Gotta Let This Hen Out! is a live recording of Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians

Robyn Hitchcock

Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....

 recorded in April 1985, shortly after the group had come together for Fegmania!

Fegmania!

Fegmania! is a 1985 album by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians.Fegmania! was Robyn Hitchcock's first album with his new backing group, the Egyptians, which included former Soft Boys Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor....

.

The set was recorded at the Marquee

Marquee Club

The Marquee was a music club first located at 165 Oxford Street, London, England when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts.It was also the location of the first ever live performance by The Rolling Stones on 12 July 1962....

 and the tapes cleaned up for release at Alaska Studios with minor drop-in overdubs. The gig was also videotaped and appeared on VHS with a few additional numbers, interspersed with several studio recordings available through their promo videos.

The material selected for this album includes titles ranging through Hitchcock's back catalogue, from Soft Boys songs ("Kingdom Of Love", "The Face Of Death") through his first solo album ("Acid Bird", "Brenda's Iron Sledge") and up to the recently released Fegmania!

Fegmania!

Fegmania! is a 1985 album by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians.Fegmania! was Robyn Hitchcock's first album with his new backing group, the Egyptians, which included former Soft Boys Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor....

("Heaven", "My Wife and My Dead Wife"). The live recording captures the new band just it was defining its sound and fairly documents the highlights of Hitchcock's live set and musical focus in the mid-1980s.

The cover features a painting by Hitchcock depicting airborne fish, jellyfish and an array of ducks and chickens. As with a number of his albums, Hitchcock handwrote the liner notes. The album title is taken from the lyric of the song "Listening to the Higsons

The Higsons

The Higsons were an English funk-punk band popular in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.-History:Founded in 1980 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, The Higsons' first recording was on the Norwich - A Fine City compilation album. The band signed to the 2 Tone Records label, along with bands...

", the penultimate track on the album. Hitchcock has stated that this lyric comes from mishearing a Higsons song with the lyric "Gotta let this heat out."

The Midnight CD issue adds "Egyptian Cream", "The Fly", and a staple of his live sets, the Soft Boys' "Only the Stones Remain", as does the 1995 Rhino reissue. The Yep Roc issue adds a further 5 tracks from a June 1989 gig at The Ritz, New York.

Side one

1. "Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl" (2:03)
2. "Kingdom of Love" (4:04)
3. "Acid Bird" (4:25)
4. "The Cars She Used to Drive" (2:44)
5. "My Wife and My Dead Wife" (3:54)
6. "Brenda's Iron Sledge" (2:57)

Side two

1. "Leppo and the Jooves" (4:52)
2. "America" (4:08)
3. "Heaven" (3:40)
4. "Listening to the Higsons
   The Higsons
   The Higsons were an English funk-punk band popular in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.-History:Founded in 1980 at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, The Higsons' first recording was on the Norwich - A Fine City compilation album. The band signed to the 2 Tone Records label, along with bands...
   
   " (2:36)
5. "The Face of Death" (3:13)

1st CD issue bonus tracks (Midnight Records 1986)

1. "The Fly"
2. "Only the Stones Remain"
3. "Egyptian Cream"

2nd CD issue bonus tracks (Rhino Records 1995)

1. "The Fly"
2. "Only the Stones Remain"
3. "Egyptian Cream"

3rd CD issue bonus tracks (Yep Roc Records 2008)

1. "The Fly"
2. "Only the Stones Remain"
3. "Egyptian Cream"
4. "If You Were A Priest"
5. "Freeze"
6. "I'm Only You"
7. "Unsettled"
8. "Egyptian Cream 2"

Sleeve erroneously omits last track "Egyptian Cream 2", and as such, lists the 'new' bonus tracks as 14-18 not 15-19.

Personnel

• Robyn Hitchcock
  Robyn Hitchcock
  Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
  
   - Vocals, guitar
• Roger Jackson - Keyboards
• Andy Metcalfe - Bass, vocals
• Morris Windsor - Drums, ice cream
  Ice cream
  Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...