I Wanna Go Backwards is a Robyn Hitchcock box set released in 2007 on Yep Roc Records. The set contains reissues of three of Hitchcock's albums, each with bonus tracks, and also a two-disc rarities set, While Thatcher Mauled Britain. The set consists of five CDs, and was also released as a limited edition of eight vinyl LPs.
Disc 1 â" Black Snake Dîamond Röle
The first disc of the set consists of Hitchcock's first album, Black Snake Dîamond Röle, originally released in 1981. Tracks 1-10 comprise the original album, and tracks 11-18 are bonus tracks.
- "The Man Who Invented Himself"
- "Brenda's Iron Sledge"
- "Do Policemen Sing?"
- "The Lizard"
- "Meat"
- "Acid Bird"
- "I Watch The Cars"
- "Out of the Picture"
- "City of Shame"
- "Love"
- "All I Wanna Do is Fall in Love"
- "A Skull, a Suitcase & a Long Red Bottle of Wine"
- "It Was The Night"
- "I Watch The Cars No. 2"
- "Give Me a Spanner Ralph"
- "It's a Mystic Trip"
- "Grooving On a Inner Plane"
- "Happy The Golden Prince"
Disc 2 â" I Often Dream of Trains
The second disc contains Hitchcock's third album, I Often Dream of Trains, originally released in 1984. Tracks 1-14 comprise the original album, and tracks 15-24 are bonus tracks.
- "Nocturne (prelude)"
- "Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl"
- "Cathedral"
- "Uncorrected Personality Traits"
- "Sounds Great When You're Dead"
- "Flavour of Light"
- "Ye Sleeping Nights of Jesus"
- "This Could Be The Day"
- "Trams of Old London"
- "Furry Green Atom Bowl"
- "Heart Full of Leaves"
- "Autumn Is Your Last Chance"
- "I Often Dream of Trains"
- "Nocturne (Demise)"
- "Winter Love"
- "The Bones in the Ground"
- "My Favourite Buildings"
- "I Used To Say I Love You"
- "Chant/Aether"
- "Heart Full of Leaves" (Alternate)
- "I Often Dream of Trains" (Demo)
- "Not Even a Nurse"
- "Slow Chant/That's Fantastic Mother Church"
- "Traveller's Fare"
Disc 3 â" Eye
The third disc contains Hitchcock's 1990 album, Eye. Tracks 1-17 comprise the original CD version of the album, and tracks 18-21 are bonus tracks. The original CD release also contained a track called "College of Ice", which is instead included on disc 5 of I Wanna Go Backwards.
- "Cynthia Mask"
- "Certainly Cliquot"
- "Queen Elvis"
- "Flesh Cartoons"
- "Chinese Water Python"
- "Executioner"
- "Linctus House"
- "Sweet Ghost of Light"
- "Transparent Lover"
- "Beautiful Girl"
- "Clean Steve"
- "Raining Twilight Coast"
- "Agony of Pleasure"
- "Glass Hotel"
- "Satellite"
- "Aquarium"
- "Queen Elvis II"
- "Century"
- "Shimmering Distant Love"
- "Lovers Turn to Skulls"
- "The Beauty of Earl's Court"
Disc 4 â" While Thatcher Mauled Britain
Disc 4 is a rarities disc compiled for this set.
- "She Reached for a Light"
- "August Hair"
- "Take Your Knife Out Of My Back"
- "Fiend Before The Shrine"
- "Raymond Chandler Evening"
- "Birdshead"
- "Victorian Squid"
- "You've Got"
- "Captain Dry"
- "Raining Twilight Coast" (Demo)
- "Point It at Gran"
- "Vegetable Friend"
- "Flesh Number 1"
- "Surgery"
- "I Got a Message For You"
- "If I Could Look"
- "Parachutes & Jellyfish"
- "Queen Elvis" (Demo)
- "Nothing"
- "Stranded in the Future"
- "Melting Arthur"
- "The Abandoned Brain"
- "You're So Repulsive"
- "Opiatrescence"
Disc 5 â" While Thatcher Mauled Britain
Disc 5 is a second disc of rarities compiled for this set.
- "September Cones"
- "Lovely Golden Villains"
- "Dr Sticky" (live)
- "Toadboy"
- "Trash"
- "Pit of Souls" (Country Version)
- "Mr Deadly"
- "Let There Be More Darkness"
- "Listening To The Higsons"
- "College of Ice"
- "My Favourite Buildings" (Demo)
- "Lightplug"
- "Sleeping Knights of Jesus" (Demo)
- "Insect Mother"
- "I Wanna Go Backwards"
Sources
- http://store.yeproc.com/album.php?id=12810
- http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/46008-robyn-hitchcock-looks-ibackwardi-on-retrospective