Not To
{{Short description|1982 album by Colin Newman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Not To
| type = studio
| artist = Colin Newman
| cover =Colin_Newman_-_Not_To.jpg
| alt =
| released =1982
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Scorpio, London, England
| genre = Post-punk
| length =
| language = English
| label = Beggars Banquet, 4AD
| producer = Colin Newman
| prev_title = Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish
| prev_year = 1981
| next_title = Commercial Suicide
| next_year = 1986
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{AllMusic |id=not-to-mw0000846817 |tab= |title=Not To |last= |first= |author= |access-date=2022-07-08 }}
}}
Not To is the third studio album by Colin Newman, lead singer of post-punk band Wire. It was released in 1982, through record labels Beggars Banquet and 4AD.
Like Newman's first solo record A-Z, much of the material on Not To was reworked from songs intended for Wire's never-completed fourth album, and the other members of Wire, particularly Graham Lewis, are co-credited on several of the songs.
Record label 4AD reissued both Not To and Newman's second solo album, Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish, as a single disc in 1988.{{cite web |url= https://trouserpress.com/reviews/wire/ |title=TrouserPress.com :: Wire |last1= DeRogatis |first1=Jim |last2=Neate |first2=Wilson |website=TrouserPress.com |accessdate=2021-05-31}}
Critical reception
The album received positive reviews. Jim Derogatis and Wilson Neate, writing in Trouser Press, called Newman's solo work "the most rewarding" of any Wire member's projects outside the main band. Discussing A-Z and Not To, they wrote, "Both albums are inventive and full of hooks, and they continue the cinematic style of Chairs Missing and 154. Richard Cook of the British music magazine NME thought the album was a return to form after Newman's first two solo albums, A-Z and Provisionally Entitled the Singing Fish, calling it "icicle-cool pop" and a "reversion to melodic strength, [striking] out a course for singsong appeal without apology," further declaring that Not To, in comparison to what he called the "aimless greyness" of other Wire members' solo works, showed that Newman was "the principal creative force behind Wire."{{cite book|author=Paul Lester|title=Lowdown: The Story of Wire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Za-Qc7wOwfsC|date=11 November 2009|publisher=Music Sales|isbn=978-0-85712-041-0}} AllMusic gave it 3 out of 5 stars but no written review.
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Colin Newman, unless otherwise noted
| headline = Side A
| title1 = Lorries
| length1 = 3:51
| title2 = Don't Bring Me Reminders
| length2 = 3:27
| writer2 = Newman/Lewis
| title3 = You Me and Happy
| length3 = 2:37
| title4 = We Meet Under Tables
| length4 = 3:47
| title5 = Safe
| length5 = 2:34
| writer5 = Newman/Lewis
| title6 = Truculent Yet
| length6 = 3:49
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side B
| title7 = 5/10
| length7 = 3:32
| writer7 = Newman/Lewis/Gilbert/Gotobed
| title8 = 1, 2, 3, Beep Beep
| length8 = 2:14
| title9 = Not To
| length9 = 3:33
| title10 = