Pillows & Prayers

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Pillows & Prayers
Pillows & Prayers cover.jpeg
Compilation album by
Various
ReleasedDecember 1982
Recordedvarious
Genre Acoustic
Experimental
Post-punk
Rock
Length47:35
Label Cherry Red
Various chronology
Pillows & Prayers
(1982)
Pillows & Prayers 2
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
The Guardian (favorable) [2]

Pillows & Prayers (subtitled Cherry Red 1982-1983) is a compilation album released at Christmas 1982, featuring artists on the Cherry Red record label. The record was originally sold at 99 pence (in fact, "pay no more than 99p" was printed on the original sleeve), which helped ensure that the album peaked and remained at number 1 on the UK Indie Chart for five weeks and sold over 120,000 copies. [3]

Contents

In 2007 the album was repackaged as a 3-CD plus DVD box set featuring complementary tracks from the same period and an extended essay by Alex Ogg. This revised edition won the 2008 MOJO Award for Catalogue Release of the Year, [4] with three of the key artists, Martyn Bates (Eyeless in Gaza), Lawrence (Felt) and Bid (The Monochrome Set) appearing on stage to collect the award, alongside Cherry Red founder Iain McNay. [5]

Tracks

Side A
No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."Portrait"Graham Cassie, David Harper, David Knight, Ashley Wales, Daniel Whittock Five or Six 2:52
2."Eine Symphonie des Grauens"Bid The Monochrome Set 2:19
3."All About You" Thomas Leer Thomas Leer3:50
4."Plain Sailing" Tracey Thorn Tracey Thorn2:01
5."Some Things Don't Matter" Ben Watt Ben Watt4:25
6."Love in Your Heart" Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne2:55
7."Modi 2 (Extract)" Piero Milesi Piero Milesi 1:02
8."Compulsion" Joe Crow Joe Crow4:23
Side B
No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
9."Lazy Ways"Jane Fox Marine Girls 2:42
10."My Face Is on Fire" Lawrence Felt 3:04
11."No Noise"Peter Becker, Martyn Bates Eyeless in Gaza 2:49
12."XOYO"Dick Witts The Passage 3:26
13."On My Mind"Thorn Everything but the Girl 3:08
14."A Bang and a Wimpey" John Baine Attila the Stockbroker 1:41
15."I Unseen"Tony Hill The Misunderstood 1:58
16."Don't Blink" Robert Lloyd, Paul Apperley, Steve Hawkins, Andy Lloyd The Nightingales 4:00
17."Stop the Music for a Minute" Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp1:00

Pillows and Prayers 2

In 1984 a sequel, Pillows and Prayers 2, was released in Japan. This time, there was no special price. In 2000 the album was reissued on CD (CDMRED 169) together with volume 1.

Tracks

  1. Marine Girls - "A Place in the Sun" (2:29)
  2. Jane - "It's a Fine Day" (2:45)
  3. Kevin Hewick - "Feathering the Nest" (3:51)
  4. Fantastic Something - "If She Doesn't Smile" (3:14)
  5. Eyeless in Gaza - "New Risen" (2:47)
  6. The Monochrome Set - "Jet Set Junta" (2:04)
  7. Morgan Fisher - "Un Homme et une Femme" - (2:45)
  8. Felt - "The World Is As Soft As Lace" (4:15)
  9. Maurice Deebank - "The Watery Song" (4:54)
  10. In Embrace - "Shouting in Cafes" (3:33)
  11. Grab Grab the Haddock - "I'm Used Now" (3:17)
  12. Ben Watt & Robert Wyatt - "Walter and John" (4:05)
  13. Five or Six - "Another Reason" (3:04)
  14. Red Box - "Chenko" (3:40)

"Un Homme et Une Femme" is the theme from the film of the same name, composed by Francis Lai and with lyrics by Pierre Barouh. "It's A Fine Day" was later a hit single when covered by Opus III several years later, and Red Box went on to chart success after signing to WEA.

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence (musician)</span> English singer, songwriter and guitarist

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Five or Six were an English post-punk band, originally signed to Cherry Red Records by A&R head Mike Alway, who deemed them to be the act with the most potential from the scene he had helped create around the Snoopies club in south-west London. In addition to the singles they released with Cherry Red, they recorded two albums, A Thriving and Happy Land and Cántame esa canción que dice, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, neither of which was released in the UK. The line-up was fluid. One of their songs was included on the compilation album Pillows & Prayers.

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Lazy Ways is the second album of the British indie pop group, Marine Girls. The album was released by Cherry Red Records in 1983. The song "Lazy Ways" appears on the Cherry Red showcase compilation Pillows & Prayers, while "A Place in the Sun" appears on Pillows and Prayers 2. The albums Lazy Ways and Beach Party were reissued together on one CD with bonus tracks by Cherry Red Records in 1988.

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References

  1. Monger, James Christopher. "Review: Various Artists — Pillows & Prayers, Vols. 1 & 2: Cherry Red 1982-1984". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  2. Denselow, Robin (December 16, 1982). "Cherry Pips". The Guardian . p. 10.
  3. Simpson, Dave (14 June 2011). "A Compilation Album Proves There's a Mass Market for Indie Esoterica". The Guardian . Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. Rogers, Georgie (June 16, 2008). "MOJO Award Winners". BBC Radio 6 Music . BBC . Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  5. Mojo (June 19, 2008). MOJO Honours List 2008 — Cherry Red Acceptance Speech. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved September 27, 2018 via YouTube.