Pillows & Prayers (Cherry Red Records 1982-1983) Pillows & Prayers (Cherry Red Records 1982-1983) CD

Three CDs. Digitally remastered and expanded 40th Anniversary edition. Originally conceived as a label sampler by A&R man Mike Alway, Pillows And Prayers quickly became both an iconic compilation and a must-have artefact of early 80s Thatcherite Britain. Famously retailing at "No more than 99p", the album provided an accessible gateway to both the Cherry Red label and the independent scene. Over 100,000 people took up the offer, found a pound and became a part of something that resonated perfectly with it's own time and place. Four decades later, to celebrate it's 40th Anniversary, this extensive companion to that original release features the Japan-only 1984 Pillows & Prayers Volume II, selected singles and album tracks, live recordings, demos sourced from the artists' own archives and the best of the Peel sessions recorded by Cherry Red artists at that time, this time capsule package both celebrates and revels in the eclectic, inclusive and downright unpredictable attitude of the label. From the hesitant lo-fi of Marine Girls, through the ranting verse of Attila The Stockbroker and the ethereal pop of Felt to The Passage's state-of-the-art synth pop and the brutalist avant-noise of Eyeless In Gaza, Pillows And Prayers remains a fascinatingly eclectic brew, and something of a membership card to that world, standing alongside the NME's C86 cassette as an 80s indie time capsule which remains relevant and in demand today. Presented here in a deluxe hardbacked book format, and including no fewer than 17 previously unheard recordings, this edition of Pillows And Prayers arrives complete with insight from the men who made it happen - Iain McNay and Mike Alway - the artists and The Times' Will Hodgkinson. All of which makes for a must have review to a time and place when the aftershocks of punk were still being felt, "indie" wasn't yet a genre and a pound could buy you entrance to a whole new way of thinking.

1. Five Or Six: Portrait 2. The Monochrome Set: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens 3. Thomas Leer: All About You 4. Tracey Thorn: Plain Sailing 5. Ben Watt: Some Things Don't Matter 6. Kevin Coyne: Love In Your Heart 7. Piero Milesi: Modi 2 (Extract) 8. Joe Crow: Compulsion 9. Marine Girls: Lazy Ways 10. Felt: My Face Is On Fire 11. Eyeless In Gaza: No Noise 12. The Passage: Xoyo 13. Everything But The Girl: On My Mind 14. Attila The Stockbroker: A Bang And A Wimpy 15. The Misunderstood: I Unseen 16. The Nightingales: Don't Blink 17. Quentin Crisp: Stop The Music For A Minute 18. Five Or Six: Another Reason 19. Dead Kennedys: Too Drunk To Fuck 20. Medium Medium: Hungry So Angry 21. Soul: Tribes 22. Alan Burnham: Music To Save The World By 23 Thomas Leer: Letter From America 23. Second Layer: Fixation 24. Kevin Harrison: All Night Long 25. A Tent: No Way Of Knowing 26. Marine Girls: A Place In The Sun 27. Jane: It's A Fine Day 28. Kevin Hewick: Feathering The Nest 29. Fantastic Something: If She Doesn't Smile (ItÆll Rain) 30. Eyeless In Gaza: New Risen 31. The Monochrome Set: The Jet Set Junta 32. Morgan Fisher: Un Homme Et Une Femme 33. Felt: Penelope Tree 34. Maurice Deebank: The Watery Song 35. Grab Grab The Haddock: I'm Used Now 36. Swallow Tongue: Animation 37. The Nightingales: Paraffin Brain 38. The Reflections: 4 Countries 39. The Passage: Sharp Tongue 40. Red Box: Chenko 41. Creation Rebel: Love I Can Feel 42. Bodhi Beat Poets: Wake Up Unemployed 43. Martyn Bates: Cut Like Sunset 44. Jane And Barton: I Want To Be With You 45. Swallow Tongue: Hitch Up Honey 46. Patrick Macnee And Honor Blackman: Kinky Boots 47. The John Barry Seven And Orchestra: The Lolly Theme 48. No Artist: The Compassion And Humanity Of Margaret Thatcher (Extracts From...) 49. Thomas Leer: On The Wire 50. Five Or Six: Black Balloons Drop 51. Jane: Don't Say It 52. The Monochrome Set: I'll Scry Instead (Demo) 53. The Monochrome Set: Ten Don'ts For Honeymooners (Live In Oslo) 54. The Monochrome Set: Cast A Long Shadow (Live In Oslo) 55. The Passage: Man Of War 56. The Passage: Love Is As Is 57. The Passage: Empty Words 58. The Passage: Horseplay 59. Attila The Stockbroker: Death In Bromley 60. Attila The Stockbroker: A Bang And A Wimpy 61. Attila The Stockbroker: The Night I Slept With Seething Wells 62. Kevin Coyne: Tell The Truth 63. Kevin Coyne: Liberation 64. Kevin Coyne: You WonÆt Like It 65. Kevin Coyne: I Talk To Myself 66. The Nightingales: Joking Apart 67. The Nightingales: It Lives Again! 68. The Nightingales: Ok Corale / The Crunch 69. Attila The Stockbroker: England Are Back / Holiday In Albania 70. Attila The Stockbroker: Sawdust And Empire