Black Snake Diamond Röle


Black Snake Dîamond Röle is the debut solo album by former Soft Boys frontman Robyn Hitchcock.
Backed on various tracks by his former Soft Boy mates Kimberley Rew, Matthew Seligman and Morris Windsor, Hitchcock confessed satisfaction at being able to record an album with only his own artistic goals to cater to, whereas previously he had been compelled to write for the band. Vince Ely of the Psychedelic Furs, Knox and Pat Collier of the Vibrators, Gary Barnacle and Thomas Dolby also make guest backing appearances. The sessions were recorded from June 1980 to January 1981 at the Barge, Alaska Studios in Waterloo, London, and Music Works with Pat Collier producing.
The ensuing set falls somewhere between the harder edged style of The Soft Boys and Hitchcock's more reflective and melodic work with The Egyptians a few years later. Released in May 1981, the album included ten original Hitchcock compositions. Key tracks include concert favourites "Acid Bird" and the rocker "Brenda's Iron Sledge", plus some of Hitchcock's patent comedy in "Do Policemen Sing?" and "The Man Who Invented Himself".
The album's working title "Zinc Pear" is retained in the cover art, although the title eventually settled on refers instead to the early Soft Boys recording "Black Snake Diamond Rock". The cover art and calligraphy are Hitchcock's work, and the inner sleeve of the LP featured an original, cosmic Hitchcock pen-and-ink comic titled The Enchanted Sewer.
The album has subsequently re-emerged on CD three times, with a mixture of bonus titles, pulled from B sides and outtakes. The 2nd and 3rd CD issues include a different mix of "The Man Who Invented Himself" sans horns, the original master having been lost in the intervening fourteen years.
In 2017, Hitchcock sporadically performed the album in-full live alongside Yo La Tengo.

Track listing

All songs written by Robyn Hitchcock.

Side one

  1. "The Man Who Invented Himself"
  2. "Brenda's Iron Sledge"
  3. "Do Policemen Sing?"
  4. "The Lizard"
  5. "Meat"

    Side two

  6. "Acid Bird"
  7. "I Watch the Cars"
  8. "Out of the Picture"
  9. "City of Shame"
  10. "Love"

    1st CD issue bonus tracks (Aftermath Records 1987)

  11. "Dancing on God's Thumb" - originally B-side to "The Man Who Invented Himself" single, 1981

    2nd CD issue (Rhino Records 1995)

  12. "The Man Who Invented Himself"

    2nd CD issue bonus tracks (Rhino Records 1995)

  13. "Dancing On God's Thumb" - originally B-side to "The Man Who Invented Himself" single, 1981
  14. "Happy the Golden Prince"
  15. "I Watch the Cars 2"
  16. "It Was the Night"
  17. "Grooving on a Inner Plane"

    3rd CD issue bonus tracks (Yep Roc Records 2007)

  18. "All I Wanna Do Is Fall in Love" *
  19. "A Skull, a Suitcase, and a Long Red Bottle of Wine" *
  20. "It Was the Night"
  21. "I Watch the Cars 2"
  22. "Give Me a Spanner Ralph" *
  23. "It's a Mystic Trip" *
  24. "Grooving on a Inner Plane"
  25. "Happy the Golden Prince"
* denotes previous availability on Invisible Hitchcock

Personnel