Label: Soul Jazz
Reissued 6/7/2024, Originally released 2001
Unavailable for over 20 years, In The Beginning There Was Rhythm was Soul Jazz Records first foray into post-punk and punk-funk in the UK and captures the ground-breaking and seminal groups that crossed the divide of punk and dance music for the first time. // "In the Beginning is essentially missing-link history – and body-rockin' fun" The Guardian // "In the Beginning doesn't have a single limp tune. It'll amaze new listeners and give old ones some hard-to-find tracks. Buy it." Pitchfork // "There's no denying that In the Beginning There Was Rhythm is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era." All Music // First released in 2001, this album is fully remastered, remade and presented once more in its entirety and features A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, The Human League, The Pop Group, Gang of Four, The Slits, 23 Skidoo and This Heat. // The CD format of the album comes with extensive sleevenotes and original photography. // As Muzik magazine noted on its initial release 'In The Beginning' is a choice selection from the fertile post-punk period when bands thought nothing of combining politics and philosophy with imported dance rhythms and edgy industrial angst. // The bands featured come (mostly) from the then bleak post-industrial North of England – Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds as well as Bristol and London, and yet all show a fascination with black American rhythms and an experimentation in sound that was completely unique at the time. // The title of the album comes from The Slits track of the same name.
Track listing:
- A Certain Ratio– Shack Up
- 23 Skidoo– Coup
- Gang Of Four– To Hell With Poverty
- The Human League– Being Boiled
- The Slits– In The Beginning There Was Rhythm
- This Heat– 24-Track Loop
- Throbbing Gristle– 20 Jazz Funk Greats
- A Certain Ratio– Knife Slits Water
- Cabaret Voltaire– Sluggin Fer Jesus
- The Pop Group– She's Beyond Good And Evil
- 23 Skidoo– Vegas El Bandito