, and was rewarded with airplay that Peel insists he would have had anyway.
Within months Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner, who had been laid off, became Bragg's manager. A copy of Life's A Riot fell into the hands of former Stiff Records press officer Andy Macdonald, who was setting up his own record label, Go! Discs . He made Virgin an offer and the album was re-released on Go! Discs in November.
In 1984 he released Brewing Up with Billy Bragg , a mixture of political statements ("It Says Here") and songs of unrequited love ("The Saturday Boy"). The following year he put out "Between the Wars", an EP of political songs which included a cover version of Leon Rosselson's Diggers anthem "World Turned Upside Down". He later collaborated with Rosselson on the song "Ballad of the Spycatcher". Also in 1985, his song "A New England", with an additional verse, became a top ten hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl. After MacColl's early death, Bragg always sang the extra verse, in her honour.
In 1986 Bragg released his "difficult third album", Talking with the Taxman about Poetry. Its title is taken from a poem by Russian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, which was printed in translation on the inner sleeve. Taxman was well received, and with promotion from the single "Levi Stubbs' Tears", gave Bragg his first top ten album.
In between recording music in the studio, Bragg was building up a regular following of fans at live performances. Here, his sense of humour is shown in its truest form, allowing himself to ridicule those in power. He backed the Miner's Strike of 1984, and then helped to create Red Wedge in 1985 in order to inform voters of the Labour Party's policies, and encourage people to vote against the Conservative Party.
September 1988 saw the release of his fourth album, Workers Playtime , which some claimed to be his finest work to date. This was a drastic move for Bragg, dropping his solo guitar for a backing band and accompaniment, but adding a new dimension and style.In May 1990, Bragg released a strongly- political mini-LP, entitled The Internationale. The songs were, in part, a return to his solo guitar style but other tracks featured more complicated arrangements, including brass bands.
Don't Try This At Home was released in September 1991 and included his best known hit at the time "Sexuality" which was released as a single and made it into the UK charts. Bragg had been persuaded by Go! Discs bosses Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign to a new four-album deal with a million pound advance, and to promote the album with singles and videos. This gamble was not rewarded with extra sales, and put the company in difficulty. In exchange for ending the contract and repaying a large amount of the advance, Bragg regained all rights to his back catalogue. Bragg continued to promote the album with his backing band the Red Stars, which included his Riff-Raff colleague and longtime roadie, Wiggy.
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