Catalogue

IRR115V: TONY SKINNER’S LAD – ROBB JOHNSON

Written for a Stand Up For Labour Dennis Skinner online tribute show. Dennis Skinner and his family approved so it was released as a single with proceeds going to Orgreave Truth & Justice Campaign. Initially released as a download and then released as a limited edition 7″ vinyl.

IRR113: EUROTOPIA – ROBB JOHNSON (2020) (CD) 

Released 21st February 2020 
Two parallel albums: the vinyl version has nine songs and the CD version has thirteen, but only four songs appear on both albums, in suitably different versions. Europe has dominated the discourse of UK political life over the last four years. The songs on these albums, written in Europe between January 2015 and July 2019, located between places like Porlock, Paris, Prague, Lemnos, St Pauli & Stalingrad, therefore provide an alternative perspective to those years of domestic flag-waving hysteria.

IRR223: ORDINARY GIANTS – ROBB JOHNSON (2018)

Released 9th November 2018
A major project, Ordinary Giants is a triple-CD song suite by Robb Johnson, based on the life and times of his father Ron Johnson. It is a family history of the 1930s, the Second World War and the Welfare State, performed by over 30 people.

Read a review of Ordinary Giants on Folk Radio website.

IRR110: ACTS OF LOVE – MIKE REINSTEIN

The acts of love described in these songs range from the heroic work of family carers, simple humanity and narcissism to the everyday magic of loving relationships.

IRR108: SONGS FROM THE LAST SEVEN YEARS – ROBB JOHNSON

15 songs written and recorded over the years between 2010 and 2017, to remind posterity just how awful it was having The Bullingdon Club Old Boys running the UK (into the ground).

IRR105V: THE BEAUTIFUL DARK – ROBB JOHNSON (2017)

Released 22nd April 2017

Released on Record Store Day 2017, this 10″ vinyl contains six studio-recorded post-punk existentialist blues tracks: The Night Cafe, The Bay of Angels, The Big Wheel, You and This City, The Beautiful Dark and The Karl Marx City Blues. Robb is backed by the Best Regards Band.

IRR104: TAKE THE SLOW TRAIN – PHILIP JEAYS (2016) 

Released 25th July 2016 

This is Phil Jeays’s second release on Irregular Records. Phil is very much a cult figure, a songwriter’s songwriter who refuses to be pigeonholed, and whose work combines seamlessly the energy of punk rock and the directness of acoustic folk with the complexity, wit and intelligence of the European chanson tradition. This album contains some of his strongest songs to date.

IRR102V: DON’T CLOSE THE BAR / EVEN STEVE McQUEEN – ROBB JOHNSON (2016) 

Released 16th April 2016 

This 7″ vinyl single was released on Record Store Day 2016, Saturday 16th April. It comprises “Don’t Close the Bar” b/w “Even Steve McQueen”, a solo acoustic guitar version of two songs previously recorded with different accompaniments. 

IRR100: MY BEST REGARDS – ROBB JOHNSON (2016) 

Released 29th September 2016

A new album of 13 songs which features pianist Jenny Carr and bassist John Forrester, who worked together on 2013’s recording of Gentle Men, and Robb’s son Arvin on drums and percussion. The songs cover a wide spectrum of subjects; from the personal to the political, and the shared points in between. The album also contains different versions of three of the songs – two recorded with Brighton’s Hullabaloo Quire, and one song, When the Tide Comes in, recorded with the Palestinian singer Reem Kelani. Read the review of My Best Regards on the Living Tradition web site.

IRR099: GENTLE MEN, A SOLO PERFORMANCE – ROBB JOHNSON (2015)

Released 6th November 2015 

Since the 2013 release of the highly acclaimed multi-artist double CD of “Gentle Men”, Robb Johnson has been performing these songs not just with other musicians but also solo. For these performances, Robb has developed a spoken word narrative that links and informs the narrative of the songs. This recording was taken at a performance in Wigan Parish Church in May 2015.

