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Billy Bragg

March 08, 2023

Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes.

Billy Bragg
Bragg in 2010
Background information
Birth nameStephen William Bragg
Also known asWilliam Bragg
Born (1957-12-20) 20 December 1957 (age 65)
Barking, Essex, England
GenresFolk punk,[1] folk rock, indie folk, alternative rock, alternative country, Americana, country folk
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, musician, author
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Years active1977–present
LabelsCharisma, Go! Discs, Elektra, Cooking Vinyl, Dine Alone Records
Websitewww.billybragg.co.uk
Billy Bragg's voice
Recorded October 2012 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Mastertapes

Early life

Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, Essex (which is now in Greater London)[2] to Dennis Frederick Austin Bragg, an assistant sales manager to a Barking cap maker and milliner, and his wife Marie Victoria D'Urso, who was of Italian descent.[3] Bragg's father died of lung cancer in 1976,[4] and his mother died in 2011.[5]

Bragg was educated at Northbury Junior School and Park Modern Secondary School (now part of Barking Abbey Secondary School[6]) in Barking. He failed his eleven-plus exam, effectively precluding him from going to university.[7] However he developed an interest in poetry at the age of twelve, when his English teacher chose him to read a poem he had written for a homework assignment on a local radio station.[8] He put his energies into learning and practising the guitar with his next-door neighbour, Philip Wigg (Wiggy); some of their influences were the Faces, Small Faces and the Rolling Stones. He was also exposed to folk and folk-rock music during his teenage years, citing Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan as early influences on his songwriting.[8]

During the rise of punk rock and new wave in the late 1970s, Elvis Costello also served as an inspiration for Bragg.[9] He was also particularly influenced by the Clash, whom he'd seen play live in London in May 1977 on their White Riot Tour, and again at a Rock Against Racism carnival in April 1978, which he admits was the first time he really stepped into the world of music as it is used for political activism.[10] The experience of the gig and preceding march helped shape Bragg's left-wing politics, having previously "turned a blind eye" to casual racism.[10]

Career

Early career

In 1977 Bragg formed the punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff with Wiggy. The band decamped to rural Oundle in Northamptonshire in 1978 to record a series of singles (the first on independent Chiswick Records) which did not receive wide exposure. After a period of gigging in Northamptonshire and London, they returned to Barking and split in 1980.[11] Taking a series of odd jobs including working at Guy Norris' record shop in Barking high street, Bragg became disillusioned with his stalled music career and in May 1981 joined the British Army as a recruit destined for the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars of the Royal Armoured Corps. After completing three months' basic training, he bought himself out for £175 and returned home.[12]

Bragg peroxided his hair to mark a new phase in his life and began performing frequent concerts and busking around London, playing solo with an electric guitar under the name Spy vs Spy (after the strip in Mad magazine).[13]

 
Bragg performing at South by Southwest in 2008

His demo tape initially got no response from the record industry, but by pretending to be a television repair man, he got into the office of Charisma Records' A&R man Peter Jenner.[14] Jenner liked the tape, but the company was near bankruptcy and had no budget to sign new artists. Bragg got an offer to record more demos for music publisher Chappell & Co., so Jenner agreed to release them as a record. Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy (credited to Billy Bragg) was released in July 1983 by Charisma's new imprint, Utility. Hearing DJ John Peel mention on-air that he was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani, so Peel played a song from Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy albeit at the wrong speed (since the 12" LP was, unconventionally, cut to play at 45rpm). Peel insisted he would have played the song even without the biryani and later played it at the correct speed.[14]

Within months Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner, who had been made redundant, became Bragg's manager. Stiff Records' press officer Andy Macdonald – who was setting up his own record label, Go! Discs – received a copy of Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy. He made Virgin an offer and the album was re-released on Go! Discs in November 1983, at the fixed low price of £2.99.[15] Around this time, Andy Kershaw, an early supporter at Radio Aire in Leeds, was employed by Jenner as Bragg's tour manager. (He later became a BBC DJ and TV presenter, and he and Bragg appeared in an episode of the BBC TV programme Great Journeys in 1989, in which they travelled the Silver Road from Potosí, Bolivia, to the Pacific coast at Arica, Chile.)[16]

Though never released as a Bragg single, album track and live favourite "A New England", with an additional verse, became a Top 10 hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl in January 1985. Since MacColl's early death, Bragg always sings the extra verse live in her honour.[17]

In 1984, he released Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, a mixture of political songs (e.g. "It Says Here") and songs of unrequited love (e.g. "The Saturday Boy"). This was followed in 1985 by Between the Wars, an EP of political songs that included a cover version of Leon Rosselson's "The World Turned Upside Down". The EP made the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and earned Bragg an appearance on Top of the Pops, singing the title track. Bragg later collaborated with Rosselson on the song "Ballad of a Spycatcher".[18]

In the same year, he embarked on his first tour of North America, with Wiggy as tour manager, supporting Echo & the Bunnymen.[19] The tour began in Washington D.C. and ended in Los Angeles. On the same trip, in New York, Bragg unveiled his "Portastack",[20] a self-contained, mobile PA system weighing 35 lbs (designed for £500 by engineer Kenny Jones), the wearing of which became an archetypal image of the singer at that time. With it, he was able to busk outside the New Music Seminar, a record industry conference.[21]

Late 1980s and early 1990s

In 1986 Bragg released Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, which became his first Top 10 album. Its title is taken from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and a translated version of the poem was printed on the record's inner sleeve. Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of his first three releases: Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, and Between the Wars. He enjoyed his only Number 1 hit single in May 1988, a cover of the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home", a shared A-side with Wet Wet Wet's "With a Little Help from My Friends". Both were taken from a multi-artist re-recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band titled Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father coordinated by the NME in aid of the charity Childline. Wet Wet Wet's cover dominated radio airplay and its video was shown over three consecutive weeks on Top of the Pops; in week four, Bragg went on the programme to play his cover, with regular accompanist Cara Tivey on piano.[22]

Bragg released his fourth album, Workers Playtime, in September 1988. With this album, Bragg added a full backing band and accompaniment, including Tivey on piano, Danny Thompson on double bass and veteran Micky Waller on drums. Wiggy earned a co-production credit with Joe Boyd.[23]

In August 1989 Bragg took lead vocal on the ‘Levi Stubbs’ Tears’ sampling Norman Cook's UK top 40 hit "Won’t Talk About It", which was a double-A-side with "Blame It On the Bassline". The track was a bigger hit a year later with Lindy Layton replacing Bragg as lead vocal.[citation needed]

In May 1990 Bragg released the political mini-LP The Internationale on his and Jenner's own short-lived label Utility, which operated independently of Go! Discs, to which Bragg was still contracted. The songs were, in part, a return to his solo guitar style, but some featured more complicated arrangements and included a brass band. The album paid tribute to one of Bragg's influences with the song, "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", which is an adapted version of Earl Robinson's song, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night", itself an adaptation of a poem by Alfred Hayes.[24] Though the album only reached Number 34 in the UK Charts, Bragg described it as "a reassertion of my rights as an individual ... and a childish two fingers [to Go! Discs boss Andy Macdonald, who'd recently signed a distribution deal with entertainment industry giant PolyGram]."[25]

 
Performing with The Imagined Village at Camp Bestival, 20 July 2008

His sixth studio album Don't Try This at Home was recorded in the shadow of the build-up to the Gulf War and subsequent ground war, inspiring the track "Rumours of War". Although there is social comment ("The Few", "North Sea Bubble"), it was intended as a more commercial pop album, released in September 1991. (Bragg called it "a very long-range attempt to convert the ball between the posts."[26]). The first single was the upbeat "Sexuality", which, despite an accessible video and a dance remix on the B-side, only reached Number 27 on the UK Singles Chart. Following overtures by rival label Chrysalis, Bragg and Jenner had been persuaded by Go! Discs' Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a four-album deal for a million pound advance; in return he would promote the album with singles and videos.[27] A more commercial sound and aggressive marketing had no appreciable effect on album sales, and after a grueling, 13-month world tour with a full band (the Red Stars, led by Wiggy), and a period of forced convalescence after appendicitis, Bragg left Go! Discs in summer 1992, paying back the remainder of his advance in return for all rights to his back catalogue.[28]

