Song Of The Bailing Man
The Long Walk Home
Use Of A Dog
Petrified
Stormy Weather
West Side Story
Thoughts That Go By Steam
Big Ed's Used Farms
The Vulgar Boatman Bird
A Day Such As This
My Hat
Horns Are A Dilemma

Pere Ubu
Song Of The Bailing Man

Released June 18 1982.
Produced by Adam Kidron

Fire Records FIRECD365 Mar 18 2016 (UK),
Apr 29 2016 (ROW), cd.
2015 Master.

Pix Lyrix

Release Notes

Following tours in support of The Art Of Walking, Scott Krauss quit the band, the second of the three times he would do so. Previously, he had quit just before the release of The Modern Dance. At that time he was replaced by Clevelander Anton Fier. A week later when Scott wanted back in, Anton graciously stood aside. In 1981, Anton, again, agreed to join the band as Scott's replacement.

After The Art Of Walking, the band's best selling record to date, there was a desire to do a more focused project. Geoff Travis, head of Rough Trade Records, suggested a producer, Adam Kidron. Adam came to Suma. The presence of Anton Fier on drums and his sense of structure shaped the output. Unfortunately, fractures appeared between the free-wheeling Mayo and the perfectionist Anton. A tour of America late in 1982 exacerbated the fractures. The situation became intolerable. The band returned from the tour and no one wanted to talk to anyone else or make any plans. This state of things went on for a number of months. Eventually, the members of the band began to say, 'Yeah, we're broken up.'

Production Notes

Engineered by Paul Hamann.
Recorded and mixed in August and December 1981, and January 1982 at Suma. Trumpet overdubs recorded in London.
Mastered by Nimbus as a 45rpm vinyl lp March 1982.
Artwork designed by David Thomas.
Photos by Mik Mellen.
Reissue artwork designed by John Thompson, idrome.

2008 Master

Digitally transferred at 192khz / 24 bit resolution and mastered by Paul Hamann at Suma in 2008. Cds from this Master are identified with the words "2008 Master" on the tray card.

1994 Master

Digitally transferred at 44.1 khz / 20 bit resolution and mastered by David Thomas and Paul Hamann at Suma in 1994.

Pere Ubu (v.4.0)

David Thomas - vocals
Mayo Thompson - guitar
Allen Ravenstine - EML 101 & 200 analog synthesizers
Tony Maimone - bass
Anton Fier - drums, piano, marimba, percussion

Guest Player
Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton - trumpet

Release History

Rough Trade Records
- (UK) Rough 33 1982 lp.
- (US) Rough US 21 June 1982 lp.
- (UK) Rough CD 33 1989 cd.
- (US) Rough US 21 1989 cd.
Bomba Records BOM819 (Japan) May 26 1999 cd. 1994 Master.
Thirsty Ear Records THI 57080.2 (US) Nov 16 1999 cd. 1994 Master.
Cooking Vinyl Records
- COOK CD 158 (UK) Nov 1 1999 cd. 1994 Master.
- COOK CD158 (UK) March 2010 cd. 2008 Master.
S4 Records 496675 2 (Italy) cd. 1994 Master.
Get Back Records GET 90 (Italy) 2002 vinyl lp (180g).

Press Reaction

David Fricke, Melody Maker(?)
'Song of the Bailing Man' is an inspired, invigorating, confounding, disturbing... yeah, one hell of a swinging way to go. Still the futility Ubu must have felt making far sighted music in a chronically near-sighted world is pressed hard into these grooves.

Time Out
A brilliant band breaking every rule of aesthetics... and sounding all the more exciting for it.

Alternative Press, 4/00, pp.95-6
Continues the downbeat trend, with even its more rocking tracks...suffused with melancholy confusion....This disc is an essential purchase, but they're definitely not dancefloor or party fodder.

The Wire, 4/00, p.63
Swathed in layers of reverb-as-sugarcoating and [drummer, Anton] Fier's backbeats ensure that every song here moves several bpm faster than anything else in [their] catalog....easily Ubu's most accessible material.

Pere Ubu Song Of The Bailing Man