My introduction to Crass was this record; I bought it along with a load of punky metal off some crusty fucker who was selling off his old vinyl on eBay. I bid on a few Crass albums but this was the only one that came in under a fiver so I won it. I also got DRI, The Stupids and Dr. and the Crippins in the same batch. A successful haul I think you’ll all agree. When the LP’s arrived though, it was Crass clicked straight away.
The vocalist Steve Ignorant seemed so damn angry all the time and some of the songs were spat out so fast that all I really took from the first few listens was some pissed off guy swearing a lot in a heavy London accent. I took more of an interest initially from the female led songs; I was really into Bikini Kill by the time I got my hands on Best Before 1984 and I really dug the sound of screaming angry woman. Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre seemed just as incredible as the like of Huggy Bear and the Riot Grrrl bands were to me.
Sonically the recording stood out as well. I knew it was a compilation of singles and odds and sods but the production is really thin on everything, so sharp and shiny and light, it was if the needle had split and scrapped its way through the vinyl. Once you get used to it though it became an asset for Crass, never a cross they had to bear. No one sounds like these guys and gals and still today that’s something the members should be immensely proud of. They are truly one offs.
It was the lyric insert that came with my copy where the band came truly alive for me. Late 70s and early 80s politics became a lot clearer than I’d ever seen on TV or was taught at college, Songs such as the Thatcher baiting How Does It Feel or Sheep Farming In The Falklands made a lot more sense than what I saw of it on Television as a kid. I remember my father feeling all proud and English even though we were living in Australia at the time, it was just like when Tottenham Hotspur where on the TV and my father would stay up to watch the match, he felt so patriotic. I didn’t hear the other side of things until years late. Outrage, disbelief and astonishment; well I didn’t hear that until I bought this Crass record.
Now I have copies of all Crass’ full length releases and still I always come back to this, The classic ’77 stomper Do They Owe Us A Living kicks things off and then chronologically the record takes us through the sonic art and visceral poetry of Reality Asylum to the guitar fuelled cacophony of the verses in The Immortal Death. The record comes full circle with a pretty messy live rendition of Do They Owe Us A Living which is the only low point on an otherwise essential double album.
If ever a free thinker wanted to touch on an alternative lesson in history than what they were taught in school then I would advise you to put on Best Before 1984. It’s was a great thought ignite for me. Pull out the lyric sheet and put the needle on the vinyl, punk rock this earth shattering needs to live on and inspire future generations of all musical genres.
lostinrock 