Back to Basics is a 1987 collection of Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg

Stephen William Bragg , better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes...

's first three releases: The albums Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy and Brewing Up with Billy Bragg

Brewing Up with Billy Bragg

Brewing Up with Billy Bragg is the second album by Billy Bragg, released in 1984.While his debut album Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy was performed by Bragg accompanied only by his guitar, Brewing Up with Billy Bragg began to use subtle overdubs, such as backing vocals on "Love Gets Dangerous",...

and the EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 Between The Wars

Between the Wars EP

Between the Wars was an extended play released by Billy Bragg in 1985. It reached #15 on the UK Singles Chart.The title track was inspired by the UK miners' strike...

. This collection did not contain any new material, but did document Billy Bragg's early "one man and his guitar" approach. The songs collected on this release demonstrate major recurrent themes in Bragg's work: highly critical commentary on Thatcherite

Thatcherism

Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...

 Britain, laced with poetic love songs. The collection was re-released in November 1993 on the Cooking Vinyl

Cooking Vinyl

Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...

 label.

Track listing

1. "The Milkman of Human Kindness" (Life's a Riot)
2. "To Have and To Have Not" (Life's a Riot)
3. "Richard" (Life's a Riot)
4. "Lovers Town Revisited" (Life's a Riot)
5. "A New England
   A New England
   Kirsty MacColl recorded the song the year after its release by Bragg, produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite.. It was her biggest solo hit - reaching #7 in the UK Singles Chart and #8 in the Irish Singles Chart....
   
   " (Life's a Riot)
6. "The Man in the Iron Mask" (Life's a Riot)
7. "The Busy Girl Buys Beauty" (Life's a Riot)
8. "It Says Here" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
9. "Love Gets Dangerous" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
10. "The Myth of Trust" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
11. "From a Vauxhall Velox" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
12. "The Saturday Boy" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
13. "Island of No Return" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
14. "St Swithin's Day" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
15. "Like Soldiers Do" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
16. "This Guitar Says Sorry" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
17. "Strange Things Happen" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
18. "A Lover Sings" (Brewing Up With Billy Bragg)
19. "Between the Wars" (Between The Wars)
20. "World Turned Upside Down
    Diggers' Song
    The "Diggers' Song" is a 17th century ballad, in terms of content a protest song concerned with land rights, inspired by the Diggers movement, composed by Gerrard Winstanley. The lyrics were published in 1894 by the Camden Society...
    
    " (Between The Wars)
21. "Which Side Are You On?
    Which Side Are You On?
    "Which Side Are You On?" is a song written by Florence Reece in 1931. Reece was the wife of Sam Reece, a union organizer for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1931, the miners of that region were locked in a bitter and violent struggle with the mine owners. In an attempt to...
    
    " (Between The Wars)