Robb Johnson - Catalogue
All Robb's earlier recordings, before IRR048, are now deleted. Proper Music have a few left, but, apart from the ones in the occasional Oxfam shop, that's it.
IRR025: THE NIGHT CAFÉ - ROBB JOHNSON
13 songs, solo voice & acoustic guitar, from the long dark night-café of the soul… (1995)
IRR026: HELL’S KITCHEN - ROBB JOHNSON ROOTS BAND
13 songs aided & abetted by Steafan Hannigan, Maggie Holland, Fiona Larcombe, Terry Mann & Rory McLeod, & produced by Steafan Hannigan. (1996)
IRR027: OVERNIGHT - ROBB JOHNSON
14 songs, solo voice & acoustic guitar, a re-recording of most of the songs from the original ’91 “Overnight” album recorded with Pip Collings, (Irr 011-not so much deleted as run out of, & long overdue for reissue) but with additional songs – unreleased, unrecorded or from demos cassettes- also included. (1996)
IRR029: INVISIBLE PEOPLE - ROBB JOHNSON
13 songs, some solo & some seriously noisy, with longtime electric RJB rhythm section Huggy Harewood & Paul Mullineux plus rootsbanders Larcombe & Mann. (1997)
IRR030: GENTLE MEN (double CD) - ROBB JOHNSON
A family history of the First World War, & the long shadows it cast over the rest of the century. Performed by Roy Bailey, Vera Coomans, Robb Johnson, & Koen De Cauter & The Golden Serenaders. (1997)
IRR032: YEAH YEAH YEAH - THE ROBB JOHNSON BAND
17 songs recorded between 91 & 98, chronicling the “commercially suicidal” life ’n’ times of the electric band, including “The Bells Of Freedom” & “We Hate The Tories”. (1998)
IRR036: THE BIG WHEEL - ROBB JOHNSON
14 songs, acoustic guitar-based, about everything from Cirio’s in Brussels to Paradise Street in Liverpool, from Hillsborough to the mother of god rehoused in Hounslow, from songs for a new baby to songs for the barricades, including the anthemic “Be Reasonable”, &“Au Depart”, covered by Barb Jungr on her album BARE. All enhanced by excellent contributions from Philip Hoessen (accordion), Leon Rosselson (2nd guitar), Miranda Sykes (double bass) &Saskia Tomkins (violin & cello). (1999)
IRR042: MARGARET THATCHER: MY PART IN HER DOWNFALL - ROBB
JOHNSON
A new recording of 20 of Johnson’s older songs, including “The Herald Of Free Enterprise”, “Rosa’s Lovely Daughters”, “Captain Swing”, “Boxing Day”, & the agit-prop kiddies singalong “The Animals Song” (the original single was nearly an NME Single Of The Week!) for which he first became well-known, or notorious, depending on your political point of view. (2000)
IRR043: 21st CENTURY BLUES - ROBB JOHNSON WITH MIRANDA SYKES & SASKIA
TOMKINS
15 tracks by “one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary songwriters, working with two of Britain’s finest acoustic musicians”. The 14 original songs deal with a diverse range of subjects, from the death of a biker friend, to the general state of the planet, taking in murder, old age, childhood, anarchists, & the Balkan wars along the way, plus a rare cover version, Johnson’s translation of “Voir Un Ami Pleurer” from the last recordings of Jacques Brel. (2001)
IRR045: THE TRIUMPH OF HOPE OVER EXPERIENCE - ROBB JOHNSON
The album features songs set in Soho, Broadstairs, Brighton (“London-On-Sea”), Paris, Brentford Football ground, & songs dealing with weddings, paternity, General Pinochet & the delights of supporting Chumbawamba in Whitehaven. With contributions from cabaret diva Barb Jungr, pianist Russell Churney, Quimantu’s Mauricio Venegas, drummer Paul Mullineux, & with RJ3 members Miranda Sykes on bass & vocals & Saskia Tomkins on violin it is also one of the most ambitious & exciting albums musically that Robb has recorded.