Late 1990s and 2000s

Bragg released the album William Bloke in 1996 after taking time off to help new partner Juliet Wills raise their son Jack. (There is a reference to him in the track "Brickbat": "Now you'll find me with the baby, in the bathroom.")[29] After the ambitious instrumentation of Don't Try This at Home, it was a simpler record, musically, more personal and even spiritual, lyrically (its title a pun on the name of 18th-century English poet William Blake, who is referenced in the song "Upfield").[30]

Around that time, Nora Guthrie (daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie) asked Bragg to set some of her father's unrecorded lyrics to music. The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant (with whom Bragg had worked previously). They released the album Mermaid Avenue in 1998,[31] and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000.[32] The first album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category. A third batch, Mermaid Avenue Vol III, and The Complete Sessions followed in 2012 to mark Woody Guthrie's centennial.[33] A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the first album led to Bragg recruiting his own band, The Blokes, to promote the album live. The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan, who had been a member of Bragg's boyhood heroes The Faces. The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie, Bragg, and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums.[34]

A developing interest in English national identity, driven by the rise of the BNP and his own move from London to rural Dorset in 1999, informed his 2002 album England, Half-English (whose single, "Take Down The Union Jack" put him back on Top of the Pops in the Queen's Golden Jubilee year[35]) and his 2006 book The Progressive Patriot. The book expressed his view that English socialists can reclaim patriotism from the right wing. He draws on Victorian poet Rudyard Kipling for an inclusive sense of Englishness.[36] In 2007 Bragg moved closer to his English folk music roots by joining the WOMAD-inspired collective The Imagined Village, who recorded an album of updated versions of traditional English songs and dances and toured through that autumn.[37]

In December Bragg previewed tracks from his forthcoming album Mr. Love & Justice at a one-off evening of music and conversation to mark his 50th birthday at London's South Bank.[38] The album was released in March 2008, the second Bragg album to be named after a book by Colin MacInnes after England, Half-English.[39][40] The same year, during the NME Awards ceremony, Bragg sang a duet with British solo act Kate Nash. They mixed up two of their greatest hits, Nash playing "Foundations", and Bragg redoing "A New England".[41] Also in 2008, Bragg played a small role in Stuart Bamforth's film A13: Road Movie.[42]

In 2009, Bragg was invited by London's South Bank to write new lyrics for "Ode to Joy", the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (original libretto by Friedrich Schiller), since adopted as an international anthem of unity. The London Philharmonic Orchestra performed it at the Royal Festival Hall in front of the Queen and Bragg met her afterwards to earn "brownie points" with his mother, also in attendance.[43]

2010s

He was involved in the play Pressure Drop at the Wellcome Collection in London in April and May 2010. The production, written by Mick Gorden, and billed as "part play, part gig, part installation", featured new songs by Bragg. He performed during the play with his band, and acted as compere.[44]

Bragg was invited by Michael Eavis to curate the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2010,[45] which he has continued to do in subsequent years.[46] He also took part in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty-Six Books, where he wrote a piece based upon a book of the King James Bible.[47] Bragg performed a set of the Guthrie songs that he had set to music for Mermaid Avenue during the Hay Literary Festival in June 2012,[48] he also performed the same set on the Friday night of the 2012 Cambridge Folk Festival.[49]

On 18 March 2013, five years after Mr. Love & Justice, Bragg released the studio album Tooth & Nail. Recorded in five days at the home studio of musician/producer Joe Henry in South Pasadena it featured 11 original songs, including one written for the Bush Theatre and a Woody Guthrie cover. Stylistically, it continued to explore genres of Americana and Alternative country, a natural progression since Mermaid Avenue.[50][51] The album was a commercial success, becoming his best charting record since 1991's Don't Try This at Home.[52]

 
Bragg with Joe Henry at the Union Chapel, Islington.

In February 2014, Bragg started a series of "radio shows" on Spotify, in which he talked listeners through self-curated playlists of "his favourite tracks and artists, and uncovering some little-known musical gems."[53] On 14 April 2014, Bragg put out Live at the Union Chapel, a souvenir album and DVD of a show he played on 5 June 2013 at the Union Chapel in London, featuring songs from Tooth & Nail as well as favourites from his back catalogue.[54]

In February 2016, Bragg was given the Trailblazer Award at the inaugural Americana Music Association UK Awards in London.[55] Following that, in September he was given the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award at the Americana Music Association US Awards in Nashville.[56]

In August 2016, Bragg released his eleventh album, a collaboration with Joe Henry, Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad, recorded at various points on a journey between Chicago and Los Angeles by train in March. It reached number 28 in the UK Album Charts[57] and number one in the UK Americana album chart.[58] The pair started a dual Shine a Light tour at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville in September 2016, and taking them across the States and Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. In April 2017, they played in Australia.

Faber published Bragg's second nonfiction book (after 2006's The Progressive Patriot), Roots, Radicals and Rockers in June 2016, a history of the British skiffle movement, tracing the form from its 1950s boom back to ragtime, blues, jazz and American folk music. On BBC Music Day 2017, he helped unveil a blue plaque marking the studio (Trident) where the late David Bowie recorded two classic albums and the single Space Oddity, in Soho; he joined album sleeve designer George Underwood and BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms.[59] In November, he released all six tracks from the mini-album Bridges Not Walls as downloads through the Billy Bragg website,[60] followed by the single Full English Brexit through Cooking Vinyl.

In April 2018, Bragg was invited to deliver a Bank of England Flagship Seminar; his presentation was titled Accountability: the Antidote to Authoritarianism. The speech was made available on the Bank of England's website.[61] At the Ivor Novello Awards (the Ivors) in May, he accepted the PRS Outstanding Contribution to British Music award.[62] Also in May, his official biography Still Suitable for Miners was published in a new, 20th anniversary updated edition.[63]

He ended 2018 touring New Zealand and Australia. In Auckland, he road-tested a new live format for 2019 (first tried out in Toronto), One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. The idea was to play three consecutive shows over three nights at each venue: the first night a current, mixed Bragg set; the second from his first three albums; the third from his second three albums. "It’s a way of keeping things interesting," he said.[64] The tour would cover the United States and the UK and Ireland throughout 2019.

In May, Faber and Faber published The Three Dimensions of Freedom, a short polemic by Bragg intended, according to the publisher's blurb, to "protect ourselves from encroaching tyranny." The author urges readers to "look beyond [the] one-dimensional notion of what it means to be free" and "by reconnecting liberty to equality and accountability, restore ... the three dimensions of freedom."[65]

Politics and activism

Bragg talking to the crowd at a rally in Ferguson, Missouri, shortly after the shooting of Michael Brown

For all of Bragg's 30-year-plus recording career he has been involved with grassroots, broadly leftist, political movements, and this is often reflected in his lyrics. He has also recorded and performed cover versions of famous socialist anthems such as "The Internationale" and "The Red Flag". Bragg said in an interview: "I don't mind being labelled a political songwriter. The thing that troubles me is being dismissed as a political songwriter."[66] Bragg has cited the Clash as a strong influence on his politically themed material and activism:

It wasn't so much their lyrics as what they stood for and the actions they took. That became really important to me. Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless, but if he doesn't have the action to go with it he's just exploiting that for a subject. I got that from the Clash, and I try to remain true to that tradition as best I can.[67]

From 1983 to 1997

Bragg's politics were focused by the Conservative Party's 144-seat majority landslide at the 1983 general election. He told his biographer, "By 1983, the scales had fallen from my eyes."[68] His record label boss Andy Macdonald observed that "his presence onstage took on more of the avenging angel."[69] Bragg was at the forefront of music's influence on the 1984 miners' strike, and played many benefit gigs in towns close to coalfields such as Newport and Sunderland.[70] He also released an EP during this year titled "Between the Wars", which connected struggles of class solidarity to the present issue. This single was his most successful up until this point, reaching number 15 on the charts.[71] The following year, after playing a short Labour Party-sponsored Jobs For Youth tour, he joined other like-minded activists in the public eye to form the musicians' alliance Red Wedge, which promoted Labour's cause – and in turn lobbied the party on youth issues – in the run-up to the 1987 general election,[72] with a national tour in 1986 alongside The Style Council, Jerry Dammers and The Communards.

