Various Artists - Workers Unite! (@320)
I had an extremely heavy occupational load during the last month so it was impossible to follow the more or less standard weekly updates. As a result, I missed the May Day update, which has turned into a tradition in this blog. Last year it was a compilation that was dealing with Joe Hill, while two years ago it was the compilation Songs of the Industrial Workers of the World. There was of course the first May Day post of this blog, which although it didn’t offer any sound files for downloading, it did offer very interesting articles about the history and the significance of the day. So, in order not to destroy such a tradition, I decided to upload, even with some days of delay, a home-made compilation with songs dealing strictly with labour issues. Unions, unemployment, strikes, tedious jobs, unfair wages, workers’ dignity vs. bosses' greediness are all subjects of (at least to my opinion) an extremely powerful array of songs.
This year we have to honour the public workers of Wisconsin, who, against all odds, are fighting against an unfair, dramatic cut back of their rights and wages. Mr. Scott Walker, the man behind the idea of the cut backs, is one more link in the long chain of governors who realised the power of the people extremely late and only when he decided to stand against them. During the demonstrations, new songs have been added to the marvellous labour songbook; Dropkick Murphys’ Take' Em Down, which has become the anthem of the strikers of Wisconsin and IfIhadahifi’s (a name reminiscent of the classic If I Had A Hammer) brilliant Imperial Walker. The latter can be bought online and all proceeds will go (copying from their page) "to Russ Feingold's new Progressives United PAC. Progressives United was formed to take on the ever-growing influence of corporate America in our political process, as further empowered by the Supreme Court's erroneous "Citizens United" decision. Nowhere in the country right now is that influence felt more dramatically than in Wisconsin, where the Koch Brothers currently work in tandem with Governor Scott Walker to bust public sector unions." I do hope that all of you who will download this compilation will go just right after to buy the Imperial Walker.
01-Judy Collins - Bread & Roses (wiki)
02-Kinks - Dead End Street (wiki, lyrics)
03-White Stripes - The Big Three Killed My Baby (wiki, lyrics)
04-Bob Dylan - Maggie's Farm (wiki, lyrics)
05-Kinsgston Trio - M.T.A. (wiki, lyrics)
06-Billy Bragg - There Is Power In A Union (lyrics)
07-Dead Kennedys - Take This Job And Shove It (lyrics)
08-Bob Smith's Ideal Band - The Red Flag (wiki)
09-Ewan Mac Coll acc Peggy Seeger - Fourpence A Day (lyrics)
10-Enemy - Away From Here (lyrics)
11-Almanac Singers - Which Side Are You On (wiki, lyrics)
12-Steeleye Span - Blackleg Miner (wiki, lyrics)
13-R.E.M. - Finest Worksong (lyrics)
14-The Nightwatchman - Union Song (lyrics)
15-Chelsea - Right To Work (lyrics)
16-Almanac Singers - Union Maid (wiki, lyrics)
17-Mekons - Abernant 1984-5 (wiki, lyrics)
18-Ewan Mac Coll acc Peggy Seeger - The Coal-Owner And The Pitman's Wife (lyrics)
19-Bruce Springsteen - Johnny 99 (wiki, lyrics)
20-Dick Gaughan - Worker's Song (lyrics)
21-Clash - Career Opportunities (wiki, lyrics)
22-Housemartins - Me And The Farmer (lyrics)
23-Chumbawamba - Coal Not Dole (wiki, lyrics)
24-John Lennon - Working Class Hero (wiki, lyrics)
25-Almanac Singers - Talking Union (lyrics)
26-Bruce Springsteen - John Henry (lyrics)
27-Gene Autry - The Death Of Mother Jones (wiki, lyrics)
28-Woody Guthrie - Going Down The Road Feeling Bad (lyrics)
29-Agathonas Iakovidis & Katerina Tsiridou - Fabrikes (lyrics)
30-Pete Seeger - Solidarity Forever (wiki, lyrics)
Hope you equally enjoy it and be inspired by this; I also hope to get your suggestions for next year’s May Day, for which I'll try to post on time :)
download link: here (mirrorcreator) and here (rapidshare)
PS I just realised that the Dropkick Murphys have covered M.T.A., Which Side Are You On and Worker's Song from the above list. Well done Murphys...
Hi from Cy
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in all you do...I call in occasionally and appreciate this blog for what it is...I don't always d/load, though enjoy reading the write ups....I'll cherish listening to this tonight...it will help soothe the simmering anger about the ills of the world....we have just elected a new government here in Scotland...will it reflect the 'call of the people' or join in with the direction sought by those who place 'profit' above 'contentment'?
Best wishes from ne Scotland
Cy at Pck
Dear Alan,
ReplyDeleteI would just like to say that I really enjoy your blog and I visit it very regularly reading your always interesting entries. I also must confess that I have found here often music that I also appreciate. So it's time to invite you to my blog:
http://hellinakiss.blogspot.com/
Tha ithela na mou epitrepseis na valo ena link pros to blog sou kai fisika an theleis mporeis na kaneis to idio.
Se xaireto
Douglas
Hi from Cy
ReplyDeleteI gave this a listen last night and it fairly stirred me up...you'll know the feeling? all of the artists'know the score'...they have identified the enemy....they point the finger in the correct direction....they record their evidence in such a way that 'you can't get them out of your face'....they made me angry at thier tales of injustice, sad at the apathy, inspired to get up off my butt and challenge the system, rather than simply reflect upon it.....ahh.....where art thou now thy singing masses?
Thanks very much for putting me in touch with that part of me where Solidarity resides....
all the best in all you do
Cy from Pck
Sorry for the late answers but I do not check on a daily basis the comments.
ReplyDelete@Cy: My writings (although in English which is not my mother language, thus some mistakes are unavoidable) have equal value for me with the download links. It seems though (naturally) that many of those who enter the blog do not read the posts and go straight to the download links. So, you made me very happy with your attitude towards my blog.
As for the compilation, it was indeed my intention to make you feel the way you did. Glad that (at least for you) it worked...
btw, thanks for your insightful comments, I'll be glad to hear from you again.
@Douglas: Πολύ ωραίο blog φίλε... Keep up the good work. Goin' on my favs.
Hi Alan
ReplyDeleteI write this from the local library...I went off 'broadband' at home when a huge virus attacked (even with protection) so I don't use email so much....I've visited music blogs for a year or so...and some, like yours, have that oh so necessary 'human heart' at the centre of the postings...it amazes me that d/loaders of such sites don't recognise this...and simply grab the music for what ever reason they feel? Music, above all else, should lend a hand at making sense of our short time on this planet....I'll sign off and hope to pop in on your blog again, soon.
Best regards from ne Scotland.
Cy at Pck