Billy Bragg - the so-called 'Bard of Barking' - came to widespread attention as a sort of one-man Clash, busking around Britain, with a guitar and portable amp. Having briefly joined the Army, Bragg formed a punk band, Riff Raff, but it was not until he released his first mini-LP, "Life's a Riot" on the small Utility label, that he first troubled ...
I think Tony Blair shocked a lot of people when he said if your heart is with Jeremy Corbyn you need a heart transplant. I'm not interested in a Labour Party that doesn't have a heart. We need politics of the heart. That to me is compassionate politics.
2
It's really a comment on the amount of information we get now; I mean, the ubiquity of the Internet of the 24-hour news cycle - it's constant information all the time, trying to make sense of it. What does it mean if they do find the Higgs Boson? I don't know, you know? They tell us it's incredibly important. Is it incredibly important? So it's really a response on that, talking about the hectoring of the hexperts you know, there's someone every night on telly telling you emphatically what their truth is, how do you weigh that up?
3
This is not a time for celebration. The death of Margaret Thatcher is nothing more than a salient reminder of how Britain got into the mess that we are in today. Of why ordinary working people are no longer able to earn enough from one job to support a family; of why there is a shortage of decent affordable housing... of why cynicism and greed became the hallmarks of our society. Raising a glass to the death of an infirm old lady changes none of this. The only real antidote to cynicism is activism. Don't celebrate - organise!
4
Now I realize I was naive to think The Clash could change the world by singing about it. But it wasn't so much their lyrics as what they stood for and the actions they took. That became really important to me. Phil Collins might write a song about the homeless, but if he doesn't have the action to go with it he's just exploiting that for a subject. I got that from The Clash, and I try to remain true to that tradition as best I can.
5
[on Levon Helm] The greatest singing drummer that ever lived.
6
The Internet allows me to write a topical song on a Friday, debut it on a Saturday, record it on a Sunday and make available for a free download on a Monday.
7
This year I think I'll be voting Liberal Democrat because they've got the best manifesto. I like what they're saying about proportional representation, I like what they're saying about Europe... if I was a floating voter I'd be floating towards them. I think Labour have taken the white working class vote for granted. I think the idea of a three party race is more interesting than a two party race. (In 2010)
8
Everything that was cool about British rock in the '60s, everything from The Beatles, The Stones (The Rolling Stones), The Who, The Small Faces, Led Zeppelin, all those guys learned to play music by playing skiffle. It was open to everyone, it was utterly democratic, it was three chords and the truth.
9
One of the great things about the 1980s was that there was a return to lyrics. Bands like the Smiths were writing more literate pop. Sometimes too much emphasis is put on hook and melody. Some bands' songs are totally vacuous.
10
It is often the songs that have less meaning that people tend to attach their meaning to.
11
The first lyrical poetry that moved me was the final verse of Mr Tambourine Man. That is such a great line of poetry.
12
"Kiss me or would you rather live in a land where the soap won't lather" (lyric)
#
Fact
1
Bragg publicly opposed Paul Simon's decision to record his album Graceland in Apartheid South Africa in the 1980s. When Simon played the first of six nights at London's Royal Albert Hall on April 7 1987, Bragg joined Paul Weller and Jerry Dammers in protesting outside and delivered a letter demanding that Simon give a "complete and heartfelt apology to the UN General Assembly".
2
Supported the Liberal Democrats at the 2010 UK general election.
3
A founding member and a director of the Featured Artists' Coalition, a lobby group launched in 2009 with the aim of giving music artists a greater voice in big decisions in the music industry, from digital deals to copyright law.
4
Winner of the 2007 Q Classic Songwriter Award.
5
One of his albums was produced primarily to pay a large bill to British tax authorities. The album was entitled, appropriately, "Talking With The Taxman About Poetry".
6
West Ham Football club supporter.
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Whatever Happened to Rock 'n' Roll?