IRR097: POSITION OF JUPITER – ROGER STEVENS (2015)

Released 13th November 2015 

Celebrated children’s poet Roger Stevens releases his second album of songs for grown-ups. Roger brings his characteristic poetry skills – wit, wordplay – to an intelligent set of songs describing the absurdities and delights of the human condition, and accompanies them with an engaging soundtrack of acoustic guitar-driven melodies, drawing on the blues and music-hall traditions as filtered through the folk revival. 

IRR095: CHEAP AND CHEERFUL / THE TOP OF THIS WHEEL – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2015) 

Released 18th April 2015

This 7″ vinyl single was released on Record Store Day 2015. It is not a single taken from the album “Here Goes Nothing”, but it comes from the same recording sessions, and features Robb & the Irregulars in relatively cheery knees-up mode.

IRR093V: MAKE BELIEVE / WHEN MY GRANDFATHER PLAYED FOOTBALL – ROBB JOHNSON (2014)

Released December 2014

The 2014 Christmas single from Robb Johnson is available from record shops, including Resident Records, Cult Hero (Brighton) and Head Records (Bromley), as well as from Robb himself. Mike Harding described “When my Grandfather Played Football” as “an absolutely wonderful song” when he played it on his podcast.

IRR091: US & THEM – ROBB JOHNSON (2014)

Released on 28th July 2014

A new acoustic album of contemporary folk songs firmly engaged with the realities of not-so-Merrie Olde Condemned Englande… songs about getting up in the morning and getting on with it, shopping centres and food banks, yuppified pubs and barefoot kids, the centenary of the outbreak of the disaster that was supposed to be the war to end all wars, the disaster that is supposed to be the Minister for Education Michael Gove, drunks and railway stations, Boris Johnson and UKIP, Terry French and the Miners’ Strike, and a celebration of the life of Bob Crow… a tender, bleak, angry, humane, bitter, witty and undefeated album, recorded as live as possible to make sure it sounds like it means it.

IRR088 and IRR089: GENTLE MEN – ROBB JOHNSON AND OTHERS (2013)

Released on Remembrance Day, 11th November 2013. 

Robb’s highly acclaimed “family history of the First World War and its consequences” is available both in a double CD digipack version (IRR088) and as part of a 120-page book version (IRR089). Robb has revisited and revised the song suite, originally commissioned in 1997 for the Passendale Peace Concert, to take into account the experience both of subsequent performances and of recent historical events.

IRR086: BRING DOWN THE MOON – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2013)

“Bring Down the Moon” is the latest album of new songs by Robb Johnson. There are 13 acoustic-guitar based songs, featuring contributions from John Forrester on double bass, Bethan Prosser on violin, Linze Maesterosa on saxophone, Naomy Browton on cello, Jo Chedgey and Imo Bergonzi on vocals, and Robb’s son Arv on drums. The songs also feature a diverse range of inspirations & characters, from 60s folkie Al Stewart to the Beat Generation’s George Whitman, from the radical writer George Tressell and WWI pacifist Alice Wheeldon to a man with a rotweiler on Wigan Wallgate Station, and Brentford striker Clayton Donaldson. The album can only enhance Robb’s reputation as one of the finest UK contemporary songwriters, & with the guest musicians enhancing the performance of the songs, this could well be one of Robb’s finest albums to date.

IRR084: THOUGHTS IN THE DARK – TRACEY CURTIS (2013)

The long-awaited third album from songwriter Tracey Curtis sees her continuing to develop both as a writer and performer, effortlessly combining the personal and the political, with her particular characteristics of anger and warmth, honesty and compassion. This album also sees her duetting with Chumbawamba’s Boff on the co-written “The Cancer Song”. A great album by a great contemporary songwriter.

