Respect is the title of an album by 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....

 and the Egyptians, released on A&M in 1993.

Background

"Respect" is the group's fourth and final studio album under contract to A&M, and Hitchcock's last record with the Egyptians. The album contains ten Hitchcock originals.

The album features a Hitchcock oil painting on its front cover entitled "Red Lemon Days", which was the original title for the album. The release also features a Hitchcock penned short story "Moose Mark and the Prince of Cones" in its inlay.

The album was written and recorded in the period following the death of Hitchcock's father, and several songs reference this explicitly, particularly the opening track.

Recording

The album was recorded on a mobile recording unit at Hitchcock's then home in Yarmouth

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. Hitchcock explained the decision by saying, "I've never really cared much for going in and recording in the studio, so it seemed like the easiest solution was to have the studio come to record with us." The band rehearsed at the house over the summer and then when it came time to record, the group and their respective wives, family and friends all stayed at the house while production took place. Most of the recording was done in the living room, where the furniture had been removed and carpets pulled up. The kitchen was chosen for the vocals because of its good acoustics.

Hitchcock has said that he doesn't like the record. Although he thinks the songs are good he wasn't happy with the end result. He partly blames this on how unsettled his life was at that time, saying: "I was ... at a bit of a fault line in my life. I was going back and forth across the Atlantic all the time, and wasn’t really properly focused on how it came out." The extended time it took to record the album meant that he lost focus and since then has made a point of making records in short two or three day bursts.

Track listing

1. "The Yip Song" — 3:08
2. "Arms Of Love" — 4:19
3. "The Moon Inside" — 4:28
4. "Railway Shoes" — 3:35
5. "When I Was Dead" — 3:34
6. "The Wreck Of The Arthur Lee" — 3:29
7. "Driving Aloud (Radio Storm)" — 3:59
8. "Serpent At The Gates Of Wisdom" — 4:09
9. "Then You're Dust" — 2:30
10. "Wafflehead" — 4:03

Personnel

• Robyn Hitchcock - vocals, guitar, harmonica and phone calls, vocal bass drum on "Wafflehead"
• Andy Metcalfe - harmonies, bass, keyboards, computer, water jug on "Wafflehead", wine glasses and harmony serpent guitar on "Arms of Love"
• Morris Windsor - harmonies, digital drums, percussion, cheese grater on "Wafflehead", sauce and frying pans on "Driving Aloud", acoustic 12-string on "Then You're Dust"

Additional Personnel

• Roddy Lorrimer - Trumpet on "Arms of Love" and "The Wreck of the Arthur Lee"
• Bill Lyons - Shawm on "When I Was Dead"
• Electra Strings on "The Wreck of the Arthur Lee" and "The Yip Song"

Electra Strings:

• Sonia Slany - 1st violin
• Ann Wood - 2nd violin
• Jocelyn Pook - Viola
• Caroline Lavelle - Cello