Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg had hinted at pop songcraft with songs like "A New England" in the past, but with this 1988 album he put a band behind him and proved he was much more than a man with a guitar. The Byrds-like jangle of "She's Got A New Spell" is surely a pop masterpiece. "Tender Comrade" is so good you don't even realize it's a capella.

Elegantly produced by British folk veteran Joe Boyd and focusing on tales of aborted and
unbridled love, Workers Playtime is the last record anyone would expect Billy Bragg to
make. A rabble-rousing socialist, Bragg established himself with caustic political broadsides
and the Clash-like grind of his electric-guitar accompaniment. Yet as his superb 1986 album
Talking with the Taxman About Poetry amply demonstrated, Bragg can maneuve... More >

He's got a way with a tune and even some money. So maybe it's time to wonder why he has such big problems. Why are women always rejecting him? And why are the people always rejecting him? Not completely, of course--he's a modest success. But in both arenas he falls far short of his putative expectations, and I smell a reason in the barely concealed sob he can't get rid of. From unjust justice all the way to hopeless love, the catch in the throat is kind of seductive--until it starts to stink. This is the voice of a man who expects defeat--not only does he feel born to lose, but he doesn't have what it takes to throw a good wake. So why should the working class follow him to the crossroads? Why should Mary? (Grade - B)