High Land, Hard Rain

Recorded on 24 tracks in about three weeks at a studio beside the sea in Eastbourne, with John Brand engineering and co-producing alongside Bernie Clarke. Frame said the rush helped, because you could hear the pressure on the record. He played a £150 Masano, a Japanese copy of a Martin bought shortly before the sessions, and double-tracked it so the two parts drifted slightly apart and sounded more percussive. He also used Syndrums, wanting to try something new. Some songs were old: We Could Send Letters dates from 1979, and Lost Outside the Tunnel had been played by Neutral Blue. Down the Dip was the last written, a deliberate return to basic chords.

Frame told NME in 1982 that the title looked back to the records older brothers owned by Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. It reached 22 in the UK and number one on the independent chart, and charted in the US, Canada and New Zealand. Sounds gave it five stars, and Jon Pareles of The New York Times placed it in a folk-rock revival. Pitchfork's 2014 review called it his most influential record, and Toppermost ranks it among the best British debuts. Domino's 2014 edition added singles, sessions, live tracks and remixes.