Robert Fripp

Containing one side of Frippertronics and another, featuring David Byrne plus a rhythm section of Busta Jones and Paul Duskin, of what came to be referred to as Discotronics, the album provides a fascinating snapshot of Fripp's creative endeavours during the Post-Punk era. A 2021 remaster, by David Singleton, of Robert Fripp's seminal 1980 release God Save The Queen / Under Heavy Manners. Unavailable for decades, this CD edition contains two extra tracks, comprising almost half an hour of additional material, one unavailable since the 1990s and the second newly released.

God Save the Queen: by the time Exposure had been released in June 1979, Robert Fripp had already embarked on one of the most unconventional tours to support a new record that had ever been undertaken: record shops, offices, public spaces, canteens, planetariums and, later, some conventional venues and theatres. Accompanied by a tour manager, a Les Paul guitar, a pedalboard, and two Revox tape recorders were packed into a car and they crisscrossed their way across Europe and America. This was, in part, a response to record label Polydor/EG management's allocation of a mere 10,000 dollars as a marketing budget. Using the money as a form of tour support, Fripp took Frippertronics directly to the offices of local record companies, record shops and, most importantly, audiences of fans and casual listeners alike.

Under Heavy Manners: the original side two of the album was given over to the next phase of Fripp's Drive To 1981. Sometimes referred to as Discotronics, Fripp intended to create a bespoke meeting place between Frippertronics' repetitious loops and a pulsating four-to-the-floor beat. With bassist Busta Cherry Jones and drummer Paul Duskin, the trio laid down a taut minimalist groove against Frippertronics loops lifted from the solo tour earlier in the year. The trio line-up was augmented by David Byrne as guest vocalist on the title track.