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CAROLINE TRUE

Henry Badowski

Life Is A Grand - 2025 Reissue

    CAROLINE TRUE RECORDS is thrilled to announce the long-awaited reissue of Henry Badowski’s 1981 debut album ‘Life Is a Grand’.

    Regarded as one of the great ‘lost’ albums of that era, and out of print for over 40 years, ‘Life Is a Grand’ has become a word-of-mouth cult classic – a new-wave pop gem adored by those who’ve fallen for its charms and which has so far eluded the algorithm.

    Once described as “Syd Barrett produced by Brian Eno”, the album casts Henry Badowski as a singular songwriter with a very English sensibility, whose effervescent songs are full of dreamy wonder and droll humour. That this album has remained untouched since 1981, almost forgotten, has somehow preserved its innocence, and it sparkles with freshness and vitality today.

    Always one step removed from the London punk scene where he cut his teeth as a teenage bassist for Chelsea in 1977 before brief stints in The Damned and The Good Missionaries, Henry drew on his love of Roxy Music, Ian Dury and Jethro Tull for his own music. He emerged as a solo artist in 1979 with the double A-side ‘Making Love With My Wife’ and ‘Baby, Sign Here With Me’ for Miles Copeland’s Deptford Fun City label.

    Radio 1 got behind ‘Baby, Sign Here With Me’ and so Copeland, enjoying huge success managing The Police, arranged a transfer for Henry to A&M where, try as they might, his run of brilliant singles – ‘Henry’s In Love’, ‘My Face’, ‘This Was Meant to Be’ – fell flat.

    Recorded with Wally Brill at Matrix Studios in Bloomsbury, ‘Life Is a Grand’ includes four of the five singles as well as the gentle Lewis Carroll psychedelia of ‘Swimming With the Fish in the Sea’ and ‘Silver Trees’, both laced with swirls of synthesiser. The instrumentals ‘Life Is a Grand’ and ‘Rampant’ close each side with a swagger. Henry wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments, including drum machine and saxophone. His friend and former Chelsea bandmate James Stevenson played guitar, Dave Berk joined on drums and Aleksander Kolkowski added violin.

    Released in June 1981 on A&M in the UK and Europe and IRS in the US, the album sank without trace – as did Henry, who gradually moved away from music into a series of other jobs. Some 30 years later, a zip file of the album began to circulate on blogs and forums where fans sang Henry’s praises and wondered how such a gifted musician could just disappear.

    And the meaning behind the title? Well, a grand will always make your life easier, says Henry. At the time, in 1980, a thousand quid would go a long way – you could buy a second-hand E-Type Jaguar or a trip to New York on Concorde. Even today, if you’ve got a grand in your pocket, you’re feeling good – life’s alright.

    TRACK LISTING

    1 My Face
    2 Henry’s In Love
    3 Swimming With The Fish In The Sea
    4 The Inside Out
    5 Life Is A Grand
    6 Silver Trees
    7 This Was Meant To Be
    8 Anywhere Else
    9 Baby, Sign Here With Me
    10 Rampant
    11 Making Love With My Wife (CD Bonus Track)

    Various Artists

    Jon Savage's Space: Light Years From Home

      Jon Savage's Space - An amazing musical voyage through the theme and idea of Space - music for Space - Space - Music - Through West-Coast US Rock , Techno, Post-Punk , Jazz, Ambient & Experimental sounds-this is a journey like no other .. From Sun Ra to Mr Fingers and way beyond..

      "We are taken to less familiar musical quadrants-fascinatedly & instructively so"
      (Roy Wilkinson - MOJO Feb 2025) .

      Various Artists

      No-One's Listening Anyway - UK DIY Post Punk & Dubs 1980-1984 (Volume 1) - Compiled By Jason Boardman

        Compiled by Jason Boardman ( Before I Die Records) Celebrated Manchester club-night curator & record Label Owner , DJ & digger - supreme.

        An album of early 1980s Post-Punk era musical bedroom & small studio innovations & DIY Inspirations - Featuring rarely / never heard cuts from that period. Including tracks sampled by DJ Shadow & a singular Post-Punk era back-handed tribute JCC track :-) From Coventry's 2-Tone associated Skeet to Surface Mutants Cabaret Voltaire facilitated Dub & the out-there pastoral Post-Punk spaciness of The Dealers ..A rich vein .

        "This is a snapshot of a fertile time in UK music, a time of independent artists, studios, labels & distributors collaborating to do it themselves, sidestepping the majors to take their shot at the big time. It didn't always work out but they made a record and that's what counts. It is a collection of the lost and overlooked - not intended to be a definitive guide to the period but an opportunity to shine a light on the creative output of these artists and share them once again so they can get the recognition they deserve." (Jason Boardman May 2024).

        STAFF COMMENTS

        Matt says: Unofficially appointed spiritual leader for those seeking sonic healing through more leftfield and less trodden paths; Jason Boardman unveils his latest labour of love - a deep dive into the UK's post-punk scene and DIY dubs scene.

        TRACK LISTING

        Side 1:
        Bally O’Brien - Tell Me Why The Tape Wobbles
        Anorexia - Inanimate Objects
        Methodishca Tune – LFD
        Sprout Head Uprising – I Wish, I Wish
        The Four Kings – Disgraceful Version
        Swamp Children – Call Me Honey
        Cathy La Creme -I Married A Cult Figure
        57TH Parallel-Psalm Fifty Seven

        Side 2:
        Surface Mutants-Train Dub
        Khartomb - King Skin (Rough Mix )
        The Dealers - Share The World (Part 2)
        Skeet - Avril In The Alps
        Group Therapy-Arty Fact
        Club Of Rome- Bedroom Scenes
        APB - Help Yourself
        Sirons-Cruise Missile Blues


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