Bragg travelled twice to the Soviet Union in 1986, the year Mikhail Gorbachev started to promote the policies of perestroika and glasnost. He played a gig in Leningrad, and the Festival of Song in the Struggle for Peace in Kyiv.[73]

 
On TV series After Dark in 1987

On 12 June 1987, the night after Labour lost that year's general election, Bragg appeared on a notable edition of the Channel 4 discussion programme After Dark, alongside David Selbourne, Teresa Gorman and Hilary Hook among others. The Independent wrote "A show called Is Britain Working? brought together victorious Tory MP Teresa Gorman; ...Helen from the Stonehenge Convoy; old colonialist Colonel Hilary Hook... and Adrian, one of the jobless. It was a perfect example of the chemistry you can get. There were unlikely alliances (Bragg and Hook)".[74] Later Gorman "stormed off the set, claiming she had been misled about the nature of the programme"[75] "She told...Bragg: 'You and your kind are finished. We are the future now.'"[76] Bragg said "I sing in smokey rooms every night and I can keep talking for far longer than you can Teresa".[77] Bragg explained later: "She was so smug. And because she was Essex I took it personally. Then she accused me of being a fine example of Thatcherism."[78]

Labour in government

In 1999, he was invited to appear before a commission that debated possible reform of the House of Lords,[79] at which he put forward what became known as "the Bragg Method": the arrangement of the Upper House to proportionally reflect the results of a general election. "Trying to make it sexy is impossible," he said.[80]

At the time of the 2001 general election, Bragg promoted tactical voting in an attempt to unseat Conservative Party candidates in his adopted home county Dorset, particularly in South Dorset and West Dorset.[81] The Conservatives did indeed narrowly lose South Dorset to the Labour Party.

 
Supporting a demonstration against police misuse of anti-terrorism legislation; Trafalgar Square, London, 23 January 2010

Bragg has been an opponent of fascism, racism,[10] bigotry, sexism and homophobia, and is a supporter of a multi-racial Britain. As a result, he has conflicted with far-right groups such as the British National Party (BNP). In a 2004 The Guardian article, Bragg was quoted as saying:

The British National Party would probably make it into a parliament elected by proportional representation, too. It would shine a torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate on our democracy, and that would be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street – which I'm also in favour of.[82]

During the 2005 general election campaign in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, Bragg endorsed Oona King, the Labour Party's pro-Iraq War candidate, over George Galloway, the left-wing socialist anti-war candidate from the Respect Party; due to a belief that splitting the left-wing vote would allow the Conservatives to win the seat.[83] Galloway overturned King's 10,000-strong majority to become the Respect Party's only MP.[84]

At the NME Awards in 2007, on the fifth anniversary of Joe Strummer's death, Bragg founded Jail Guitar Doors (taking its name from a song by the Clash), an organisation aimed at supplying instruments to prisons and encouraging prisoners to address problems in a non-confrontational way.[85] An American chapter of the organisation was launched in 2009 by MC5's Wayne Kramer.[86]

In January 2010, Bragg stated his intention to withhold his income tax as a protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland's plan to pay bonuses of approximately £1,500,000,000 to staff in its investment banking business. Bragg set up a Facebook group, made appearances on radio and television news programmes, and made a speech at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park saying, "Millions are already facing stark choices: are they willing to work longer hours for less money, or would they rather be unemployed? I don’t see why the bankers at RBS shouldn’t be asked the same."[87]

From 2010 to 2014

In the 2010 general election, Bragg supported the Liberal Democrats because "they've got the best manifesto".[88]

Bragg was also very active in his hometown of Barking as part of Searchlight magazine's Hope not Hate campaign, where the BNP's leader Nick Griffin was standing for election. At one point during the campaign Bragg squared up to BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook, calling him a "Fascist racist" and saying "when you're gone from this borough, we will rebuild this community". The BNP came third on election day.[89]

In January 2011, news sources reported that 20 to 30 residents of Bragg's Dorset village, Burton Bradstock, had received anonymous letters viciously attacking him and his politics, and urging residents to oppose him in the village. He claimed that a BNP supporter was behind the letters, which argued that Bragg is a hypocrite for advocating socialism while living a wealthy lifestyle, and referred to him as anti-British and pro-immigration.[90]

In July 2011 Bragg joined the growing protests over the News of the World phone hacking affair with the release of his "Never Buy the Sun" single, which references many of the scandal's key points including the Milly Dowler case, police bribes and associated political fallout. It also draws on the 22-year Liverpool boycott of The Sun for their coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.[91]

In October 2011, Bragg joined the Occupy Movement protests in the City of London.[92]

In 2013, despite his scathing criticism of Margaret Thatcher, he urged people not to celebrate the death of the former Conservative Prime Minister:

The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today. Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing... of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society. Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate – organise![93]

In 2014, Bragg joined the March in March anti-government protests[94] in Sydney, Australia.

In June 2014, Bragg joined other musicians (including Radiohead's Ed O'Brien) in backing a call for the EU to intervene in a dispute between YouTube and independent labels. According to a BBC News report, the video-streaming site was offering "non-negotiable contracts" to its planned, Spotify-like music-subscription service to labels such as XL Recordings, 4AD, Cooking Vinyl and Domino "accompanied by the threat that music videos they have posted to their YouTube channels will be blocked from site altogether if they do not agree to the terms."[95]

Bragg supports both Scottish and Welsh independence.[96] In 2014, after David Bowie spoke in favour of Scotland remaining part of the UK, Bragg said, "Bowie's intervention encourages people in England to discuss the issues of the independence referendum, and I think English people should be discussing it, so I welcome his intervention."[97] Bragg was a vocal supporter of Scottish independence during the campaign prior to the referendum on 18 September 2014. Bragg wrote an article for the Guardian publication on 16 September, in which he addressed the objections he had previously received from people who conflated Scottish nationalism with the far-right ethos of the BNP. He described the independence campaign as "civic nationalism" and his opinion piece concluded:

Support for Scottish self-determination might not fit neatly into any leftwing pigeonhole, but it does chime with an older progressive tradition that runs deep in English history – a dogged determination to hold the over-mighty to account. If, during the constitutional settlement that will follow the referendum, we in England can rediscover our Roundhead tradition, we might yet counter our historic weakness for ethnic nationalism with an outpouring of civic engagement that creates a fairer society for all.[98]

2015 to present

Bragg was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party's Caroline Lucas at the 2015 general election.[99] In August 2015, Bragg endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. He said: "His [Corbyn's] success so far shows you how bland our politics have become, in the aim of winning those swing voters in middle England the Labour Party has lost touch with its roots. We live in a time of austerity and what you want from that is not more austerity, you want compassion."[100] On an edition of Question Time in October 2015, he said that Corbyn represents a political "urge for change" and that Ed Miliband had failed to win the 2015 general election because Miliband and the party followed "the old way of doing things".[101] In 2016, Bragg, along with numerous other celebrities, toured the UK to support Corbyn's bid to become Prime Minister.[102][103] He also voiced his support for Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.[104]

In August 2016, The Times reported that at the Edinburgh Book Festival, Bragg had said: "I worry about Jeremy that he's a kind of twentieth century Labour man", and that "we need to be reaching out to people". Described as a "previously loyal supporter", who has "lent his support to Mr Corbyn on numerous occasions since he became Labour leader", The Times quoted Bragg: "I don't have a simple answer. My hope is that the party does not split and that we resolve this stalemate". Corbyn at the time was campaigning in an enforced second leadership election in the summer of 2016.[105]

After The Times article appeared, the singer tweeted that he had "joined the long list of people stitched up by the Murdoch papers"[106] and accused the Times of "twisting my words to attack Corbyn", urging "don’t let Murdoch sow discord".[107] The Guardian reproduced a quote from a recording of the event absent from The Times article: "It's a challenge. Labour has fires to fight on different fronts. This would be happening even without Corbyn if any of the other candidates had won last year, these problems would still be there".[106] In August 2016, Bragg also endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election.[108]

During the general election campaign in May 2017, Bragg added his signature to a letter published in The Guardian calling for Labour to withdraw its candidates in two constituencies; Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight and potentially allowing the Green Party to defeat the Tories in both, where Labour were running second. The letter was also signed by Labour MP Clive Lewis, former policy chief Jon Cruddas, former shadow children's minister Tulip Siddiq and journalists Paul Mason and Owen Jones. The initiative was shut down by Jeremy Corbyn.[109]

In June 2019, Bragg publicly criticised fellow singer-songwriter Morrissey for his recent political comments and endorsement of a far-right political party, and accused him of dragging the legacy of Johnny Marr and the Smiths "through the dirt".[110]

In November 2019, Bragg endorsed the Labour Party in the 2019 general election.[111]

Personal life

Bragg supports West Ham United FC.[112]

Bibliography

  • Bragg, Billy (2006). The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0-593-05343-0.
  • — (5 March 2009). "How we all lost when Thatcher won". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  • — (2015). A Lover Sings: Selected Lyrics. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571328598.
  • — (2017). Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-32774-4.
  • — (2019). The Three Dimensions of Freedom. London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-35321-7.

