Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. She's Got A New Spell
2. Must I Paint You A Picture
3. Tender Comrade
4. Price I Pay
5. Little Time Bomb
6. Rotting On Remand
7. Valentine's Day Is Over
8. Life With The Lions
9. Only One
10. Short Answer
11. Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards

Disc 2:

1. Only One
2. Price I Pay
3. Love Has No Pride
4. That's Entertainment
5. She's Got A New Spell
6. Short Answer
7. Little Time Bomb (1)
8. Bad Penny
9. Reason To Believe
10. Must I Paint You A Picture (1)
11. Ragland Road

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55993 in Music
• Released on: 2006-10-09
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .17 pounds

CD Description
WORKERS PLAYTIME finds Billy Bragg continuing his proud tradition of mixing earnest tales of failed romance with unapologetically leftist political rants, a melange addressed rather humbly on the powerful, anthemic closer, "Waiting For TheGreat Leap Forwards". The album features notable accompaniment from frequent collaborators Cara Tivey on piano and the ever-present Wiggy on all matter of stringed instruments. Itshowed a new level of maturity and craftsmanship for Bragg,both as a songwriter and a performer.
Opening with the bright, jumpy "She's Got A New Spell", WORKERS PLAYTIME displays Bragg's romantic side at its height. His lyrical wit is also at an apex, from the wordplay of "The Short Answer" to the soulful drama of the timeless-sounding "Valentine's Day Is Over". Political numbers are few, but potent--"Rotting OnRemand" has a Tin Pan Alley feel and decries the desperate state of Britain's penal system, while Bragg is stripped to his sparest yet on the a cappella "Tender Comrade".

Customer Reviews

Mixing pop and politics? This is what the use is!
11 songs, only 3 about politics and a whopping great 8 about love. It isn't hard to guess what was going on in Billy's life around the time of this album. He even names the culprit in 'The Short Answer' - "Between Marx and marzipan in the dictionary, there was Mary."

Billy articulates the whole range of feelings we experience when involved in a passionate love affair, from initial infatuation ('She's Got A New Spell') to ardent declarations ('Must I Paint You A Picture?') and on through wounded defiance ('The Price I Pay') and sad resignation ('Valentine's Day Is Over'). After all the anguish, though, he still can't help but state that you're 'The Only One.'

The political songs seem almost incidental by comparison but very fine they are too. 'Tender Comrade', a moving song about 2 male soldiers falling in love, is sung a capella by Bragg. 'Rotting On Remand' is a plea for more humane treatment of prisoners. And 'The Great Leap Forwards', an unusually structured song that gathers in pace and volume, is acutely aware of the dilemmas of the singer-songwriter with its self-deprecating line, "Mixing pop and politics, he asks me what the use is/ I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses."

Another 'leap forwards' for the bard of Barking.

Billy's Great Leap Forwards.
On Billy Bragg's previous album `Talking to the Taxman about Poetry' he had moved away from the sparse percussive guitar of his early `Urban' folk music using the occasional acoustic and also guest musicians playing piano, bass and even percussion, here things move on again with majority of the songs now being garnished with accompaniment up to and including drums. It was a staggering move towards `Pop' music and with the subject matter made for an absolute classic LP.

Although never one to enjoy other people's misfortunes it has to be said that Bragg's then relationship coming to an end was one of the best things to ever happen to my record collection. The majority of the songs here are amongst the better songs to cover the ending of the affair like a less pretentious `Blood on the Tracks'. All the songs of this cycle are as perfect as their titles would suggest: `She's got a New Spell', `Must I Paint You a Picture', `The Price I Pay', `Little Time Bomb', `Life with the Lions' ant `The Only One' all give us part of the story and the magnificent `The Short Answer' tells us the whole story in glorious monochrome.

`Valentine's Day is Over' works as a wonderful part of the song cycle with its emotive tale of Domestic violence. `Tender Comrade' is a vocal only refrain which is probably the only song collected here I don't like. `Rotting on Remand' is a rousing dirge which I think suffers from being the one time Bragg's politics are confused, an innocent man requiring rehabilitating.

The greatest song is the closing piece `Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards' which is an accurate self parody proving that although it is easy to take the mick out of a `Pop and Politics' merchant no-body sends up Billy Bragg like Billy Bragg. The arrangement is also priceless building from a single guitar to full combo sound, drums, backing singers et al.

The Demo's collected on the Bonus disk add very little to the original album and although I was bursting with excitement to hear Billy Bragg performing The Jam's `That's Entertainment' it did end up being a bit of a disappointment.