November
2002
Billy Bragg and the Blokes |
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| Billy
Bragg |
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Pop
stars are very rarely articulate or witty.
Billy Bragg, on the other hand, manges to be both and he's playing
two gigs in Derbyshire this week! |
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Whatever
adjectives you may wish to apply to Billy Bragg, lazy isn't one of
them.
In an
action-packed 20 year career, the singer-songwriter has toured
the globe several times, recorded a number of top ten albums, written
tracks for Kirsty MacColl and Paul Young and collaborated with REM
and Johnny Marr.
If that wasn't enough, Billy has also made numerous appearances on
BBC Two's 'Never Mind the Buzzcocks', formed a political coalition
of musicians (Red Wedge) and established himself as an engaging columnist
for several broadsheet newspapers.
So how Mr Bragg has found time for a huge UK tour which takes in two
dates in Derbyshire is anyone's guess!
 Click
here to listen to Billy Bragg talk to BBC Radio Derby's Dave
Harvey.
| Discography |
| Between
the Wars EP |
Feb
1985 |
| Days
Like These |
Dec
1985 |
| Levi
Stubbs' Tears |
June
1986 |
| Greetings
to the New Brunette |
Nov
1986 |
| She's
Leaving Home |
May
1988 |
| Waiting
for the Great Leap Forwards |
Aug
1988 |
| She's
Got a New Spell |
Nov
1988 |
| Sexuality |
June
1991 |
| You
Woke Up My Neighbourhood |
Aug
1991 |
| Accident
Waiting To Happen |
Feb
1992 |
| The
Boy Done Good |
May
1997 |
| Way
Over Yonder in the Minor Key |
May
1998 |
| She
Came Along To Me |
July
1998 |
| England
Half English |
Feb
2002 |
| Take
Down the Union Jack |
May
2002 |
He plays
Derby Assembly Rooms on Tuesday, 19th November and then Buxton Opera
House on Sunday 24th.
Billy says he's pleased with the amount of people who still want to
watch him play.
He said: "It's not just people coming because of their affiliations
with me in the eighties, a lot of people come to the gigs who want
a bit more content over style."
The 44-year-old became known in the mid-eighties for his politically-charged
but ultimately sweet-sounding tracks which eschewed bland pop statements
for forthright comment on issues of the day.
Along with Morrissey, Bragg was probably the music industry's most-well
known Maggie Thatcher opponent and NME dubbed him 'Britain's finest
rock poet'.
That social conscience still remains today and Billy plans to offer
his thoughts on the ongoing fire strikes at his two Derbyshire concerts.
He explains: "I'll be pointing out from the stage tonight that
I pay my gardener more than £6 an hour and she doesn't have
to go into a burning building and cut anyone from a car wreckage.
"I think we need to start valuing our public service workers,
not just the firemen but the nurses, teachers, policemen - all the
people at the sharp edge. We just need to redress the balance."
Almost inevitably, Billy has some forthright views on the prospect
of a US-led attack on Iraq.
He says: "I'll be very critical of the Bush administration but
not of our American cousins because they didn't vote for George W.
Bush, they got stuck with him just as we all have.
"What we all want is to ensure that what happened on September
11th never happens again, we want to make the world a safer place.
"Ask yourself, does going into Iraq make the world safer or does
it make a situation where no American will be safe outside of North
America? It really is a no-brainer."
Click
here to listen to Billy Bragg talk to BBC Radio Derby's Dave
Harvey.
Billy
is joined on the tour by his full time backing band The Blokes, who
feature organist Ian McLagan who has played with The Small Faces,
Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.
So if you like tuneful, well-crafted music that makes you think about
the world, you could do a lot worse than catch up with one of Billy's
two concerts this week. |
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| Contact
Us |
BBC Derby
PO Box 104.5
Derby
DE1 3HL
(+44) 01332 361111
derby@bbc.co.uk |
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