Discography

Main article: Billy Bragg discography

References

  1. ^ "Billy Bragg's 'Mao-ist Sing-Along' at SXSW". NPR. 14 March 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  2. ^ Ross, Deborah (11 November 2002). "Billy Bragg: Rebel with a cause". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  3. ^ Barratt, Nick (9 December 2011). . Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  4. ^ . Mirror. 9 December 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  5. ^ Harris, John (26 March 2013). "Billy Bragg: Barking's Woody Guthrie on 30 years of songs and activism". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  6. ^ Collins 2018, p. 15.
  7. ^ Collins 2018, p. 16.
  8. ^ a b Bragg, Billy (4 November 2015). "Billy Bragg: 'I got this crazy idea I was a poet'". theguardian.com. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Patriot games". Record Collector. No. 345. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Bragg, Billy. "British Rocker Billy Bragg Talks About Music and Unions". WorkingUSA. Retrieved 17 October 2013.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 67–69.
  12. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 69–79.
  13. ^ Collins 2018, p. 84.
  14. ^ a b "Keeping It Peel". Radio 1. BBC. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  15. ^ Collins 2018, p. 114.
  16. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 209–211.
  17. ^ "Kirsty MacColl memorial page". Gone Too Soon. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Ballad of a Spycatcher". Mainly Norfolk. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  19. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 138–142.
  20. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 139–140.
  21. ^ Collins 2018, p. 139.
  22. ^ Collins 2018, pp. 197–198.
  23. ^ Collins 2018, p. 195.
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Sources

  • Collins, Andrew (2018). Still Suitable for Miners: Billy Bragg (5th ed.). London: Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0-7535-5271-1.
  • Jackiewicz, Edward; Craine, James (2012). "Scales of Resistance: Billy Bragg and the Creation of Activist Spaces". In Johansson, Ola; Bell, Thomas L. (eds.). Sound, Society and the Geography of Popular Music. Farnham, England: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-7577-8.
  • Kenny, Michael (2014). The Politics of English Nationhood. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-960861-4.
  • Tranmer, Jeremy (2001). "'Wearing Badges Isn't Enough in Days Like These': Billy Bragg and His Opposition to the Thatcher Governments" (PDF). Cercles: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone. Rouen, France: University of Rouen. 3: 125–142. ISSN 1292-8968. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  • — (2012). "Charity, Politics and Publicity: Musicians and the Strike". In Popple, Simon; Macdonald, Ian W. (eds.). Digging the Seam: Popular Cultures of the 1984/5 Miners' Strike. Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 76–86. ISBN 978-1-4438-4081-1.

Further reading

  • McLeod, Douglas M. (2013). "Billy Bragg: Mixing Pop and Politics". In Pedelty, Mark; Weglarz, Kristine (eds.). Political Rock. Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4094-4622-4.

External links

  •   Media related to Billy Bragg at Wikimedia Commons
  •   Quotations related to Billy Bragg at Wikiquote
  • Official website
  • Billy Bragg at IMDb
  • Billy Bragg collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

