Kilimanjaro (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Kilimanjaro
Type = Album
Artist = The Teardrop Explodes


Released = October 1980
Recorded = ???
Genre = Post-punk
Length = 39:45
Label = Fontana
Producer = Bill Drummond & David Balfe, as The Chameleons except track 3 Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley, tracks 10 & 12 Mike Howlett
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:mmpyxdjbjols link] |
Last album =
This album = "Kilimanjaro"
(1980)
Next album = "Wilder"
(1981)

"Kilimanjaro" was The Teardrop Explodes' 1980 debut album. When it was originally released, the album featured a shadowy photograph of the band on the sleeve, but this was later changed to a cover showing Mount Kilimanjaro, the mountain after which the record was named. When the album was subsequently released on CD the cover artwork reverted to the original.

The original working title for the album was "Everyone Wants To Shag The Teardrop Explodes". This was later used for the CD release of demos for the band's never-finished third album.

The song "Books" was originally a song by Julian Cope's previous band, The Crucial Three, and was also recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen (as "Read it in Books", released on the b-side of their debut single, and featured on some versions of "Crocodiles").

In 2000 "Q" magazine placed "Kilimanjaro" at number 95 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

2000 Re-Release

In 2000 Cope gave his blessings to re-release the band's two complete albums with a selection of bonus tracks, mainly b-sides from the respective albums singles. The albums featured original artwork, a remastered sound, and full lyrics and essays.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Julian Cope, Gary Dwyer and Michael Finkler; except where indicated

Original 1980 Track-Listing

# "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning"
# "Sleeping Gas" (Cope, Dwyer, Finkler, Paul Simpson)
# "Treason"
# "Second Head"
# "Reward"
# "Poppies In The Field"
# "Went Crazy" (Cope, Finkler)
# "Brave Boys Keep Their Promises"
# "Bouncing Babies"
# "Books" (Cope, Ian McCulloch)
# "The Thief of Baghdad"
# "When I Dream"

The original release did not include "Reward", which was added to later pressings after it became a hit single early in 1981.

2000 Re-Issue Track Listing

# "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning"
# "Sleeping Gas"
# "Treason"
# "Second Head"
# "Poppies In The Field"
# "Went Crazy"
# "Brave Boys Keep Their Promises"
# "Bouncing Babies"
# "Books"
# "The Thief of Baghdad"
# "When I Dream"
# "Reward"
# "Kilimanjaro"
# "Strange House In The Snow"
# "Use Me"
# "Traison (C'est Juste Une Histoire)"
# "Sleeping Gas" (Live)

Personnel

*Julian Cope - vocals, bass
*Alan Gill - guitar
*David Balfe - piano, organ, synthesizer
*Gary Dwyer - drums
*Michael Finkler - guitar except on "Books"
*Hurricane Smith - trumpet on "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning", "Sleeping Gas", "Went Crazy"
*Ray Martinez - trumpet on "Ha-Ha I'm Drowning", "Sleeping Gas", "Went Crazy"
*Hugh Jones - engineer
*Brian Griffin - photography

Audio sample