Robert Wyatt

condition (record/cover): NM / VG+ (light ring wear and edges wear and creasing) 

The 1984 US Rough Trade (San Francisco) edition (catalogued RTSP 25), a compilation gathering the Robert Wyatt Rough Trade single sides from 1982-1984 that postdated the Nothing Can Stop Us compilation. Licensed from Rough Trade London and manufactured/distributed in the US, the album collects the 1982-83 singles ("Shipbuilding", "Round Midnight", "Memories Of You", "Amber & The Amberines") plus the politically charged 1983-84 covers ("Biko", "Te Recuerdo Amanda", "Yolanda", "You're Wondering Now").

The centerpiece is Elvis Costello and Clive Langer's "Shipbuilding", which Wyatt recorded for Rough Trade in August 1982 in response to the Falklands War. The song's first 1982 release failed to chart, but its April 1983 re-release reached number 35 in the UK Singles Chart, marking the first ever UK Top 40 entry for Rough Trade. The remaining material extends the Nothing Can Stop Us method: Peter Gabriel's "Biko", Victor Jara's "Te Recuerdo Amanda", Pablo Milanés' "Yolanda" (Cuban nueva trova), plus a hidden track at the end of side B. The arrangements are typically spare, with Wyatt's voice carrying the entire weight against minimal keyboards and bass.

The original vintage Rough Trade US pressing on RTSP 25, licensed from UK Rough Trade and pressed in the US for the American Rough Trade distribution operation. Alfreda Benge (Wyatt's longtime partner) provided the cover painting. Track A4 is wrongly titled "Amber And Amberines" on the back sleeve; track B3 composer "Pablo Milanés" is misspelled "Pablo Milanos" / "Milanese". A standard companion to Nothing Can Stop Us.