March 08, 2023
billy, bragg, stephen, william, bragg, born, december, 1957, english, singer, songwriter, left, wing, activist, music, blends, elements, folk, music, punk, rock, protest, songs, with, lyrics, that, mostly, span, political, romantic, themes, music, heavily, cen. Stephen William Bragg born 20 December 1957 is an English singer songwriter and left wing activist His music blends elements of folk music punk rock and protest songs with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes His music is heavily centred on bringing about change and involving the younger generation in activist causes Billy BraggBragg in 2010Background informationBirth nameStephen William BraggAlso known asWilliam BraggBorn 1957 12 20 20 December 1957 age 65 Barking Essex EnglandGenresFolk punk 1 folk rock indie folk alternative rock alternative country Americana country folkOccupation s Singer songwriter musician authorInstrument s Vocals guitar bass guitarYears active1977 presentLabelsCharisma Go Discs Elektra Cooking Vinyl Dine Alone RecordsWebsitewww wbr billybragg wbr co wbr ukBilly Bragg s voice source source source Recorded October 2012 from the BBC Radio 4 programme Mastertapes Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Early career 2 2 Late 1980s and early 1990s 2 3 Late 1990s and 2000s 2 4 2010s 3 Politics and activism 3 1 From 1983 to 1997 3 2 Labour in government 3 3 From 2010 to 2014 3 4 2015 to present 4 Personal life 5 Bibliography 6 Discography 7 References 7 1 Sources 8 Further reading 9 External linksEarly life EditBragg was born in 1957 in Barking Essex which is now in Greater London 2 to Dennis Frederick Austin Bragg an assistant sales manager to a Barking cap maker and milliner and his wife Marie Victoria D Urso who was of Italian descent 3 Bragg s father died of lung cancer in 1976 4 and his mother died in 2011 5 Bragg was educated at Northbury Junior School and Park Modern Secondary School now part of Barking Abbey Secondary School 6 in Barking He failed his eleven plus exam effectively precluding him from going to university 7 However he developed an interest in poetry at the age of twelve when his English teacher chose him to read a poem he had written for a homework assignment on a local radio station 8 He put his energies into learning and practising the guitar with his next door neighbour Philip Wigg Wiggy some of their influences were the Faces Small Faces and the Rolling Stones He was also exposed to folk and folk rock music during his teenage years citing Simon amp Garfunkel and Bob Dylan as early influences on his songwriting 8 During the rise of punk rock and new wave in the late 1970s Elvis Costello also served as an inspiration for Bragg 9 He was also particularly influenced by the Clash whom he d seen play live in London in May 1977 on their White Riot Tour and again at a Rock Against Racism carnival in April 1978 which he admits was the first time he really stepped into the world of music as it is used for political activism 10 The experience of the gig and preceding march helped shape Bragg s left wing politics having previously turned a blind eye to casual racism 10 Career EditEarly career Edit In 1977 Bragg formed the punk rock pub rock band Riff Raff with Wiggy The band decamped to rural Oundle in Northamptonshire in 1978 to record a series of singles the first on independent Chiswick Records which did not receive wide exposure After a period of gigging in Northamptonshire and London they returned to Barking and split in 1980 11 Taking a series of odd jobs including working at Guy Norris record shop in Barking high street Bragg became disillusioned with his stalled music career and in May 1981 joined the British Army as a recruit destined for the Queen s Royal Irish Hussars of the Royal Armoured Corps After completing three months basic training he bought himself out for 175 and returned home 12 Bragg peroxided his hair to mark a new phase in his life and began performing frequent concerts and busking around London playing solo with an electric guitar under the name Spy vs Spy after the strip in Mad magazine 13 Bragg performing at South by Southwest in 2008 His demo tape initially got no response from the record industry but by pretending to be a television repair man he got into the office of Charisma Records A amp R man Peter Jenner 14 Jenner liked the tape but the company was near bankruptcy and had no budget to sign new artists Bragg got an offer to record more demos for music publisher Chappell amp Co so Jenner agreed to release them as a record Life s a Riot with Spy vs Spy credited to Billy Bragg was released in July 1983 by Charisma s new imprint Utility Hearing DJ John Peel mention on air that he was hungry Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani so Peel played a song from Life s a Riot with Spy vs Spy albeit at the wrong speed since the 12 LP was unconventionally cut to play at 45rpm Peel insisted he would have played the song even without the biryani and later played it at the correct speed 14 Within months Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner who had been made redundant became Bragg s manager Stiff Records press officer Andy Macdonald who was setting up his own record label Go Discs received a copy of Life s a Riot with Spy vs Spy He made Virgin an offer and the album was re released on Go Discs in November 1983 at the fixed low price of 2 99 15 Around this time Andy Kershaw an early supporter at Radio Aire in Leeds was employed by Jenner as Bragg s tour manager He later became a BBC DJ and TV presenter and he and Bragg appeared in an episode of the BBC TV programme Great Journeys in 1989 in which they travelled the Silver Road from Potosi Bolivia to the Pacific coast at Arica Chile 16 Though never released as a Bragg single album track and live favourite A New England with an additional verse became a Top 10 hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl in January 1985 Since MacColl s early death Bragg always sings the extra verse live in her honour 17 In 1984 he released Brewing Up with Billy Bragg a mixture of political songs e g It Says Here and songs of unrequited love e g The Saturday Boy This was followed in 1985 by Between the Wars an EP of political songs that included a cover version of Leon Rosselson s The World Turned Upside Down The EP made the Top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and earned Bragg an appearance on Top of the Pops singing the title track Bragg later collaborated with Rosselson on the song Ballad of a Spycatcher 18 In the same year he embarked on his first tour of North America with Wiggy as tour manager supporting Echo amp the Bunnymen 19 The tour began in Washington D C and ended in Los Angeles On the same trip in New York Bragg unveiled his Portastack 20 a self contained mobile PA system weighing 35 lbs designed for 500 by engineer Kenny Jones the wearing of which became an archetypal image of the singer at that time With it he was able to busk outside the New Music Seminar a record industry conference 21 Late 1980s and early 1990s Edit In 1986 Bragg released Talking with the Taxman About Poetry which became his first Top 10 album Its title is taken from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and a translated version of the poem was printed on the record s inner sleeve Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of his first three releases Life s a Riot with Spy vs Spy Brewing Up with Billy Bragg and Between the Wars He enjoyed his only Number 1 hit single in May 1988 a cover of the Beatles She s Leaving Home a shared A side with Wet Wet Wet s With a Little Help from My Friends Both were taken from a multi artist re recording of Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band titled Sgt Pepper Knew My Father coordinated by the NME in aid of the charity Childline Wet Wet Wet s cover dominated radio airplay and its video was shown over three consecutive weeks on Top of the Pops in week four Bragg went on the programme to play his cover with regular accompanist Cara Tivey on piano 22 Bragg released his fourth album Workers Playtime in September 1988 With this album Bragg added a full backing band and accompaniment including Tivey on piano Danny Thompson on double bass and veteran Micky Waller on drums Wiggy earned a co production credit with Joe Boyd 23 In August 1989 Bragg took lead vocal on the Levi Stubbs Tears sampling Norman Cook s UK top 40 hit Won t Talk About It which was a double A side with Blame It On the Bassline The track was a bigger hit a year later with Lindy Layton replacing Bragg as lead vocal citation needed In May 1990 Bragg released the political mini LP The Internationale on his and Jenner s own short lived label Utility which operated independently of Go Discs to which Bragg was still contracted The songs were in part a return to his solo guitar style but some featured more complicated arrangements and included a brass band The album paid tribute to one of Bragg s influences with the song I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night which is an adapted version of Earl Robinson s song I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night itself an adaptation of a poem by Alfred Hayes 24 Though the album only reached Number 34 in the UK Charts Bragg described it as a reassertion of my rights as an individual and a childish two fingers to Go Discs boss Andy Macdonald who d recently signed a distribution deal with entertainment industry giant PolyGram 25 Performing with The Imagined Village at Camp Bestival 20 July 2008 His sixth studio album Don t Try This at Home was recorded in the shadow of the build up to the Gulf War and subsequent ground war inspiring the track Rumours of War Although there is social comment The Few North Sea Bubble it was intended as a more commercial pop album released in September 1991 Bragg called it a very long range attempt to convert the ball between the posts 26 The first single was the upbeat Sexuality which despite an accessible video and a dance remix on the B side only reached Number 27 on the UK Singles Chart Following overtures by rival label Chrysalis Bragg and Jenner had been persuaded by Go Discs Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a four album deal for a million pound advance in return he would promote the album with singles and videos 27 A more commercial sound and aggressive marketing had no appreciable effect on album sales and after a grueling 13 month world tour with a full band the Red Stars led by Wiggy and a period of forced convalescence after appendicitis Bragg left Go Discs in summer 1992 paying back the remainder of his advance in return for all rights to his back catalogue 28 Late 1990s and 2000s Edit Bragg released the album William Bloke in 1996 after taking time off to help new partner Juliet Wills raise their son Jack There is a reference to him in the track Brickbat Now you ll find me with the