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6 unusual facts about Billy Bragg


Elect the Lords

Singer-songwriter and political activist Billy Bragg went on to receive significant attention for his secondary mandate system, in which members of the House of Lords would be appointed from party lists in proportion to the number of votes cast for each political party in elections to the House of Commons.

Gentleman ranker

Billy Bragg borrows part of this poem in his song "Island Of No Return": "Me and the corporal out on the spree, Damned from here to Eternity".

Life, Love and the Pursuit of Justice

The album is entirely his own work, featuring his vocal and guitar work and demonstrating obvious influence from Billy Bragg's earlier recordings.

Littleport, Cambridgeshire

They produced guitars such as the Steer, popularized by guitarist Billy Bragg.

Saint Swithun in popular culture

English folk singer Billy Bragg released a song entitled "St. Swithin's Day" on his 1984 LP Brewing Up with Billy Bragg.

Secondary mandate

The secondary mandate is a proposed system for indirectly electing the UK parliament's second chamber, as espoused by singer-songwriter-activist Billy Bragg.


Andy Carlson

As a studio musician and string arranger he has recorded for Warner Bros., Atlantic, Elektra, Geffen, Polydor, and Capricorn and with artists including R.E.M., Nanci Griffith, Billy Bragg, and the Cowboy Junkies.

Boston Social Forum

Numerous cultural events were also part of the proceedings, the largest being a show at the famed Middle East Restaurant in nearby Cambridge featuring UK punk troubadour Billy Bragg, actor Chris Cooper, filmmaker John Sayles, and nearly 30 other acts and featured guests.

Jim Moray

As an opening act or collaborator, Moray has toured with Oysterband, Eliza Carthy, Billy Bragg, Richard Thompson, Ani Di Franco, Bellowhead, Will Young, The Cecil Sharp Project and John McCusker.

Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards

The band was then put together as an outlet to release these songs, as well as covers of Billy Bragg's "To Have and to Have Not", Holland-Dozier-Holland's "Leaving Here" (which was also covered by Motörhead).

On Raglan Road

The song, often known simply as "Raglan Road", has since been sung by The Dubliners, the Young Dubliners, Van Morrison, Sinéad O'Connor, Mark Knopfler, Billy Bragg, Roger Daltrey, Dick Gaughan, Loreena McKennitt, Joan Osborne, Orla Fallon, Ian Tamblyn, Tommy Fleming and Nyle Wolfe among others.

Patrick Jones

A CD Tongues for a Stammering Time, with spoken word in collaboration with many musicians including Nicky Wire, James Dean Bradfield, Billy Bragg, Amy Wadge, Martyn Joseph and others, was released on Anhrefn Records in May 2009.

Peter Jenner

After Blackhill Enterprises disintegrated in the early 1980s, Jenner and his wife Sumi set up Sincere Management which managed a range of artists including Billy Bragg, Eddi Reader, Sarah Jane Morris, Robyn Hitchcock, The Unbending Trees, and Outside Royalty.

Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation

The charity's celebrity supporters include Sir Alex Ferguson, Ricky Gervais, Melanie Chisholm, Duncan Bannatyne, Lynda Bellingham, Tricia Penrose, Jenny Frost, Pete Reed, Katherine Grainger, Robert Peston, Robert Powell, Billy Bragg, and Tony Parsons.

Stratford Circus

Artists who have performed their work at Stratford Circus include Andy Hamilton, Billy Bragg, John Hegley, Seun Kuti, and 60x60.

Terry Disley

While in London, Cannes, and Los Angeles in the 1990s, he recorded with many artists including Bryan Ferry, Bon Jovi, Van Morrison, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Madness, Sir Mick Jagger, Terry Hall, and Billy Bragg.

The Engine Room Acoustic Session

All four tracks are performed acoustic, tracks 2 and 4 are taken from their second album Save The World. Get The Girl while A New England is a cover of Billy Bragg's song and "Needle & Thread" was previously unreleased.


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