2015
TV Movie performer: "Island of No Return" - uncredited
performer: "She's Got a New Spell", "Fourteenth of February", "Must I Paint You a Picture", "You Woke Up My Neighborhood" / writer: "She's Got a New Spell", "Fourteenth of February", "Must I Paint You a Picture", "You Woke Up My Neighborhood"
Mad Love
1995
writer: "As Long As You Hold Me"
From Russia with Rock
1988
Documentary performer: "Get Up, Stand Up"
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Walking and Talking
1996
Screenplay
1993
TV Series 1 episode
Music Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Falling Out
2011
Short musician
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Call Me Lucky
2015
Documentary films clips & stills
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Way of the Morris
2011
Documentary special thanks
Made in Dagenham
2010
thanks
Fossil Detectives
2008
TV Series documentary thanks - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Man in the Camo Jacket
2016
Documentary post-production
Himself
Urban Hymn
2015
completed
Himself
Whatever Happened to Rock 'n' Roll?
2015
TV Movie
Himself
Julia Zemiro's Home Delivery
2015
TV Series documentary
Himself
Glastonbury 2015
2015
TV Series
Himself
Panorama
2010-2015
TV Series documentary
Himself - Panelist (Singer / Activist) / Himself
Call Me Lucky
2015
Documentary
Himself
Walking Through History
2015
TV Series documentary
Himself - Songwriter and Activist
The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
2014
TV Mini-Series
Himself
Newsnight
2010-2014
TV Series
Himself - Contributor / Himself
Billy Bragg Live at the Union Chapel London
2014
Himself
Question Time
1999-2014
TV Series
Himself
Austin City Limits
1999-2013
TV Series documentary
Himself
Loose Women
2013
TV Series
Himself
Q&A
2012
TV Series
Himself - Panelist
Let Fury Have the Hour
2012
Documentary
Himself
Last Shop Standing
2012
Documentary
Himself
Democracy Now!
2011-2012
TV Series
Himself
Punk Britannia
2012
TV Series documentary
Himself
Evidently... John Cooper Clarke
2012
Documentary
Himself - Singer / Songwriter
10 O'Clock Live
2012
TV Series
Himself - Musician
This Week
2010-2011
TV Series
Himself
Way of the Morris
2011
Documentary
Himself
Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune
2010
Documentary
Musician / Activist
Dispatches
2010
TV Series documentary
Himself
Alan Davies' Teenage Revolution
2010
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
I'm in a Rock 'n' Roll Band
2010
TV Series
Himself
Strummerville
2010
Documentary
Himself
The Review Show
2010
TV Series
Himself - Panelist / Performer
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
2009
Documentary
Himself
Breaking Rocks
2009
Documentary
The One Show
2009
TV Series
Himself
The Wright Stuff
2007-2008
TV Series
Himself - Guest Panelist
Fossil Detectives
2008
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Interface
2008
TV Series
The Andrew Marr Show
2008
TV Series
Himself - Musician
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
2002-2008
TV Series
Himself
Q with Jian Ghomeshi
2008
TV Series
Himself - Guest
British Film Forever
2007
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
The Sunday Programme
2007
TV Series
Himself
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2006-2007
TV Series
Himself - Guest / Himself - Musical Guest
Canada A.M.
2006
TV Series
Himself
Folk Britannia
2006
TV Series documentary
Himself
Glastonbury
2006
Documentary
Himself
Breakfast
2005
TV Series
Himself
If I Were Prime Minister
2005
TV Short
Himself
This Machine Kills Fascists
2005
Video documentary
Narrator
Channel 4 News
2004
TV Series
Himself
Get Up, Stand Up
2003
TV Series documentary
Himself - Interviewee
Enough Rope with Andrew Denton
2003
TV Series
Himself
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
1996-2002
TV Series
Himself
The Punk Years
2002
TV Series documentary
Himself
Jonathan Dimbleby
1997-2002
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Audience Member
Top of the Pops
1985-2002
TV Series
Himself
Hazel Dickens: It's Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song
2002
Documentary
Himself
Freedom Highway: Songs that Shaped a Century
2001
Documentary
Himself
Vote 2001
2001
TV Movie
Himself
The Life and Lyrics of Kirsty MacColl
2001
TV Special documentary
Himself
The Internationale
2000
Documentary short
Himself
Late Show with David Letterman
1998-2000
TV Series
Himself
Man in the Sand
1999
Video documentary
Himself
Unzipped
1999
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Panel
1999
TV Series
Himself
The Great Hunger: The Life and Songs of Shane MacGowan
$5 Million
No!