baby in the bathroom 29 After the ambitious instrumentation of Don t Try This at Home it was a simpler record musically more personal and even spiritual lyrically its title a pun on the name of 18th century English poet William Blake who is referenced in the song Upfield 30 Around that time Nora Guthrie daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie asked Bragg to set some of her father s unrecorded lyrics to music The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant with whom Bragg had worked previously They released the album Mermaid Avenue in 1998 31 and Mermaid Avenue Vol II in 2000 32 The first album was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category A third batch Mermaid Avenue Vol III and The Complete Sessions followed in 2012 to mark Woody Guthrie s centennial 33 A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the first album led to Bragg recruiting his own band The Blokes to promote the album live The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan who had been a member of Bragg s boyhood heroes The Faces The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie Bragg and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums 34 A developing interest in English national identity driven by the rise of the BNP and his own move from London to rural Dorset in 1999 informed his 2002 album England Half English whose single Take Down The Union Jack put him back on Top of the Pops in the Queen s Golden Jubilee year 35 and his 2006 book The Progressive Patriot The book expressed his view that English socialists can reclaim patriotism from the right wing He draws on Victorian poet Rudyard Kipling for an inclusive sense of Englishness 36 In 2007 Bragg moved closer to his English folk music roots by joining the WOMAD inspired collective The Imagined Village who recorded an album of updated versions of traditional English songs and dances and toured through that autumn 37 In December Bragg previewed tracks from his forthcoming album Mr Love amp Justice at a one off evening of music and conversation to mark his 50th birthday at London s South Bank 38 The album was released in March 2008 the second Bragg album to be named after a book by Colin MacInnes after England Half English 39 40 The same year during the NME Awards ceremony Bragg sang a duet with British solo act Kate Nash They mixed up two of their greatest hits Nash playing Foundations and Bragg redoing A New England 41 Also in 2008 Bragg played a small role in Stuart Bamforth s film A13 Road Movie 42 In 2009 Bragg was invited by London s South Bank to write new lyrics for Ode to Joy the final movement of Beethoven s Ninth Symphony original libretto by Friedrich Schiller since adopted as an international anthem of unity The London Philharmonic Orchestra performed it at the Royal Festival Hall in front of the Queen and Bragg met her afterwards to earn brownie points with his mother also in attendance 43 2010s Edit He was involved in the play Pressure Drop at the Wellcome Collection in London in April and May 2010 The production written by Mick Gorden and billed as part play part gig part installation featured new songs by Bragg He performed during the play with his band and acted as compere 44 Bragg was invited by Michael Eavis to curate the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival in 2010 45 which he has continued to do in subsequent years 46 He also took part in the Bush Theatre s 2011 project Sixty Six Books where he wrote a piece based upon a book of the King James Bible 47 Bragg performed a set of the Guthrie songs that he had set to music for Mermaid Avenue during the Hay Literary Festival in June 2012 48 he also performed the same set on the Friday night of the 2012 Cambridge Folk Festival 49 On 18 March 2013 five years after Mr Love amp Justice Bragg released the studio album Tooth amp Nail Recorded in five days at the home studio of musician producer Joe Henry in South Pasadena it featured 11 original songs including one written for the Bush Theatre and a Woody Guthrie cover Stylistically it continued to explore genres of Americana and Alternative country a natural progression since Mermaid Avenue 50 51 The album was a commercial success becoming his best charting record since 1991 s Don t Try This at Home 52 Bragg with Joe Henry at the Union Chapel Islington In February 2014 Bragg started a series of radio shows on Spotify in which he talked listeners through self curated playlists of his favourite tracks and artists and uncovering some little known musical gems 53 On 14 April 2014 Bragg put out Live at the Union Chapel a souvenir album and DVD of a show he played on 5 June 2013 at the Union Chapel in London featuring songs from Tooth amp Nail as well as favourites from his back catalogue 54 In February 2016 Bragg was given the Trailblazer Award at the inaugural Americana Music Association UK Awards in London 55 Following that in September he was given the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award at the Americana Music Association US Awards in Nashville 56 In August 2016 Bragg released his eleventh album a collaboration with Joe Henry Shine a Light Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad recorded at various points on a journey between Chicago and Los Angeles by train in March It reached number 28 in the UK Album Charts 57 and number one in the UK Americana album chart 58 The pair started a dual Shine a Light tour at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville in September 2016 and taking them across the States and Canada the United Kingdom and Ireland In April 2017 they played in Australia Faber published Bragg s second nonfiction book after 2006 s The Progressive Patriot Roots Radicals and Rockers in June 2016 a history of the British skiffle movement tracing the form from its 1950s boom back to ragtime blues jazz and American folk music On BBC Music Day 2017 he helped unveil a blue plaque marking the studio Trident where the late David Bowie recorded two classic albums and the single Space Oddity in Soho he joined album sleeve designer George Underwood and BBC Radio London s Robert Elms 59 In November he released all six tracks from the mini album Bridges Not Walls as downloads through the Billy Bragg website 60 followed by the single Full English Brexit through Cooking Vinyl In April 2018 Bragg was invited to deliver a Bank of England Flagship Seminar his presentation was titled Accountability the Antidote to Authoritarianism The speech was made available on the Bank of England s website 61 At the Ivor Novello Awards the Ivors in May he accepted the PRS Outstanding Contribution to British Music award 62 Also in May his official biography Still Suitable for Miners was published in a new 20th anniversary updated edition 63 He ended 2018 touring New Zealand and Australia In Auckland he road tested a new live format for 2019 first tried out in Toronto One Step Forward Two Steps Back The idea was to play three consecutive shows over three nights at each venue the first night a current mixed Bragg set the second from his first three albums the third from his second three albums It s a way of keeping things interesting he said 64 The tour would cover the United States and the UK and Ireland throughout 2019 In May Faber and Faber published The Three Dimensions of Freedom a short polemic by Bragg intended according to the publisher s blurb to protect ourselves from encroaching tyranny The author urges readers to look beyond the one dimensional notion of what it means to be free and by reconnecting liberty to equality and accountability restore the three dimensions of freedom 65 Politics and activism Edit source source source source source source source source source source source source source Bragg talking to the crowd at a rally in Ferguson Missouri shortly after the shooting of Michael BrownFor all of Bragg s 30 year plus recording career he has been involved with grassroots broadly leftist political movements and this is often reflected in his lyrics He has also recorded and performed cover versions of famous socialist anthems such as The Internationale and The Red Flag Bragg said in an interview I don t mind being labelled a political songwriter The thing that troubles me is being dismissed as a political songwriter 66 Bragg has cited the Clash as a strong influence on his politically themed material and activism It wasn t so much their lyrics as what they stood for and the actions they took That became really important to me Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless but if he doesn t have the action to go with it he s just exploiting that for a subject I got that from the Clash and I try to remain true to that tradition as best I can 67 From 1983 to 1997 Edit Bragg s politics were focused by the Conservative Party s 144 seat majority landslide at the 1983 general election He told his biographer By 1983 the scales had fallen from my eyes 68 His record label boss Andy Macdonald observed that his presence onstage took on more of the avenging angel 69 Bragg was at the forefront of music s influence on the 1984 miners strike and played many benefit gigs in towns close to coalfields such as Newport and Sunderland 70 He also released an EP during this year titled Between the Wars which connected struggles of class solidarity to the present issue This single was his most successful up until this point reaching number 15 on the charts 71 The following year after playing a short Labour Party sponsored Jobs For Youth tour he joined other like minded activists in the public eye to form the musicians alliance Red Wedge which promoted Labour s cause and in turn lobbied the party on youth issues in the run up to the 1987 general election 72 with a national tour in 1986 alongside The Style Council Jerry Dammers and The Communards Bragg travelled twice to the Soviet Union in 1986 the year Mikhail Gorbachev started to promote the policies of perestroika and glasnost He played a gig in Leningrad and the Festival of Song in the Struggle for Peace in Kyiv 73 On TV series After Dark in 1987 On 12 June 1987 the night after Labour lost that year s general election Bragg appeared on a notable edition of the Channel 4 discussion programme After Dark alongside David Selbourne Teresa Gorman and Hilary Hook among others The Independent wrote A show called Is Britain Working brought together victorious Tory MP Teresa Gorman Helen from the Stonehenge Convoy old colonialist Colonel Hilary Hook and Adrian one of the jobless It was a perfect example of the chemistry you can get There were unlikely alliances Bragg and Hook 74 Later Gorman stormed off the set claiming she had been misled about the nature of the programme 75 She told Bragg You and your kind are finished We are the future now 76 Bragg said I sing in smokey rooms every night and I can keep talking for far longer than you can Teresa 77 Bragg explained later She was so