''Nothing Can Stop Us'' is a compilation album by

Robert Wyatt Robert Wyatt (born Robert Wyatt-Ellidge, 28 January 1945) is an English retired musician. A founding member of the influential Canterbury scene bands Soft Machine and Matching Mole, he was initially a kit drummer and singer before becoming para ...

released in 1982.

Concept

Consisting primarily of tracks released as singles and B-sides during the late 1970s and early 1980s, it only contains one Wyatt composition (the opening track "Born Again Cretin"). The rest of the songs are cover versions, a selection of musically and thematically disparate songs by a very varied collection of original artists, including

Ivor Cutler Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recor ...

, 1940s protest songs,

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, " The Red Flag", and Spanish-language numbers (including a version of " Caimanera/Guantanamera"). There is a rendition of

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English dictionaries classified ...

's "At Last I Am Free". The two songs not previously issued as singles are "Born Again Cretin" (taken from an

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

compilation cassette) and "The Red Flag" (which was previously unreleased.) This was the only full-length LP released by Wyatt in the ten years between ''

Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard ''Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard'' is the third solo album by Robert Wyatt. Background The follow-up to ''Rock Bottom (album), Rock Bottom'', for which Wyatt had written all of the music and lyrics, ''Ruth...'' consisted of Wyatt's adaptations a ...

'' (1975) and his fourth solo studio album ''

Old Rottenhat ''Old Rottenhat'' is the fourth studio album by Robert Wyatt. It was released in November 1985, and in 1993 it was reissued in its entirety as part of the CD '' Mid-Eighties''. The album was produced and performed solo by Wyatt, and is dedicated ...

'' (1985) In 1979, Peter Blackman read his poem ''Stalingrad'' (about the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's fight against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

) to an enthusiastic audience that included Jack Dash, a famous communist trade unionist and leader of many British dock workers. After hearing Blackman perform the poem, Wyatt convinced him to record it. The recording ended up as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of Wyatt's 1981 single '' Stalin Wasn't Stallin''', a cover of a Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet song about the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. The lyrics of which praise the Soviet people and especially

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

(the Soviet leader of the time and namesake of the city of

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, where the battle happened) for fighting back against the Nazi invaders. Wyatt recorded the cover to remind the

Western World The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

that although they were enemies of the Soviet Union during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

during the 1980s, they were allies of them against the bigger enemy of the Nazis during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the 1940s when the Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet wrote and recorded the original ''Stalin Wasn't Stallin''.

Release

Although ''Nothing Can Stop Us'' came out on cassette in the U.S. in 1982'','' it went unreleased on LP there until 1986, when Gramavision Records put it out with a somewhat different tracklist and sequence from its British release. It also has a different cover, a reproduction of the "Shipbuilding" single's picture sleeve. Wyatt's cover of "Shipbuilding," which features its songwriters,

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

and

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' Brothers of the Head''. Biog ...

, as both guest performers and producers, leads off the album. An instrumental version of the jazz standard "Memories of You" and "Round Midnight" closes each side, and "Stalingrad" was dropped. In 1994, the original version became available on CD paired with ''Old Rottenhat'' under the title ''Compilation''.

Reception and later recordings

The song "Born Again Cretin" is sampled in the 1999 Italian single "Re-Born Again Cretin" by Almamegretta and Dub Colossus, featuring the vocals of Julianna, which originally appeared on the 1998 album ''Robert Wyatt e Noi - The Different You'', a compilation on CPI Records.

Track listing

#"Born Again Cretin" (Robert Wyatt) – 3:10 #"At Last I Am Free" (

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

, Bernard Edwards) – 4:17 #" Caimanera" ( Carlos Puebla, Joseíto Fernández) - 5:18 #"Grass" (

) – 2:39 #" Stalin Wasn't Stallin' (Willie Johnson) – 3:22 #"

Shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

" (

) - 3:06 (Bonus track added to reissues after 1983) #" Red Flag" (Traditional; arranged by Jim Connell) – 3:09 #"

Strange Fruit "Strange Fruit" is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song Protest song, protests the Lynch ...

" (

Lewis Allan Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986)Baker, Nancy Kovaleff, "Abel Meeropol (a.k.a. Lewis Allan): Political Commentator and Social Conscience," '' American Music'' 20/1 (2002), pp. 25–79, ; see especially note 3. was an Ameri ...

)– 3:37 #"Arauco" (

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal and a ...

) – 4:35 #"Trade Union" (Abdus Salique) – 3:44 #"Stalingrad" ( Peter Blackman) – 5:46

Personnel

*Robert Wyatt - vocals *Mogotsi Mothle -

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

on "At Last I Am Free" and "Strange Fruit" *Frank Roberts - keyboards on "At Last I Am Free" and "Strange Fruit" * Bill MacCormick - bass on "Caimanera" and "Arauco" * Harry Beckett - flugelhorn on "Caimanera" *Kadir Durvesh -

shehnai The ''shehnai'' is a type of oboe from the Indian subcontinent. It is made of wood, with a double reed at one end and a metal or wooden flared bell at the other end. It was one of the nine instruments found in the royal court. The shehnai is sim ...

on "Grass" and "Trade Union" *Esmail Shek -

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

on "Grass" and "Trade Union"

Album cover

The sleeve artwork is by Wyatt's wife Alfreda Benge.

References

{{Authority control Robert Wyatt albums 1982 compilation albums Rough Trade Records compilation albums