Broken English (album)

Faithfull's immediately preceding albums, Dreamin' My Dreams and Faithless, had been in a relatively gentle folk or country and western style. Broken English was a radical departure, featuring a contemporary fusion of rock, punk, new wave and dance, with liberal use of synthesizers. After years of cigarette smoking, Faithfull's voice was in a lower register, far raspier, and had a more world-weary quality than in the past that matched the often raw emotions expressed in the newer songs.

The backing band of Barry Reynolds, Joe Mavety (guitars), Steve York (bass) and Terry Stannard (drums) had been formed in 1977 to tour Ireland with Faithfull promoting Dreamin' My Dreams.

Marianne Faithfull recounted how Mark Mundy was brought on as the album's producer: "I don't think I could have handled Broken English without a producer. You can't imagine what it was like. There I am with no respect at all within the music business. ... So I found somebody who wanted the break, and that was Mark Mundy. He wanted to be a record producer, and he had some great ideas."[3]

The album's title track took inspiration from terrorist figures of the time, particularly Ulrike Meinhof of the Baader-Meinhof group.[4] "Guilt" was informed by the Catholic upbringing of the singer and her composer Barry Reynolds.[4] "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", originally performed by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, is a melancholy tale of middle class housewife's disillusionment; Faithfull's version became something of an anthem and was used on the soundtracks to the films Montenegro (1981) and Thelma & Louise (1991). "What's the Hurry?" was described by Faithfull as reflecting the everyday desperation of the habitual drug user.[4] Her cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" was recorded as a tribute to her own heroes such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, David Bowie and Iggy Pop, and Lennon himself.[4]

The last track, the six-and-a-half-minute "Why'd Ya Do It?", is a caustic, graphic rant of a woman reacting to her lover's infidelity. The lyrics began with the man's point of view, relating the bitter tirade of his cheated-on lover. It was set to a grinding tune inspired by Jimi Hendrix's recording of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower". Poet and writer Heathcote Williams had originally conceived the lyrics as a piece for Tina Turner to record, but Faithfull succeeded in convincing him that Turner would never record such a number.[4] Its plethora of four-letter words and explicit references to oral sex caused controversy and led to a ban in Australia. Local pressings omitted the track and instead included a 'bonus' 7" single of the extended version of "Broken English" . The ban did not extend to import copies, and the song was also played unedited on the Government-funded Double Jay radio station and Brisbane community broadcaster 4ZZZ. It wasn't until 1988 when Island re-released the album in Australia that "Why D'Ya Do It" was finally included.

The deluxe reissue was released in a cardboard sleeve and features the original album remastered by Jared Hawkes with the first disc consisting only of the original album along with a 12-minute music video directed by Derek Jarman. The film was designed to be shown in theaters and had never been released for home video before.[5]

The second disc features the original mix of the album which, in some cases, sound quite a bit different and, in the case of "Why'd Ya Do It" runs nearly two minutes longer than the album version. Supplemented by single edits, 7, 12 inch remixes and Faithful's re-recorded version of "Sister Morphine", which had previously appeared on a 12-inch release, the second disc with the original mix was Faithful's preferred mix of the album. The original mix receives its release for the very first time as part of this reissue.

The spoken word track "The Letter" (not to be confused with the song by The Box Tops and Joe Cocker) is not included as it was recorded after the album was completed even though it did appear in some countries on the b-side of the 12 inch remix for "Broken English" (the single also included "Sister Morphine").

The 24 page booklet includes photos of the various sleeves and album cover variations that appeared in different countries.

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]
The Guardian	[8]
The Irish Times	[9]
Pitchfork	8.7/10[10]
Record Collector	[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[13]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	9/10[14]
The Village Voice	A−[15]

Faithfull notoriously performed the title track and "Guilt" on Saturday Night Live in February 1980 where her voice cracked and she seemingly strained to even vocalize at times. This less-than-perfect performance, which some have called one of the worst on the live show, has been attributed to everything from her continuing drug use to her nervousness due to her former lover Mick Jagger making contact with her right before the performance.[16] The show was hosted by Chevy Chase. In 1981, Marianne Faithfull was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for this album.

Broken English made #57 in the UK album charts and #82 in the US. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" was released as a single simultaneously with the LP in October 1979. The title track was issued as a single in January 1980. Faithfull included five tracks from the album on her 1990 live recording Blazing Away: "Broken English", "Guilt", "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", "Working Class Hero" and "Why D'Ya Do It". In 1996, "Witches' Song" was covered by Juliana Hatfield for the soundtrack of the film The Craft.

An extended remix of the title track (5:46) was released on 12" vinyl in 1979 and included as a bonus 7" with the Australian pressing. An unofficial remix produced by Baron von Luxxury led to the song being re-added to numerous DJ playlists, including BBC Radio 1, in early 2008.

Notes

• "Why'd Ya Do It" was omitted for a 7" vinyl of the extended version of "Broken English" on the original Australian pressings of the album.

• Marianne Faithfull – vocals
• Barry Reynolds – guitar
• Joe Mavety – guitar
• Steve York – bass
• Terry Stannard – drums
• Dyan Birch - background vocals
• Frankie Collins - background vocals
• Jim Cuomo – saxophone
• Isabella Dulaney - background vocals
• Guy Humphries – guitar
• Morris Pert – percussion
• Darryl Way – violin
• Steve Winwood – keyboards

Technical

• Bob Potter – engineer, mixing
• Ed Thacker – mixing engineer
• Dennis Morris – sleeve photography
• Mark Miller Mundy - arrangement and production

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Bibliography

• Marianne Faithfull with David Dalton (1994). Faithfull: An Autobiography

• Broken English at AllMusic
• Broken English at Discogs (list of releases)