Stephen William Bragg is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His activism is centred on social change and left-wing political causes.
Martin Dominic Forbes Carthy MBE is an English folk singer and guitarist who has remained one of the most influential figures in British traditional music, inspiring contemporaries such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and later artists such as Richard Thompson, since he emerged as a young musician in the early days of the folk revival in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.
The Internationale is a 1990 album by Billy Bragg. Originally released on Bragg's short-lived record label, Utility Records, it is a deliberately political album, consisting mainly of cover versions and rewrites of left-wing protest songs. Although Bragg is known for his association with left-wing causes, this release is unusual; most of Bragg's recordings balance overtly political songs with social observation and love songs.
Robb Jenner Johnson is a British musician and songwriter who has been called "one of the last genuinely political songwriters". He is known for his mix of political satire and wit. He has his own record label, Irregular Records, and has released more than 40 albums since 1985, either solo or in several collaborations.
Frankie Armstrong is an English singer and voice teacher. She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work. Her repertoire ranges from traditional ballads to music-hall and contemporary songs, often focusing on the lives of women.
Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of Billy Bragg's first three releases: The albums Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy and Brewing Up with Billy Bragg, and the EP Between the Wars—all of which make their debut in the United States here. This collection did not contain any new material, but did document Billy Bragg's early "one man and his guitar" approach. The songs collected on this release demonstrate major recurrent themes in Bragg's work: highly critical commentary on Thatcherite Britain, laced with poetic love songs. The collection was re-released in November 1993 on the Cooking Vinyl label.
Brewing Up with Billy Bragg is the second album by Billy Bragg, released in 1984.
Roy Bailey, was an English socialist folk singer. Colin Irwin from the music magazine Mojo said Bailey represented "the very soul of folk's working class ideals... a triumphal homage to the grass roots folk scene as a radical alternative to the mainstream music industry."
Volume 1 is a box set by alternative folk singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, released in 2006. The box set includes 7 CDs and 2 DVDs with a booklet containing song lyrics and an introduction by Wiggy, producer of several of Bragg's albums.
"The World Turned Upside Down" is an English ballad. It was first published on a broadside in the middle of the 1640s as a protest against the policies of Parliament relating to the celebration of Christmas.
"The Diggers' Song" is a 17th-century English ballad by Gerrard Winstanley, a protest song about land rights inspired by the Diggers movement. The lyrics were published in 1894 by the Camden Society. It is sung to a version of the family of tunes later used for "Sam Hall", "Captain Kidd", and "Admiral John Benbow", which according to Roy Palmer was first printed in 1714. The English band Chumbawamba recorded a version of this song on their 1988 album English Rebel Songs 1381–1914.
Sandra Kerr is an English folk singer.
Between the Wars is an extended play released by Billy Bragg in 1985. It reached number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
The Political Song Network was a British national network of political singers, songwriters, and musicians founded at a meeting in London in October 1986. Founders included Roy Bailey, Pam Bishop, Ros Kane, Sandra Kerr, Angela McKee, John Pole, Leon Rosselson, Janet Russell, Ivan Sears, Bob Wakeling, and Jim Woodland. It produced a quarterly newsletter and various publications.
Robin Hall was a Scottish folksinger, best known as half of a singing duo with Jimmie Macgregor. Hall was a direct descendant of the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor as well as of the explorer Mungo Park.
Maggie Holland is an English singer and songwriter. She was born and raised in Alton, Hampshire, England, and became involved in the local folk club scene in the late 1960s. She has played in a number of bands and formed a number of collaborations with other artists, but has become well known in recent times as a solo artist and songwriter. She enjoys singing songs with meaningful words and has named her major influences as Bob Dylan, Al Stewart, Dave Evans, Leon Rosselson, Billy Bragg, Bruce Cockburn and Robb Johnson. Several of her own songs have entered the repertoires of notable artists, such as Martin Carthy and June Tabor and, in 2000, Holland received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Best Song of 1999" for her song "A Place Called England". Colin Irwin wrote of her in fRoots magazine: "The proof that outstanding contemporary songs are still being written”. She now lives in Leith, Scotland.
Nancy Kerr is an English folk musician and songwriter, specialising in the fiddle and singing. She is a Principal Lecturer in Folk Music at Newcastle University. She was the 2015 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Folk Singer of the Year".
Grace Petrie is an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Leicester, England. She was hailed in The Guardian as "a powerful new songwriting voice" in 2011.
Handful of Earth is the fifth solo studio album by Scottish folk musician and singer Dick Gaughan, released in 1981 by Topic Records. The album was Gaughan's first after spending several years largely avoiding playing music while regaining his health following a mental breakdown in 1979. Containing an array of traditional and contemporary folk songs performed on guitar with open tunings, Handful of Earth was by far Gaughan's most political album to that point, and was inspired by the political turmoil in Scotland following the Conservative Party victory at the 1979 general election.
"The World Turned Upside Down" is an English ballad.
