Cherry Red 'Pillows & Prayers' Box Set

[Frau_Blucher]

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/cherryred/ar ... rryred.php

This could be an epic little piece of music to have...if I'm not overstating it. An album that spend 19 weeks of 1982 at #1 in the UK. Nice note from The Gaurdian in the UK:

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Eclecticism For Under a Quid

Iain Aitch
Friday November 2, 2007
The Guardian

In these days of media overload, MySpace and market fragmentation, a compilation of oddly eclectic new material by a record label would be lucky to get a passing mention in the music press, never mind become a touchstone of pop culture. But Cherry Red records managed this feat in 1982 by the simple yet very effective ploy of putting its 17-track Pillows and Prayers compilation out at the same price as a chart single - 99p - which was cost price.

At one-quarter of the average price of an album at the time, Pillows and Prayers rapidly became a must-have for students, and any teenager who possessed a charity shop raincoat and a passing acquaintance with crimping irons. It sold 120,000 copies in the year of its release and topped the independent chart for four months.
The price drew people in, but it is remembered because it offered something for everyone who had ever caught a John Peel show, offering a seemingly scattergun approach rather than the regimented image that other independent labels fostered at the time.

"What we had going for us was diversity," says Mike Alway, who was Cherry Red's A&R man at the time. "Labels like 4AD and Factory were very stylised but narrow. Not in a way that made them weak, it made them strong, but they had a very set aesthetic."

Alway had scored some minor hits for his bands, but he wanted larger exposure for acts such as Ben Watt and Felt, as well as reminding the public of the wonders of the already established Monochrome Set, who had been signed by Cherry Red after an unhappy time on Virgin. Pillows and Prayers was also to showcase the various talents of Tracey Thorn, who appeared solo, as half of Everything But the Girl and as part of the delightfully laid back Marine Girls.

"Most samplers did tend to offer less than they promised, but this sampler didn't," says Alway. "These were superior cuts. They were the best things by all the people on it, who were in top form. I remember compiling it all and how easy it was to compile. So many people have said to me, 'Oh that is a great piece of programming.' But in truth, it was probably the least work I had to do on any record. The tracks almost dictated the order to me."

This order put Quentin Crisp's wondrous Stop the Music for a Minute, a sly prediction of the end of humanity, firmly last, though it also allowed for unlikely inclusions such as ranting poet Attila the Stockbroker (whose track includes perhaps the most manic audience laughing in recording history) and a track from cult songwriter Kevin Coyne. Then there is avant-garde composer Piero Milesi, and forgotten post-punk act the Passage, sounding like a precursor to the Pet Shop Boys.

"Someone with a bit of imagination could see how Quentin Crisp linked in with the Misunderstood, which linked in with Attila and with Tracey Thorn and the Monochrome Set," says Cherry Red founder Iain McNay of the album's appeal and influence. "It took a bit more imagination to see how it all fitted in. We were the label that dared to be a bit different and didn't worry so much about our image. I liked that we were a bit unpredictable. There was certainly no guarantee you would like the next release on the label as happened with other labels."

It should be an almighty mess as a compilation, but there is a kind of magic that could only exist at that precise moment in 1982 that ties the whole album together. A rerelease this month sees the album issued as a box set with DVD, but it is those original 17 tracks that still hold your attention most. The only down side is that it costs a little more than the original 99p price tag.
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[yipyipcoyote]

Interesting. This is basically a repackaging of P&P, P&P Vol.2, the 'Our Brilliant Careers' rarities compilation from 2003 and the P&P DVD from the same year.

I see they have removed the duplicate tracks from the rarities disc and tacked on 3 more tracks at the end, including the B-side from Red Box 'Chenko'.

The primary concern for us is whether they have fixed the mastering issues on the previous CD's, especially on the rarities comp which suffered from all sorts of problems from muffled sound to wandering tape speeds [xx(]

IMO it's worth the 25 quid or so if it's all been nicely remastered..

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by yipyipcoyote[/i]
<br>IMO it's worth the 25 quid or so if it's all been nicely remastered..
[/quote]
Or even if you just like hearing the songs. [:D]

[Otters Walk Among Us]

I might get this. [:D]

<a href="http://www.live365.com/stations/atomic_otter" target="_blank">otter pop radio:</a> catchy and fun, not awful and gross
<a href="http://www.myspace.com/otterpopradio" target="_blank">otter pop radio on myspace</a>