IRR082: ONCE UPON A TIME – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2011) 
IRRV082V – Vinyl version

The Irregulars now has a twin-guitar, bass and drums line-up, with Tim Sanpher on guitar along with Robb Johnson, and bass and drums provided by the Forrester and Waygood partnership. Roger Watson remains the melodeon player, even though since suffering a stroke in 2010 he is no longer able to play. Without Roger, there is not even the fig-leaf of melodeon-flavoured fFolke Respectability, so this album was released not only on CD but also as a download (from Proper Distribution) and on limited-edition vinyl. “Once Upon a Time” got some pretty ecsatic reviews: “a lean, muscled roots/punk hybrid that echoes The Clash and Oysterband in places … literate, uplifting, sad and beautiful – and full of real tunes to which you can actually sing along” said R2.

IRR080: SOME RECENT PROTEST SONGS – ROBB JOHNSON (2011)

A solo acoustic album from Robb Johnson, incorporating a baker’s dozen of biting songs, including “Goodnight Jerusalem”, “The North West Frontier” and “The Man Who Poked Camilla”. Reviews of the album include: 
“impressive … thoughtful and personal stories of squandered hopes, and laments for a divided Britain” (The Guardian)
“a perfect record for the times” (R2)
“funny, moving and inspiring” (The Morning Star)
“Robb’s typically literate, quirkily individual songs genuinely entertain” (Properganda)

IRR078: CAUSES AND CURES – AL BAKER AND THE DOLE QUEUE (2011)

This album from “Troubacore” pioneer Al Baker offers ten tracks that bring a fresh and sobering look at the issues of the day, yet still inspire passion enough to “make you want to throw a brick through something”. Every track is packed with Al’s trademark intelligent wit, striking lyrical prowess and a powerhouse of a thirteen-member ad hoc backing band.

IRR076: THE GHOST OF LOVE – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2009)

Mary says: “Jesus Christ, I’m pregnant!”

A bleakly humorous, ironic commentary on the festive season, its myths, rituals and realities. Twelve songs that tell the story of Mary, an unmarried mother of God (possibly) from Feltham (definitely), and her relationship with Gary, carpenter and Brentford fan, and their two children, Jay and Jimmy, through the various Christmases they share as their children grow up from 1991 to 2009.

IRR070: WE CAN MAKE THE WORLD STOP – ALUN PARRY (2009)

From Amazon.co.uk reviews:
“Radical singer songwriter Alun Parry hails from Liverpool. He joins a long line of eminent folk singers and songwriters who have emerged from a city that has witnessed bitter political and social struggles and persistent fights against injustice… It would be wrong to portray this album as political polemic. Alun Parry produces songs underpinned by intelligent poetical lyrics combined with tunes and melodies that easily attract and hold the listener. He intersperses the CD with songs of love, passion and family that reflect the warm character and flamboyant characters of Merseyside’s rich – and sometimes tarnished – heritage.”

IRR068: LOVE AND DEATH AND POLITICS – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2008)

From Amazon.co.uk reviews:
“What a fantastic album from one of the best singer-songwriters this country has ever produced. Always one to tweak at both the personal and political heartstrings, with this latest album, Robb Johnson has delivered everything we have come to expect from him, and more! By developing a rocking four piece band, with John Forrester on bass, Roger Watson on squeezebox and Charlie Waygood on drums, Robb Johnson has found a whole new platform for his unique blend of socially conscious folk-rock balladeering. The result is impressive; superb production, excellent music, mind-blowing lyrics and messages that will make you stop and reconsider your place this crazy world.”

IRR066: ALL THAT WAY FOR THIS – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2007)

From Amazon.co.uk reviews:
“Robb Johnson is quite simply the finest songwriter in the English language. I know of no one else who can combine keen observation of the everyday dreariness of working-class life, with rage against the hidden and not-so-hidden injuries of capitalism, with a poetic glimpse of a post-capitalist world of justice and solidarity, with the simple joy of living. If this isn’t Robb’s finest work yet, it’s awfully close to it. I feel like a better person just for listening to it over and over the last few weeks. You will too.”

