''Back in Denim'' is the debut album by British rock band

Denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been p ...

Background

British rock band

Felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or w ...

broke-up in 1989, while frontman Lawrence had been living in Brighton. Finding Brighton to be unpleasant, he moved to New York in early 1990.Wilkinson 2005, p. 122 Lawrence soon started to reminisce about his childhood in the 1970s. He proceeded to visit a pawn shop and buy a guitar, which he would use to compose ''Back in Denim''. He eventually grew homesick and soon moved to London. Lawrence formed

with a variety of "session men and ageing glitter-rockers", several of whom were members of The Glitter Band.Buckley, ed. 2003, p. 369 Lawrence had been receiving calls from major labels, but decided to sign with dance-oriented record label Boy's Own Recordings, who had signed a distribution deal with

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. His decision to sign with them was based on his notion that "rock music was finished, and DJs could get our records into the charts."

Production and composition

While Felt's albums were recorded with a minuscule budget for small independent labels, Lawrence had "the chance to make the album I'd always wanted" for a major label. Between May 1990 and July 1992, ''Back in Denim'' was recorded and mixed with producer John Leckie. At one point, Lawrence was banned from the studio and had pushed Leckie to breaking point, which resulted in him exclaiming: "I've worked with Phil Spector and John Lennon and Syd Barrett, but I can't take this any more. You're madder than any of them." Eventually, before threatening to disown the recordings, he finished the proceedings with Brian O'Shaughnessy. The amount of money that went into making the album had made Boy's Own Recordings go bankrupt. The album's sound has been described as

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on div ...

and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

. Tim Sendra of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

claimed that for ''Back in Denim'', Lawrence "channeled his love of simple punk, huge hooks, novelty songs, and slagging everyone". '' Mojo'' review Roy Wilkinson commented that the album's "wistful examination of Britain and knowing adoption of pop styles from other eras" laid the groundwork for

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

. The album was complete with "glam and pop hooks machined to perfection with the best in 1990s recording science". "Middle of the Road" features a sample of Middle of the Road's version of "

Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep "Chirpy Chirpy, Cheep Cheep" is a song recorded in 1970 by its composer Lally Stott, and made popular in 1971 by Scottish band Middle of the Road for whom it was a UK #1 chart hit. That version is one of fewer than fifty singles ever to ha ...

Release and reception

It was released in November 1992 on Boy's Own Recordings. London Records wanted to release the album's title track as a single, but Lawrence requested to re-recording the song's chorus, to which London Records cut funding for further studio time. "Middle of the Road" was released as a single, with the B-sides "Ape Hangers", "Robin's Nest", and an instrumental version of "Ape Hangers" titled "The Great Grape Ape-Hangers", in January 1993. The album was received well by critics but was commercially poor. In retrospect, Lawrence commented "The tills were closed. ..This was my masterpiece and I would fight to death to get it right. If that meant it was going to end up selling 25 copies, then that was the way it had to be." The album was reissued in May 2006 on West Midland's Records, a subsidiary of Cherry Red. Norwegian band

Turbonegro Turbonegro (Turboneger in Norway) is a Norwegian rock band, active from 1989 to 1998 and from 2002 to the present. The band combines glam rock, punk rock, and hard rock into a self-described "deathpunk" musical style. History Early years ( ...

covered "Back in Denim" as a bonus track at 2007 album Retox. In 2017, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' ranked ''Back in Denim'' at number 50 in their list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".

Track listing

All songs written by Lawrence. #"Back in Denim" – 3:59 #"Fish and Chips" – 3:17 #"Bubblehead" – 4:43 #"Middle of the Road" – 4:12 #"The Osmonds" – 8:08 #"I Saw the Glitter on Your Face" – 3:34 #"American Rock" – 6:26 #"Livin' on the Streets" – 4:31 #"Here Is My Song for Europe" – 3:41 #"I'm Against the Eighties" – 7:20

References

; Footnotes ; Citations ;Sources * *

External links

{{Authority control 1992 debut albums Denim (band) albums Junior Boy's Own albums Albums produced by John Leckie