IRR047: MAXIMUM RESPECT - ROBB JOHNSON
Co-produced by Ethical Wares, this 14 song album collects together all of Johnson’s songs about animal & related issues, ranging from the angry “Daybreak” to the humorous “Buster”, a song about Johnson's ex-tom cat. 7 tracks have never been released or appeared on CD before, & the album is only available at gigs or direct from Ethical Wares at www.ethicalwares.com
IRR048: CLOCKWORK MUSIC - ROBB JOHNSON
All 12 of the songs were written by Robb whilst touring in the former DDR over the last three years, although there is the usual diversity of subject matter that characterises his songwriting.
“An immaculately recorded album of rich textures and subtle harmonic surprises - achieved with deceptive simplicity by Robb Johnson's impeccable guitar technique and some thoughtful chamber string arrangements by Saskia Tomkins and Miranda Sykes. The lyrics are pan-European in flavour – no surprise given Robb's prominent status in Britain's growing chanson movement - and fans of his brand of wry social observation and acid political comment will be bowled over by tracks like the poignant “Over The Hills” and (my own favourite from this collection) “Lost In The Woods”.”
Tom Robinson, July 2003
UNLaBEL004: FRIDAY NIGHT IN BRENTFORD - ROBB JOHNSON
12 songs about football, life & west London recorded live at Stripes Bar, July 2003, available only from www.beesunited.org.uk.
IRR054: TONY BLAIR: MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL - ROBB JOHNSON
This is a double album & contains 29 songs, written since 1997 in response to the Blair regime, & all its attendant farces & farragoes, presenting a dissenting view of cool Britannia, the Jubilee, & more wars than any other Prime Minister has presided over.
IRR058: A BEGINNER’S GUIDE - ROBB JOHNSON
18 tracks, voice & guitar, recorded “live” in the studio, a collection of new versions of current live favourites, rarities & 6 new songs.
“Most of the gigs I do are just me & the acoustic guitar. Afterwards people often ask “Which CD sounds most like what you did tonight?” It's this one.”
Robb Johnson, March 2005.
IRR059: METRO - ROBB JOHNSON
The album features 15 songs & one spoken word piece. Robb is accompanied by the brilliant piano playing of Russel Churney. It's very much an English Chanson album (Jacques Brel meets Bertolt Brecht down at the Old Bull & Bush), with songs about London, Paris, New York, men, bars, death, loss, love & Berkhamstead. Listen to tracks from Metro here. Read the lyrics from Metro here.
IRR063: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE FIRE STATION - ROBB JOHNSON & THE IRREGULARS
This is a live recording of Robb’s 50th birthday gig. The 14 songs include current favourites, old favourites & 3 unreleased songs. The Irregulars on this recording are John Forrester on bass, Andi Tuck on drums, with Saskia Tomkins on fabulous electric violin. There are guest appearances from Maggie Holland, Graham Larkbey & Roger Watson, plus two songs where Robb duets with his sons Hari & Arvin, aged 8 & 7 respectively. It's a noisy, wart‘n’all record of a splendid night out.
YOKO ONO BIOGRAPHY
Robb has contributed to a new biography of Yoko Ono, co-written with Alan Clayson & Barb Jungr. “Woman: The Incredible Life Of Yoko Ono” is published by Chrome Dreams, ISBN 184240 220 X. Robb’s section of the narrative concerns the Lennon years. Robb had always thought that Lennon was at his most interesting when influenced by Yoko Ono’s creativity, & his research into this period of Yoko’s life confirmed his admiration for her as an artist & for her enduring commitment to peace & feminist politics. Alan Clayson narrates Yoko’s life before & after Lennon, & Barb Jungr analyses Yoko’s creative work in a series of focussed essays. Although Robb is a little unhappy with the way the book was edited, it’s nonetheless the first sympathetic biography of Yoko Ono that presents her as an important & influential 20th century artist. She did, after all, more or less write Lennon’s greatest hit “Imagine”.
IRR066: All That Way for This - Robb Johnson & The Irregulars (2007)
Backstories:
Backstory 1: Peanuts
Tracks:
Carrying
Your Smile
Peanuts
No-one Wants to Look Like You
The Beautiful Dark
The Day After Valentine's Day
Almost The Homecoming Queen
Moronland
The Blue Sea Says Yes
Zapatista Coffee
Pink Shoes
Sunny Afternoon In Ilmenau
On Highway 5
Click on a track for lyrics & chords.