Carter USM to reissue 1992 The Love Album with added Extras

Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (Carter USM )

1992 The Love Album (3CD/1DVD) Box Set And Coloured Double Vinyl LP

Release Date 19^th January 2024 – Chrysalis Records

Chrysalis Records announce the release of a deluxe remastered three CD box set, special DVD and a coloured, double, vinyl LP –Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (Carter USM) – 1992 The Love Album (3CD/1DVD) on 19^th January 2024.

• This special boxset features previously unreleased recording of ‘The Live Album – Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury when they headlined the stage and DVD ‘What Do You Think Of The Programme So Far?’ feature, plus three Top Of The Pops performances, all appearing on DVD for the first time and accompanied by exclusive new commentary by Jim Bob and Fruitbat.

• Newly remastered by Phil Kinrade at AIR Mastering, the double LP version on translucent blue and yellow vinyl to reflect the signature colours used on the1992 The Love Album and will be a must have for all Carter and indie fans.

Formed in 1987 by Les “Fruitbat” Carter and Jim “Jim Bob” Morrison, Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine burst onto the scene with their signature style of punk-pop infused with samples, drum machines, and social commentary.

‘1992 The Love Album’ was Carter USM’s debut release on Chrysalis Records and reached the No. 1 spot album on the UK Album Chart in May 1992, going gold in the UK, propelling the band to pop stardom.

The vinyl features the complete album in its original running order on LP 1 – including the band’s biggest chart hit ‘The Only Living Boy In New Cross’ which reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart plus Top 40 singles ‘Do Re Me, So Far So Good’ and ‘The Impossible Dream’, (a cover of the Man of La Mancha standard).

LP 2 features ‘1992 – The Other Love Songs’, the complete collection of B-sides from the period plus the non-album Top 20 A-side ‘After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way)’.

The boxset edition features the complete album newly remastered on CD 1 and CD2 again in the original running order. CD 2 features BBC ‘Live In Norwich Sound City’ recordings, and a previously unreleased mix of ‘Skywest And Crooked’ featuring a new reading from Ian Dury. CD 3 includes the complete 1992 Glastonbury headline performance from the legendary Pyramid stage – available in its entirety for the very first time. Rounding off the set is the 55 minutes ‘What Do You Think Of The Programme So Far?’ documentary, plus three Top Of The Pops performances, all appearing on DVD for the first time and accompanied by exclusive new commentary by Jim Bob and Fruitbat.

Carter may seemingly have been written out of music history, and regularly get ignored on BBC4 documentaries (with the narrative that Britpop saved the world from grunge) but it was bands like Carter who paved the way for Britpop. They still have a huge and massively loyal fanbase today. They sold a million albums (with four of them top 10), had 12 top 40 singles and sold even more t-shirts.

Whilst the group are no longer active, both Jim Bob as solo artist and Les ‘Fruitbat’ Carter with his group Abdoujaparov continue to tour the UK and the world to adoring fans, old and new. Jim Bob had a number one physical single this year ‘Beach Ready’ and has had two very recent top 40 albums. The Carter official webshop sells thousands of t-shirts every year, along with tea towels and socks!

The full track listing for this deluxe boxset version features three CDs and a DVD.

CD1: 1992 The Love Album: 1993 / Is Wrestling Fixed? / The Only Living Boy In New Cross / Suppose You Gave A Funeral And Nobody Came / England / Do Re Me, So Far So Good / Look Mum, No Hands! / While You Were Out / Skywest And Crooked / The Impossible Dream

CD2: 1992 The Other Songs: After The Watershed (Early Learning The Hard Way) / The 90’s Revival / A Nation Of Shoplifters / This Is How It Feels / Panic / Watching The Big Apple Turnover / King Rocker / Mannequin / Down In The Tube Station At Midnight / Turn On, Tune In Switch Off / When Thesauruses Ruled The Earth / Bring On The Girls / Another Brick In The Wall / Skywest And Crooked (Penguin Mix)* / The Only Living Boy In New Cross (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92) / Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92) / Rubbish (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92)/ Do Re Me, So Far So Good (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92) / Anytime Anyplace Anywhere (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92) / Prince In A Pauper’s Grave (BBC – Live At Norwich Sound City 26/4/92)

