Stupidity | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | September 1976 | |||
Recorded | May 23, 1975 & November 8, 1975 | |||
Venue | Sheffield City Hall Southend Kursaal | |||
Genre | Rock, pub rock | |||
Length | 47:01 | |||
Label | United Artists - UAS 29990 | |||
Producer | Dr. Feelgood [1] | |||
Dr. Feelgood chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Select | 4/5 [3] |
Stupidity is a live album by English rock band Dr. Feelgood. It was released in September 1976 and is the band's third overall album. Their mushrooming popularity was confirmed when Stupidity (1976) topped the UK Albums Chart. [4]
The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart in October 1976 (for one week) and remained on the chart for nine weeks. It was the first live album to top the UK chart in its first week of release. [1] It was Dr. Feelgood's first and, to date, only recording to reach number one, and appeared over eight months before their first single entered the corresponding UK Singles Chart – "Sneakin' Suspicion" (June 1977). [5]
Along with Rock Follies in 1976, it reached the top spot in the UK without the benefit of a hit single. [6] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 267 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [7]
All tracks composed by Wilko Johnson; except where indicated
The original vinyl album had the first seven tracks on Side 1, recorded in Sheffield, and the next six tracks on Side 2, recorded in Southend. A free single, only issued with the first 20,000 copies, included the final two tracks recorded in Aylesbury. [8] The 1998 Grand Records re-release (GRANDCD 21) states that tracks 8-15 were all recorded at Southend, but this was finally corrected with the box-set release of All Through The City (2012), where it emerged that "Johnny B. Goode" had indeed been recorded at Friars in Aylesbury.
An extended CD version of the album was released in 1991 (CDP795934-2) entitled Stupidity + and sub-titled Dr. Feelgood - Live - 1976-1990. The additional nine live tracks were all recorded post-1977 in the period after Johnson had left the band.
Chart | Year | Peak position |
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UK Albums Chart [9] | 1976 | 1 |
Dr. Feelgood are an English pub rock band formed in 1971. Hailing from Canvey Island, Essex, they are best known for early singles such as "She Does It Right", "Roxette", "Back in the Night" and "Milk and Alcohol". Their original and distinctively British R&B sound was centred on Wilko Johnson's choppy guitar style. Along with Johnson, the initial band line-up included singer Lee Brilleaux and the rhythm section of John B. Sparks, known as "Sparko", on bass guitar and John Martin, known as "The Big Figure", on drums. Although their most commercially productive years were the mid to late-1970s, and in spite of Brilleaux's death in 1994 of lymphoma, a version of the band continue to tour and record.
Pub rock is a subgenre of rock music that emerged in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes at the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was played live in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub bands sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.
John Andrew Wilkinson, better known by the stage name Wilko Johnson, was an English guitarist, singer, songwriter and occasional actor. He was a member of the pub rock/rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood in the 1970s. Johnson was known for his distinctive guitar playing style which he achieved by not using a plectrum but playing fingerstyle. This enabled him to play rhythm guitar and riffs or solos at the same time creating a highly percussive guitar sound.
Michael Robert Green was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with The Pirates, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers.
Down by the Jetty is the debut album by English rock band Dr. Feelgood, released in January 1975.
Gypie Mayo was an English guitarist and songwriter, playing in Dr. Feelgood from 1977 to 1981, and from 1996 to 2004 in the reborn Yardbirds with Alan Glen.
Sneakin' Suspicion is the fourth album by the English band Dr. Feelgood, released in 1977. During recording of Sneakin' Suspicion, the band nearly disbanded following the departure of guitarist, songwriter and focal point, Wilko Johnson. The album reached number 10 in the UK Albums Chart in June 1977, and remained in that chart for six weeks. It also spawned their first single to enter the corresponding UK Singles Chart - "Sneakin' Suspicion".
"Milk and Alcohol" is a song by the band Dr. Feelgood that reached number nine in the UK Singles Chart in 1979. Written by Nick Lowe and Gypie Mayo, and produced by Richard Gottehrer, the song was Dr. Feelgood's biggest hit and continues to be played by the band.
Be Seeing You was the fifth album by Dr. Feelgood, and was released in October 1977. After the departure of Wilko Johnson, this was Dr. Feelgood's first album with guitarist Gypie Mayo.
Private Practice was the sixth album by Dr. Feelgood, and was released in October 1978.
"Down at the Doctors" is a song by the band Dr. Feelgood. The track was recorded in 1978, and appeared on Private Practice, an album by Dr. Feelgood that was released in October that year.
"Sneakin' Suspicion" is a song by the band Dr. Feelgood. It was recorded in 1977 and was the first track on their album, Sneakin' Suspicion, which was released in May that year. It was recorded at the Rockfield Studios and mixed at the Media Sounds Studios in New York.
"Roxette" is the debut single by the band Dr. Feelgood released in 1974, from their 1975 debut album Down by the Jetty.
"She Does It Right" is a song by the band Dr. Feelgood, recorded in 1974 and appearing on their debut album, Down by the Jetty. The track was written by Wilko Johnson, and produced by Vic Maile. The song was the band's second UK single release, following their debut "Roxette", in March 1975, but failed to reach the UK Singles Chart. The B-side of the record, "I Don't Mind", was also penned by Johnson.
Twenty Five Years of Dr. Feelgood is a double compilation album by Dr. Feelgood, and was released in February 1997.
Malpractice is the second album by English rock band Dr. Feelgood, released in October 1975.
Lee Brilleaux was an English rhythm-and-blues singer and musician with the band Dr. Feelgood.
Keith "Lew" Lewis was an English harmonica player and vocalist, who was a member of Eddie and the Hot Rods before forming his own bands. Influenced in style by Little Walter, he also guested on albums by The Stranglers, The Clash and others.
Going Back Home is a collaborative studio album by former Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson and the Who lead vocalist Roger Daltrey released in 2014. The album contains versions of songs previously recorded by Johnson and his former band Dr. Feelgood, as well as a version of "Everybody's Carrying a Gun" by Wilko Johnson and the Solid Senders.