Billy Childish - My First Billy Childish Album

18-track sampler of the Medway garage phenomenon

Renaissance man Billy Childish is a musician, poet and artist who was inspired by punk to form his first group, The Pop Rivets, in 1977. He’s gone on to produce more than 100 albums, 25 books and hundreds of paintings, and influenced Kurt Cobain, Mudhoney, The White Stripes and Graham Coxon. The second in Damaged Goods’ My First… Album series aims to provide an introduction to the music of this extremely prolific maverick and includes material from nine acts, including his latest, the bluesy Chatham Singers. Though the material ranges from autobiographical punk rock (Thee Headcoats’ The Day I Beat My Father Up) to irresistible girl group humour (the same’s Davy Crockett), an obvious and inexcusable omission is the lack of anything by Childish’s 80s purveyors of ‘Beatles in Hamburg’-style rock’n’roll, The Milkshakes. Disappointingly, there’s also only one track (Loathsome’n’Wild) from his fearsome garage trio, Thee Mighty Caesars, who were a huge influence on the Seattle grunge sound. A better, more comprehensive introduction to Childish’s music is provided by the same label’s double-disc, 25 Years Of Being Childish, which features several tracks from both combos.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Damaged Goods | DAMGOOD 264 CD

Reviewed by Jon Harrington
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