IRR063: SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE FIRE STATION – ROBB JOHNSON AND THE IRREGULARS (2006)

This is a live recording of Robb’s 50th birthday gig at Windsor Arts Centre. The This is a live recording of Robb’s 50th birthday gig. The 14 songs include current favourites, old favourites and three 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 and Roger Watson, plus two songs where Robb duets with his sons Hari and Arvin, aged 8 and 7 respectively. It’s a noisy, warts’n’all record of a splendid night out.

IRR061: AND FOR MY NEXT TRICK – GEORGE PAPAVGERIS (2006)

George’s second Irregular release is another extremely well-crafted collection of very fine songs and very fine performances. An an album that carries the traditions of folk songwriting alive and singing onwards into the 21st Century.

IRR059: METRO – ROBB JOHNSON (2005)

The album features 15 songs and 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 and Bush), with songs about London, Paris, New York, men, bars, death, loss, love and Berkhamstead.

IRR058: MIRANDA SYKES BAND (2005)

The MSB album follows on the success of her highly acclaimed solo album “Don’t Look Down”, released last year on Irregular. This time, she has assembled a stellar group of musicians to provide the setting for her immaculate vocal talents.

IRR056: FAST LANE ROOGALATOR – FAST LANE ROOGALATOR (2004)

An album of seriously fine songs by the late, great John B Spencer, recorded by a seriously fine rootsy rock band fronted by his sons Tom and Syd Spencer. Featuring contributions from top musos Bobby Valentino on violin, Jamie Matthews on harmonica and Graeme Taylor on various guitars, this is indeed a quality CD.

IRR054: TONY BLAIR: MY PART IN HIS DOWNFALL – ROBB JOHNSON (2004)

This is a double album and contains 29 songs, written since 1997 in response to the Blair regime and all its attendant farces and farragoes, presenting a dissenting view of cool Britannia, the Jubilee, and more wars than any other Prime Minister has presided over.

There’s one CD of 18 acoustic tracks, and one CD of 11 electric tracks. They range in tone from angry to humorous, and deal with subjects as diverse as the death of Princess Di, the changes to the Licensing Laws, September 11th, the war against Iraq and the “state visit” of Dubya. There’s a new version of the National Anthem, and a guest appearance from Leon Rosselson, on the song co-written about decommissioning Trident.

IRR052: DON’T LOOK DOWN – MIRANDA SYKES (2004)

On “Don’t Look Down” Miranda has chosen a fine selection of material representing the best of the ongoing folk tradition. Miranda’s performance is augmented by tasteful contributions from producer John Harris, and Imogen O’Rourke, Richard Garbett and Olly Knight. However this is a very assured debut album that showcases Miranda’s beautiful voice & musicianship. It acknowledges her Lincolnshire roots and her family tradition of involvement in folk music, but it also reflects her position as a young artiste with a growing national reputation.

IRR050: CIRCLE OF LIGHT – MAGGIE HOLLAND (2004)
The fifth solo album from Maggie, with her usual appreciation of a good song, whether trad, self-written, American, English or whatever. This is a far cry from the current crop of wimpy, “sensitive” singer-songwriters.

Simple arrangements allow the words to take centre stage, a hallmark of Maggie’s performance, and themes of time, loss and that old English radical tradition recur throughout the album. 

Maggie’s multi-tracked vocals (and hasn’t her Hampshire accent become stronger during her years of residence in Scotland?) accompanied by picked guitar, delicately frailed banjo and acoustic bass are beautifully accented by the contributions of Malcolm Ross (slide guitar and lap-steel, ex-Josef K, Fire Engines, Orange Juice etc.) and Wendy Weatherby (cello, much in demand musician and solo artist, Lester Simpson, Carol Laula, The Pearlfishers etc.). Anyone familiar with Maggie’s history will not need to be told that the musicianship is first class.

