Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy

The seven songs were recorded from 2 to 4 February 1983 at Chappell Music's demo studio on Park Street, with in-house producer Oliver Hitch. They went straight to tape with no mixing. Every song is Bragg singing over his electric guitar. The title alludes to Spy vs Spy, the name he used when busking. Utility, a new Charisma imprint, issued it on 1 July 1983, and Go! Discs reissued it on 11 November 1983. The cassette carried music on one side only, and the blank side was inscribed to tell fans to use it for bootlegging.

The original record played at 45 rpm and lasted 15 minutes 57 seconds. It was not classed as an EP because of the number of tracks, so it qualified for the UK Albums Chart, where it reached 30 in March 1985. The songs mix political pieces such as To Have and to Have Not, an attack on the school system and unemployment, with love songs such as The Milkman of Human Kindness and A New England.

Reception and reissues

Jim Reid of Record Mirror called it the return of the street corner singer-songwriter. NME listed it as the third-best album of 1983 and in 2013 ranked it 440 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Douglas Wolk of Rolling Stone wrote that it slashed through the overwrought pop goop of 1983.

A remastered edition came out in 2006 with a bonus disc of alternative versions and unreleased material compiled by Grant Showbiz. For the 30th anniversary in October 2013 the remastered tracks were paired with a live performance of the album recorded at the Union Chapel in London on 5 June 2013.