Albums that made me - "Disgraceful" by Dubstar

 

Yes, that cover. That's the version I own - not the tastefully redressed "Bunny Slipper" copy of this incredible album, but the one that looks vaguely like...something. Damn, it's been so long since I've seen one I've forgotten the name of it. You know what I mean though.

Dubstar's debut album "Disgraceful" arrived in 1995, slap bang in the middle of one of the best and worst years of my life. I was working in London at the time, about to quit a high paid IT job to grub around in Brighton as an art student - that was the 'good' bit. I was in love with, and about to marry someone who was an alcoholic, who would put me off drinking alcohol for life, and would teach me valuable lessons about listening to someone when they tell you that they're basically trash and you should run away from them as quickly as your little legs could carry you. That was the bad bit. 

But this album was my soundtrack for that year, glued into a portable CD player that I bought before I left London with the last of my earnings before student life scoffed through the rest, too poor to buy any other music (and selling off a lot of my other CDs left right and centre to scrape some cash together for weekly food bills). But this survived, and nearly 30 years on (I nearly typed '20' then, the 90s still feels like the last decade!) I still can't help myself but listen to it. It still makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. 

Steve Hillier, Chris Wilkie and Sarah Blackwood are a mighty force to be reckoned with, and this album came to my attention because the first track released from the album, the chirpy chart and radio-friendly "Anywhere" was played incessantly just about anywhere ironically. It hit all the right buttons for me. Soaring synths and guitar stuff, Sarah's northern-lass voice (I am and forever will be a sucker for that accent) and unexpected twists, clanks, boshes and hooks - it's just irresistible. They even manage to totally own a Billy Bragg cover (not a fan of Mr Bragg to be honest, but most folk who cover his music always seem to do a far better job of making them listenable for me at least). 

"Stars" is a crowd-pleasing opener, with plenty of hooky electronic noises that would become Dubstar's trademark, and a good thumping beat that gets going like the engine of a classic car - slow start but then  shifts into high gear to set you up for "Anywhere" which is as close to an 'anthem' as I got back when this was released. 

Full track listing for the album (with running times): 

1. "Stars" – 4:09
2. "Anywhere" (Hillier, Chris Wilkie) – 3:39
3. "Just a Girl She Said" (Sarah Blackwood, Hillier, Wilkie) – 4:39
4. "Elevator Song" – 2:54
5. "The Day I See You Again" – 4:20
6. "Week in Week Out" (Blackwood, Hillier, Wilkie) – 4:28
7. "Not So Manic Now" (Mason) – 4:29
8. "Popdorian" – 2:53
9. "Not Once, Not Ever" – 3:50
10. "St. Swithin's Day" (Bragg) – 4:01
11. "Disgraceful" – 3:50

Not a single 'filler' track among them (though obviously I'm horribly biased). 

My battered CD copy (scratched but still plays, though the cover art and spine have faded gently in the sun) along with that battered portable CD player accompanied me to the studio when I was working away on various art projects, accompanied me as I strolled along Brighton beachfront, realising that at that point in time, that was 'home' and it always would feel like home (even though now I detest what has happened to the place). "Disgraceful" is superb and I'm so glad to see Dubstar making a comeback now with even more amazing music. 

I ended up buying a lot of the CD singles for tracks released from this album (along with glorious B sides - "Unchained Monologue is probaby one of my favourite Dubstar tracks). 

YET this isn't my favourite Dubstar album, oh no sireee. It's definitely the one that got me through a crazy and chaotic time and for that, and with the memory that each and every one of these tracks brings to the fore, it deserves a place in my "Albums that made me" list.