IRR048: CLOCKWORK MUSIC – ROBB JOHNSON (2003)

Robb Johnson’s most recent album, recorded with the fabulous RJ3 musicians, Miranda Sykes on double bass & Saskia Tomkins on violin, viola and cello. Although the album consists of songs written by Robb whilst touring in Germany over the last three years, the songs themselves deal with the usual diverse range of subjects and emotions associated with Johnson’s writing, but they’re also characterised with the developing complexity and maturity of style to be found in his recent English Chanson work.

IRR045: THE TRIUMPH OF HOPE OVER EXPERIENCE – ROBB JOHNSON (2002) [deleted]
The album features songs set in Soho, Broadstairs, Brighton (“London-On-Sea”), Paris, Brentford Football ground, & songs dealing with weddings, paternity, General Pinochet and the delights of supporting Chumbawamba in Whitehaven. With contributions from cabaret diva Barb Jungr, pianist Russell Churney, Quimantu’s Mauricio Venegas, drummer Paul Mullineux, and with RJ3 members Miranda Sykes on bass and vocals and Saskia Tomkins on violin, it is also one of the most ambitious and exciting albums musically that Robb has recorded.

IRR043: 21st CENTURY BLUES – ROBB JOHNSON WITH MIRANDA SYKES & SASKIA TOMKINS (2001) [deleted]

Fifteen tracks by “one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary songwriters, working with two of Britain’s finest acoustic musicians”. The fourteen 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, and 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.

IRR041: YOU’RE ALL WEIRD – THE ASTRONAUTS (1999)
14 tracks plus, from cult band ”The Astronauts”, creative vehicle for songwriter Mark Wilkins, who continue to defy simple-minded categorizations, plundering and merging folk, punk, techno, rap and rock at will, soundtracking Mark’s eloquent, inventive and witty lyrics, and intense, dramatic vocals.

IRR039: BARE – BARB JUNGR (1999)

Twelve songs, ranging from Brel and Piaf to Drury and Ray Davies, and including some fine original material too. A devastatingly beautiful performance by Barb and pianist Russell Churney. Utterly essential.

IRR037: THE BIG WHEEL: THE SECOND XI AND ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS (Cassette) – ROBB JOHNSON (1999) [deleted]

IRR036: THE BIG WHEEL – ROBB JOHNSON (1999) [deleted]

Fourteen 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”, and “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) and Saskia Tomkins (violin & cello).

IRR035: GETTING THERE – MAGGIE HOLLAND (1999)

Fourteen songs, including original songs by Maggie (including “A Place Called England” which June Tabor is already performing), as well as songs by Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan, Dick Gaughan, Robb Johnson, Ralph McTell and Al Stewart. Guest musicians on the album include violinist Fiona Larcombe, multi-instrumentalist Terry Mann, and Oysterband guitarist Alan Prosser.

IRR033: NE ME QUITTE PAS / BREL SONGS BY… (1998) [deleted]

Eighteen new recordings of Jacques Brel songs by a diverse spectrum of artistes, from sixties legends to ex-punks, from folk stalwarts to modernist chansonniers, and then some – all showing that, twenty years after his death, Brel’s songs are as magnificent as ever.

IRR030: GENTLE MEN (double CD) – ROBB JOHNSON (1997) [deleted]

A family history of the First World War, and the long shadows it cast over the rest of the century. Performed by Roy Bailey, Vera Coomans, Robb Johnson, and Koen De Cauter & The Golden Serenaders.

IRR027: OVERNIGHT – ROBB JOHNSON (1996) [deleted]

Fourteen songs, solo voice & acoustic guitar, a re-recording of most of the songs from the original 1991 “Overnight” album recorded with Pip Collings, (IRR011 – not so much deleted as run out of, and long overdue for reissue) but with additional songs – unreleased, unrecorded or from demo cassettes – also included.

IRR025: THE NIGHT CAFÉ – ROBB JOHNSON (1995) [deleted]

Thirteen songs, solo voice and acoustic guitar, from the long dark night-café of the soul.