Broken English
	Produced by Mark Miller Mundy
	Released on October 1979
	UK CHART POSITION #57 . . . US CHART POSITION #82
	Find it at GEMM
90039-1 cover [high resolution scan]

V anilla O’Lay, my ass. Marianne Faithfull was originally packaged as a pretty blonde party doll back in the ‘60s, fell in with the Stones and became a party animal, and by the ‘70s was missing and presumed to have joined the likes of Edie Sedgwick in the list of pretty little girls sucked dry by the decadent vampire known as Fame. Only somehow Marianne managed to claw her way out of the dark woods, and what emerged was a black witch of Patti Smith proportions. Having subsisted on bitter roots for so long, Faithfull doesn’t sing anymore so much as spit poison, but in doing so she attracted a zombie army of would-be punks waiting for a female heroine to lead them into battle. In delicious irony, Mick Jagger becomes the reference point for her new persona, only Faithfull’s might be the bigger pair. There’s no chance at this stage (1980) Jagger could have called a lover’s hand as bluntly as “Why D’Ya Do It,” and only Roger Waters dripped more acid than Faithfull does on “Working Class Hero.” I’m not picking on the Stones here, just pointing out that the little flower they threw away had grown some nasty thorns and was possibly too prickly for even them to handle. That sort of backstory fuels Broken English. The album itself is good, influential for those who may have missed Patti Smith, but not the beginning of a new revolution so much as the induction of one more revolutionary. The spare, stripped-down, punkish sound was already established earlier by artists like Patti Smith and Television. Faithfull is a fascinating focal point for the music, and this is probably where Broken English has the most to say. The way she growls through “Guilt” and “What’s The Hurry” was a revelation; it repels and attracts you at the same time, with the caveat that Faithfull didn’t seem to give a damn anymore about attracting anyone or anything. And so Broken English becomes a wonderfully free record: raw, angry and unapologetic.

90039-1 back cover

TRACK LISTING

1. BROKEN ENGLISH    (Marianne Faithfull/Barry Reynolds/Joe Mavety/Steve York/Terry Stannard)    4:35
2. WITCHES' SONG    (Marianne Faithfull/Barry Reynolds/Joe Mavety/Steve York/Terry Stannard)    4:43
3. BRAIN DRAIN    (Ben Brierley)    4:13
4. GUILT    (Barry Reynolds)    5:05
5. THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN    (Shel Silverstein)    4:09
6. WHAT'S THE HURRY    (Joe Mavety)    3:05
7. WORKING CLASS HERO    (John Lennon)    4:40
8. WHY D'YA DO IT    (Heathcote Williams/Barry Reynolds/Joe Mavety/Steve York/Terry Stannard/Marianne Faithfull)    6:45
   
   Australian bonus 7-inch single
   
1. BROKEN ENGLISH (REMIX)
2. BROKEN ENGLISH (EXTENDED VERSION)

CREDITS

MARIANNE FAITHFULL -- vocals
DIANE BIRCH --
FRANKIE COLLINS --
JIM CUOMO --
ISABELLA DULANEY --
GUY HUMPHRIES --
JOE MAVETY --
MAURICE PERT --
BARRY REYNALDS --
TERRY STANNARD --
DARRYL WAY --
STEVE WINWOOD --
STEVE YORK --
Bob Potter -- engineer
Ed Thacker -- mixing engineer
Dennis Morris -- sleeve photography

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