smug And because she was Essex I took it personally Then she accused me of being a fine example of Thatcherism 78 Labour in government Edit In 1999 he was invited to appear before a commission that debated possible reform of the House of Lords 79 at which he put forward what became known as the Bragg Method the arrangement of the Upper House to proportionally reflect the results of a general election Trying to make it sexy is impossible he said 80 At the time of the 2001 general election Bragg promoted tactical voting in an attempt to unseat Conservative Party candidates in his adopted home county Dorset particularly in South Dorset and West Dorset 81 The Conservatives did indeed narrowly lose South Dorset to the Labour Party Supporting a demonstration against police misuse of anti terrorism legislation Trafalgar Square London 23 January 2010Bragg has been an opponent of fascism racism 10 bigotry sexism and homophobia and is a supporter of a multi racial Britain As a result he has conflicted with far right groups such as the British National Party BNP In a 2004 The Guardian article Bragg was quoted as saying The British National Party would probably make it into a parliament elected by proportional representation too It would shine a torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate on our democracy and that would be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street which I m also in favour of 82 During the 2005 general election campaign in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency Bragg endorsed Oona King the Labour Party s pro Iraq War candidate over George Galloway the left wing socialist anti war candidate from the Respect Party due to a belief that splitting the left wing vote would allow the Conservatives to win the seat 83 Galloway overturned King s 10 000 strong majority to become the Respect Party s only MP 84 At the NME Awards in 2007 on the fifth anniversary of Joe Strummer s death Bragg founded Jail Guitar Doors taking its name from a song by the Clash an organisation aimed at supplying instruments to prisons and encouraging prisoners to address problems in a non confrontational way 85 An American chapter of the organisation was launched in 2009 by MC5 s Wayne Kramer 86 In January 2010 Bragg stated his intention to withhold his income tax as a protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland s plan to pay bonuses of approximately 1 500 000 000 to staff in its investment banking business Bragg set up a Facebook group made appearances on radio and television news programmes and made a speech at Speakers Corner in London s Hyde Park saying Millions are already facing stark choices are they willing to work longer hours for less money or would they rather be unemployed I don t see why the bankers at RBS shouldn t be asked the same 87 From 2010 to 2014 Edit In the 2010 general election Bragg supported the Liberal Democrats because they ve got the best manifesto 88 Bragg was also very active in his hometown of Barking as part of Searchlight magazine s Hope not Hate campaign where the BNP s leader Nick Griffin was standing for election At one point during the campaign Bragg squared up to BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook calling him a Fascist racist and saying when you re gone from this borough we will rebuild this community The BNP came third on election day 89 In January 2011 news sources reported that 20 to 30 residents of Bragg s Dorset village Burton Bradstock had received anonymous letters viciously attacking him and his politics and urging residents to oppose him in the village He claimed that a BNP supporter was behind the letters which argued that Bragg is a hypocrite for advocating socialism while living a wealthy lifestyle and referred to him as anti British and pro immigration 90 In July 2011 Bragg joined the growing protests over the News of the World phone hacking affair with the release of his Never Buy the Sun single which references many of the scandal s key points including the Milly Dowler case police bribes and associated political fallout It also draws on the 22 year Liverpool boycott of The Sun for their coverage of the Hillsborough disaster 91 In October 2011 Bragg joined the Occupy Movement protests in the City of London 92 In 2013 despite his scathing criticism of Margaret Thatcher he urged people not to celebrate the death of the former Conservative Prime Minister The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this The only real antidote to cynicism is activism Don t celebrate organise 93 In 2014 Bragg joined the March in March anti government protests 94 in Sydney Australia In June 2014 Bragg joined other musicians including Radiohead s Ed O Brien in backing a call for the EU to intervene in a dispute between YouTube and independent labels According to a BBC News report the video streaming site was offering non negotiable contracts to its planned Spotify like music subscription service to labels such as XL Recordings 4AD Cooking Vinyl and Domino accompanied by the threat that music videos they have posted to their YouTube channels will be blocked from site altogether if they do not agree to the terms 95 Bragg supports both Scottish and Welsh independence 96 In 2014 after David Bowie spoke in favour of Scotland remaining part of the UK Bragg said Bowie s intervention encourages people in England to discuss the issues of the independence referendum and I think English people should be discussing it so I welcome his intervention 97 Bragg was a vocal supporter of Scottish independence during the campaign prior to the referendum on 18 September 2014 Bragg wrote an article for the Guardian publication on 16 September in which he addressed the objections he had previously received from people who conflated Scottish nationalism with the far right ethos of the BNP He described the independence campaign as civic nationalism and his opinion piece concluded Support for Scottish self determination might not fit neatly into any leftwing pigeonhole but it does chime with an older progressive tradition that runs deep in English history a dogged determination to hold the over mighty to account If during the constitutional settlement that will follow the referendum we in England can rediscover our Roundhead tradition we might yet counter our historic weakness for ethnic nationalism with an outpouring of civic engagement that creates a fairer society for all 98 2015 to present Edit Bragg was one of several celebrities who endorsed the parliamentary candidacy of the Green Party s Caroline Lucas at the 2015 general election 99 In August 2015 Bragg endorsed Jeremy Corbyn s campaign in the Labour Party leadership election He said His Corbyn s success so far shows you how bland our politics have become in the aim of winning those swing voters in middle England the Labour Party has lost touch with its roots We live in a time of austerity and what you want from that is not more austerity you want compassion 100 On an edition of Question Time in October 2015 he said that Corbyn represents a political urge for change and that Ed Miliband had failed to win the 2015 general election because Miliband and the party followed the old way of doing things 101 In 2016 Bragg along with numerous other celebrities toured the UK to support Corbyn s bid to become Prime Minister 102 103 He also voiced his support for Remain in the 2016 EU referendum 104 In August 2016 The Times reported that at the Edinburgh Book Festival Bragg had said I worry about Jeremy that he s a kind of twentieth century Labour man and that we need to be reaching out to people Described as a previously loyal supporter who has lent his support to Mr Corbyn on numerous occasions since he became Labour leader The Times quoted Bragg I don t have a simple answer My hope is that the party does not split and that we resolve this stalemate Corbyn at the time was campaigning in an enforced second leadership election in the summer of 2016 105 After The Times article appeared the singer tweeted that he had joined the long list of people stitched up by the Murdoch papers 106 and accused the Times of twisting my words to attack Corbyn urging don t let Murdoch sow discord 107 The Guardian reproduced a quote from a recording of the event absent from The Times article It s a challenge Labour has fires to fight on different fronts This would be happening even without Corbyn if any of the other candidates had won last year these problems would still be there 106 In August 2016 Bragg also endorsed Jeremy Corbyn s campaign in the Labour Party leadership election 108 During the general election campaign in May 2017 Bragg added his signature to a letter published in The Guardian calling for Labour to withdraw its candidates in two constituencies Brighton Pavilion and the Isle of Wight and potentially allowing the Green Party to defeat the Tories in both where Labour were running second The letter was also signed by Labour MP Clive Lewis former policy chief Jon Cruddas former shadow children s minister Tulip Siddiq and journalists Paul Mason and Owen Jones The initiative was shut down by Jeremy Corbyn 109 In June 2019 Bragg publicly criticised fellow singer songwriter Morrissey for his recent political comments and endorsement of a far right political party and accused him of dragging the legacy of Johnny Marr and the Smiths through the dirt 110 In November 2019 Bragg endorsed the Labour Party in the 2019 general election 111 Personal life EditBragg supports West Ham United FC 112 Bibliography EditBragg Billy 2006 The Progressive Patriot A Search for Belonging London Bantam Press ISBN 978 0 593 05343 0 5 March 2009 How we all lost when Thatcher won The Guardian London Retrieved 6 February 2016 2015 A Lover Sings Selected Lyrics Faber amp Faber ISBN 978 0571328598 2017 Roots Radicals and Rockers How Skiffle Changed the World London Faber amp Faber ISBN 978 0 571 32774 4 2019 The Three Dimensions of Freedom London Faber amp Faber ISBN 978 0 571 35321 7 Discography EditMain article Billy Bragg discography Life s a Riot with Spy vs Spy 1983 Brewing Up with Billy Bragg 1984 Talking with the Taxman About Poetry 1986 Workers Playtime 1988 The Internationale 1990 Don t Try This at Home 1991 William Bloke 1996 England Half English 2002 with the Blokes Mr Love amp Justice 2008 Tooth amp Nail 2013 Bridges Not Walls 2017 The Million Things That Never Happened 2021 References Edit Billy Bragg s Mao ist Sing Along at SXSW NPR 14 March 2008 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Ross Deborah 11 November 2002 Billy Bragg Rebel with a cause The Independent London Retrieved 9 January 2010 Barratt Nick 9 December 2011 Family Detective Billy Bragg Telegraph London Archived from the original on 6 May 2008 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Tony Parsons and Billy Bragg tell of the devastation of losing parents to lung cancer Mirror 9 December 2011 