I Am a Wallet
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{{Infobox Album | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Albums -->
| Name = I Am A Wallet
| Type = [[Album]]
| Artist = [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]]
| Cover =
| Released = November 1987
| Genre = [[Indie pop]]
| Label = [[September Records]]
| Producer = Trigger
| Reviews =
*[[Allmusic]] {{Rating-5|4}} [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hbfyxq9jldje]
| Last album =
| This album =''I Am A Wallet''<br />(1987)
| Next album =''[[The Enraged Will Inherit The Earth]]''<br />(1989)
}}
'''''I Am A Wallet''''' was the first album by the band [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]], released in November 1987.
After recording three singles, [[In Purgatory]], [[Red Sleeping Beauty]] and [[Frans Hals (song)|Frans Hals]], the first album by [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]] demonstrates three-chord guitar pop reminiscent of [[The Byrds]]. While this form of [[Indie pop]] was widespread in '80s underground [[UK|Britain]], [[McCarthy (band)|McCarthy]] brought left-wing anarchist politics to the genre. Religion is attacked in "God Made the Virus", while the return of [[Voctorian morality|Victorian]] values espoused by [[Margaret Thatcher]] are compared to medieval oppression in "In the Dark Times".
[[I am a Wallet|I Am A Wallet]] has since been described by [[Nicky Wire]] as "the most perfect record, a [[Communist]] manifesto with tunes" [http://www.nickywire.co.uk/wordmojooct04.html]. On the album cover of the 2007 re-release he writes that McCarty "are partly to blame for the realisation of the Manic Street Preachers". [[James Dean Bradfield]] rated [[I Am A Wallet]] as his top [[United Kingdom|British]] album of all time. [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1241254,00.html].
== Track listing ==
#"An MP Speaks" - 2:10
#"Monetaries" - 1:57
#"The International Narcotics Traffic" - 2:25
#"The Way of the World" - 2:28
#"Antinature" - 1:42
#"Charles Windsor" - 1:38
#"The Vision of Peregrine Worsthorne" - 2:50
#"[[The Well Of Loneliness]]" - 2:29
#"The Wicked Palace Revolution" - 2:32
#"God Made the Virus" - 1:40
#"The Funeral" - 1:51
#"A Child Soon in Chains" - 1:46
#"In the Dark Times" - 1:44
#"The Procession of Popular Capitalism" - 3:07
== Re-releases ==
In 1989, the album was re-released on CD with four bonus tracks from ''The Well Of Loneliness'' EP. The tracklisting is:
#"An MP Speaks"
#"Monetaries"
#"The International Narcotics Traffic"
#"The Way of the World"
#"Antinature"
#"Charles Windsor"
#"The Vision of Peregrine Worsthorne"
#"Unfortunately"
#"Bad Dreams"
#"Someone Worse Off"
#"Antiamericancretin"
#"[[The Well Of Loneliness]]"
#"The Wicked Palace Revolution"
#"God Made the Virus"
#"The Funeral"
#"A Child Soon in Chains"
#"In the Dark Times"
#"The Procession of Popular Capitalism"
In 1999, the album was re-released on CD with [[Banking, Violence And The Inner Life Today]]. The tracklisting is:
#"An MP Speaks" - 2:10
#"Monetaries" - 1:57
#"The International Narcotics Traffic" - 2:25
#"The Way of the World" - 2:28
#"Antinature" - 1:42
#"Charles Windsor" - 1:38
#"The Vision of Peregrine Worsthorne" - 2:50
#"[[The Well Of Loneliness]]" - 2:29
#"The Wicked Palace Revolution" - 2:32
#"God Made the Virus" - 1:40
#"The Funeral" - 1:51
#"A Child Soon in Chains" - 1:46
#"In the Dark Times" - 1:44
#"The Procession of Popular Capitalism" - 3:07
#"I'm on the Side of Mankind As Much As the Next Man" - 4:19
#"And Tomorrow the Stock Exchange Will Be the Human Race" - 5:33
#"Now Is the Time for an Iron Hand" - 4:27
#"The Drinking Song of the Merchant Bankers" - 5:55
#"Write Your MP Today" - 3:53
#"Use a Bank I'd Rather Die" - 4:27
#"I Worked Myself Up From Nothing" - 3:40
#"The Well-Fed Point of View" - 3:07
#"[[Get A Knife Between Your Teeth]]" - 3:05
#"Take the Shortest Way with the Men of Violence" - 4:39
#"You'll Have to Put an End to Them" - 2:23
In 2007, the album was re-released on CD again, only in European countries. Tracks 15-23 comprise the bonus tracks. Tracks 15-18 ("Unfortuately", "Bad Dreams", "Someone Worse Off", and "Antiamericancretin") are the added tracks on the 1989 re-release of the album; tracks 19-22 ("The Fall", "The Funeral", "The Enemy Is At Home (For The Fat Lady)", and "The Way Of The World") are from the 1988 12" "This Nelson Rockefeller"; track 23 is from the compilation EP "A La Guillotine". The tracklisting this time around is:
#"An MP Speaks"
#"Monetaries"
#"The International Narcotics Traffic"
#"The Way of the World"
#"Antinature"
#"Charles Windsor"
#"The Vision of Peregrine Worsthorne"
#"The Well Of Loneliness"
#"The Wicked Palace Revolution"
#"God Made The Virus"
#"The Funeral"
#"A Child Soon In Chains"
#"In The Dark Times"
#"The Procession Of Popular Capitalism"
#"Unfortunately"
#"Bad Dreams"
#"Someone Worse Off"
#"Antiamericancretin"
#"The Fall"
#"The Funeral"
#"The Enemy Is At Home (For The Fat Lady)"
#"The Way Of The World"
#"In Purgatory"
== Singles ==
"[[The Well Of Loneliness]]"
== Personnel ==
*[[Malcolm Eden]] – Voice and Guitar
*[[Tim Gane]] – Lead Guitar
*[[John Williamson (musician)|John Williamson]] – Bass Guitar
*[[Gary Baker (musician)|Gary Baker]] – Drums
*John Hymas – Viola
*Andrew Golding – Harpsichord
* Nigel Palmer – Engineer
* Andy Royston – Sleeve Design
[[Category:1987 albums]]