CD3: 1992 The Live Album – Pyramid Stage, Glastonbury*: The Only Living Boy In New Cross / Twenty Four Minutes From Tulse Hill / Rubbish / Good Grief Charlie Brown / Re-Educating Rita / Look Mum, No Hands! / Anytime Anyplace Anywhere / Sheriff Fatman / A Prince In A Pauper’s Grave / While You Were Out / Shoppers’ Paradise / After The Watershed / Bloodsport For All / A Perfect Day To Drop The Bomb

DVD: What Do You Think Of The Programme So Far?: 1993 (Overture) (Intro) / Rubbish (Promo Video)/ Anytime Anyplace Anywhere (Promo Video) / Bloodsport For All (Promo Video) / Sheriff Fatman (Promo Video) / Say It With Flowers (Live At Brixton Academy – June 1991) / After The Courtcase (Promo Video) / The Only Living Boy In New Cross (Promo Video) / While You Were Out (Live At Glastonbury – June 1992) / Do Re Me, So Far So Good (Promo Video) Top Of The Pops*: The Only Living Boy In New Cross (23/04/1992) / The Impossible Dream (26/11/1992) / After The Watershed (24/10/1991) Commentary with Jim Bob and Fruitbat* *Previously Unreleased

Jim Bob commented, “The risk in naming your album after the year it’s released and then printing that year in big blue numbers surrounded by yellow stars on the front cover is you might end up literally dating the record. Having the book judged by its cover. So, thirty years later does it sound dated? Lyrically at least, it still seems quite topical. ‘Suppose You Gave a Funeral’ is a song about self-serving, ambulance chasing politicians, ‘Do Re Me, So Far So Good’ is about pop bands singing songs about nothing while the world collapses around them. ‘Look Mum, No Hands!’ is about terrorism and religious sectarianism and ‘The Only Living Boy in New Cross’ mentions Clause 28, the banning of promoting homosexuality in schools, something that’s happening right now in some American states. Also, try looking at the album cover without thinking of Brexit.”

He continued, “Amazingly Ian Dury agreed to read the Peter O’Toole part on ‘Skywest and Crooked’. He came down to Simon Painter’s studio, the same concrete shed in Simon’s back garden where we’d recorded all the Carter albums. Simon shared the house with three of his old school friends. At Simon’s wedding one of his three friends told me about the day he’d come home from work. He’d walked through the kitchen and into the front room, he’d sat down and thought to himself: “I’m sure I just saw Ian Dury in our kitchen making a cup of tea.”

Les ‘Fruitbat’ Carter stated, “The DVD title ‘What Do You Think Of The Programme So Far’ is a quote from DJ John Peel (who didn’t really rate Carter much). We used the sample from his radio show on our single Rubbish. The promo video for Rubbish is included in this collection, I think it is my favourite Carter video.” “The best bits on this video DVD are the vox-pops from the attendees of Glastonbury 1992. We headlined the Pyramid stage that year, which still astonishes most people when I tell them about it. It astonishes me too, to be fair. I love the way that a lot of those kids were completely out of their tree and so passionate about everything. In 1992, Glastonbury was still what we would call a crusty festival, it certainly looks a lot more down-market than the last time I was there and all the better for it. Fruitbat was banned from Glastonbury for life, but Les Carter has played there a few times since, don’t tell Michael or Emily Eavis.

Fruitbat resumes, “Also included is an interview that Jim Bob and I filmed somewhere off-site. We sound very matter-of-fact, world-weary and just-a-little-bit-bored. It’s a good interview though. I am wearing sunglasses. I never wear sunglasses. On the DVD there is a commentary audio track featuring us both rambling on about the videos, the crew, the crowd and Glastonbury, I spent a lot of time trying to stop my cat from attacking the computer mouse. If you listen carefully, you can hear her purring like a distant pneumatic drill. Jim told me that he tried to edit her out but it was impossible as she didn’t ever stop. Carter fans worldwide have been begging for this to be re-released on DVD for as long as I can remember. Here it is. Soak it up like a warm bath.”

1992: The Love Album went to number one, selling 200,000 copies, it spawned Carter’s biggest hit, The Only Living Boy In New Cross, which is a pun to spin the head of anyone with a working knowledge of the aforementioned musical duo Simon & Garfunkel and encapsulates the bands lyrical prowess.

Order here

https://www.carterusmstore.com/shop

https://CarterUSM.lnk.to/1992PR