Archived from the original on 14 July 2014 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Harris John 26 March 2013 Billy Bragg Barking s Woody Guthrie on 30 years of songs and activism The Guardian London Retrieved 3 June 2013 Collins 2018 p 15 Collins 2018 p 16 a b Bragg Billy 4 November 2015 Billy Bragg I got this crazy idea I was a poet theguardian com Retrieved 6 November 2015 Patriot games Record Collector No 345 4 February 2008 Retrieved 21 August 2021 a b c Bragg Billy British Rocker Billy Bragg Talks About Music and Unions WorkingUSA Retrieved 17 October 2013 permanent dead link Collins 2018 pp 67 69 Collins 2018 pp 69 79 Collins 2018 p 84 a b Keeping It Peel Radio 1 BBC Retrieved 28 January 2010 Collins 2018 p 114 Collins 2018 pp 209 211 Kirsty MacColl memorial page Gone Too Soon Retrieved 18 November 2014 Ballad of a Spycatcher Mainly Norfolk Retrieved 18 November 2014 Collins 2018 pp 138 142 Collins 2018 pp 139 140 Collins 2018 p 139 Collins 2018 pp 197 198 Collins 2018 p 195 Joe Hill Retrieved 17 October 2013 Collins 2018 pp 207 209 Collins 2018 p 225 Collins 2018 p 221 Collins 2018 p 232 Brickbat Archived from the original on 29 November 2014 Retrieved 6 June 2014 Collins 2018 pp 248 250 Mermaid Avenue Nonesuch catalogue Retrieved 10 June 2014 Mermaid Avenue Vol II Nonesuch catalogue Retrieved 10 June 2014 Mermaid Avenue The Complete Sessions Bragg s Emporium Archived from the original on 21 June 2014 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Billy Bragg and Wilco Man in the Sand 1999 Movies amp TV Dept The New York Times 2008 Archived from the original on 21 June 2008 Retrieved 5 October 2013 Bragg s 20 years on campaign trail BBC Entertainment 7 October 2003 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Rhyme and Reason BBC Radio 4 25 January 2011 The Imagined Village Official Website Retrieved 18 November 2014 A big boy now Never Knowingly Underwhelmed 10 December 2007 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Colin MacInnes Fantastic Fiction 18 November 2014 England Half English Faber 18 November 2014 Kate Nash And Billy Bragg A New England Foundations NME YouTube Archived from the original on 13 November 2021 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Dekko Productions Retrieved 10 June 2014 Mitchell Greg 3 May 2012 Billy Bragg s New Odes to Woody Guthrie and Beethoven The Huffington Post Retrieved 9 September 2014 Pressure Drop Wellcome collection April May 2010 Archived from the original on 7 March 2012 Retrieved 11 May 2010 Glastonbury Festival announces return of Leftfield with Billy Bragg press release UK archived from the original on 28 September 2011 retrieved 23 July 2011 Leftfield 2013 retrieved 10 June 2014 Paddock Terri 9 June 2011 Bush Inaugurates Library Home with 66 Books WhatsOnStage com Retrieved 15 July 2015 Gigs Hay Literary Festival Archived from the original on 29 November 2014 Retrieved 18 November 2014 Cambridge Folk Festival 2012 Archived from the original on 13 May 2013 Retrieved 18 November 2014 Tooth amp Nail Allmusic com 5 June 2013 Billy Bragg The Sherpa of Heartbreak PBS 5 June 2013 Billy Bragg Official UK Chart Positions Official UK Chart Company 18 November 2014 Ingham Tom 10 February 2014 Billy Bragg and Spotify launch radio shows MusicWeek com Billy Bragg to release Live at the Union Chapel Music News 3 April 2014 Billy Bragg to be Honoured Feb 3 in London Americana Music Association 17 December 2015 Americana Music Association Announces Lifetime Achievement Honorees Americana Music Association 30 August 2016 Shine a Light Field Recordings official UK Chart position Official UK Charts 6 October 2016 Shine a Light Field Recordings official UK Americana Album Chart debut Official UK Charts 30 September 2016 BBC Music Day Blue Plaque unveiled in honour of David Bowie Music Week 15 June 2017 Billy Bragg New album Bridges Not Walls released November 3rd With Guitars 9 October 2017 One Bank Flagship Seminar Billy Bragg Bank of England 24 April 2018 The 63rd Ivor Novello Awards were presented on Thursday 31st May at the Grosvenor House Park Lane London The Ivors 31 May 2018 Archived from the original on 17 July 2018 Retrieved 11 August 2018 Billy Bragg by Andrew Collins Penguin Virgin Books 24 May 2018 Billy Bragg gigs Musicglue 2019 The Three Dimensions of Freedom billybragg com 2 May 2019 Gazette The 16 June 2008 Interview Billy Bragg Canada com Archived from the original on 21 March 2014 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Brunner Rob 30 June 2000 Bragg ing Rites Entertainment Weekly Retrieved 9 February 2014 Collins 2018 p 144 Collins 2018 p 145 Collins 2018 p 146 Tranmer 2012 pp 79 84 Tranmer 2001 Collins 2018 pp 181 183 The Independent 19 February 1988 Maggie Brown A Licence To Be Different BFI 2007 Alwyn W Turner Rejoice Rejoice Britain in the 1980s Aurum 2010 An Introduction to the Nature and Functions of Language Jackson and Stockwell Continuum 2010 Daniel Rachel Walls Come Tumbling Down Picador 2016 Ensuring the will of the people BBC News 22 July 1999 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Collins 2018 p 272 Ward Lucy 19 April 2001 Billy Bragg drives in voting wedge The Guardian Retrieved 6 October 2013 Jonathan Freedland End of the peer show The Guardian London 18 February 2004 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Rockin the vote Billy Bragg for Blair Red Pepper Red Pepper March 2005 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Galloway s East End street fight BBC News 6 May 2005 Retrieved 28 January 2010 Jail Guitar Doors Retrieved 23 January 2011 Jail Guitar Doors Our History Archived from the original on 22 March 2010 Retrieved 18 November 2014 Asthana Anushka BraggRBS The Times UK Retrieved 1 February 2010 General Election 2010 Billy Bragg pledges to support Liberal Democrats The Daily Telegraph London 22 April 2010 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Bragg Vs Barnbrook in Barking amp Dagenham Searchlight 19 April 2010 Archived from the original on 13 November 2021 Retrieved 23 February 2011 Morris Steven 6 January 2011 Billy Bragg s neighbours urged to drive him out of village The Guardian UK Retrieved 6 January 2011 Never buy The Sun Archived from the original on 14 July 2011 Retrieved 13 July 2011 Perry Kevin E G 25 October 2011 Protest And Occupation Billy Bragg Interviewed On The Future Of The Left The Quietus Retrieved 6 October 2013 Bragg Billy 8 April 2013 From Billy Bragg Calgary AB Canada on the death of Margaret Thatcher Facebook Archived from the original on 26 February 2022 cited in Annemette Kirkegaard Helmi Jarviluoma Jan Sverre Knudsen Jonas Otterbeck eds 23 June 2017 Researching Music Censorship p 23 ISBN 9781443878678 Maley Jacqueline 16 March 2014 March in March Tony Abbott Gina Rinehart cop blasts in Sydney protest The Sydney Morning Herald Billy Bragg and other indie musicians blast YouTube rates BBC News 4 June 2014 Billy Bragg backs Scottish independence The Scotsman 10 February 2014 Retrieved 10 June 2014 Oldest Brit winner David Bowie enters independence debate BBC News 20 February 2014 Retrieved 21 February 2014 Billy Bragg 16 September 2014 Exclusive Scottish nationalism and British nationalism aren t the same The Guardian Retrieved 18 September 2014 Elgot Jessica 24 April 2015 Celebrities sign statement of support for Caroline Lucas but not the Greens The Guardian London Retrieved 23 July 2015 Hartley Eve 27 July 2015 Jeremy Corbyn Billy Bragg Supports The Labour Leadership Contender And Condemns Tony Blair The Huffington Post Retrieved 15 July 2017 Bennett Owen 30 October 2015 BBC Question Time Billy Bragg Hopes Labour MPs Critical of Jeremy Corbyn Are Squirming In Their Seats The Huffington Post Retrieved 16 August 2016 JC4PM jc4pmtour 28 July 2015 Archived from the original on 1 July 2017 Retrieved 15 July 2017 Wilkinson Michael 1 February 2016 Celebrities to tour Britain in Jeremy Corbyn For Prime Minister musical show The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 15 July 2017 The celebrities that support Brexit and the ones backing Remain The Independent Retrieved 27 November 2018 Sanderson David 16 August 2016 Corbyn is stuck in the last century says Bragg The Times London Retrieved 16 August 2016 subscription required a b Jackson Jasper 16 August 2016 Billy Bragg the Times twisted my words by claiming I don t back Jeremy Corbyn The Guardian Retrieved 16 August 2016 Oppenheim Maya 16 August 2016 Billy Bragg accuses The Times of twisting his words and insists he is still backing Jeremy Corbyn The Independent Retrieved 16 August 2016 Jackson Jasper 16 August 2016 Billy Bragg the Times twisted my words by claimingIdon t back Jeremy Corbyn The Guardian Retrieved 15 July 2017 Bloom Dan 1 May 2017 Jeremy Corbyn shuts down Labour MPs call to pull out of election seats to help the Green Party Daily Mirror London Retrieved 25 May 2017 O Connor Roisin Billy Bragg says he s heartbroken for fans of The Smiths after latest Morrissey outburst The Independent Retrieved 18 July 2019 Dawson Brit 25 November 2019 Jeremy Corbyn Lily Allen and M I A launch Labour s Arts for All policy Dazed Retrieved 27 November 2019 Billy Bragg I love my country and I don t want it to make an absolute fool of itself the Guardian 8 April 2019 Retrieved 29 November 2022 Sources Edit Collins Andrew 2018 Still Suitable for Miners Billy Bragg 5th ed London Virgin Books ISBN 978 0 7535 5271 1 Jackiewicz Edward Craine James 2012 Scales of Resistance Billy Bragg and the Creation of Activist Spaces In Johansson Ola Bell Thomas L eds Sound Society and the Geography of Popular Music Farnham England Ashgate ISBN 978 0 7546 7577 8 Kenny Michael 2014 The Politics of English Nationhood Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 960861 4 Tranmer Jeremy 2001 Wearing Badges Isn t Enough in Days Like These Billy Bragg and His Opposition to the Thatcher Governments PDF Cercles Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone Rouen France University of Rouen 3 125 142 ISSN 1292 8968 Retrieved 6 February 2016 2012 Charity Politics and Publicity Musicians and the Strike In Popple Simon Macdonald Ian W eds Digging the Seam Popular Cultures of the 1984 5 Miners Strike Newcastle upon Tyne England Cambridge Scholars Publishing pp 76 86 ISBN 978 1 4438 4081 1 Further reading EditMcLeod Douglas M 2013 Billy Bragg Mixing Pop and Politics In Pedelty Mark Weglarz Kristine eds Political Rock Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series Burlington Vermont Ashgate Publishing ISBN 978 1 4094 4622 4 External links Edit Media related to Billy Bragg at Wikimedia Commons Quotations related to Billy Bragg at Wikiquote Official website Billy Bragg at IMDb Billy Bragg collection at the Internet Archive s live music archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Billy Bragg amp oldid 1142255582, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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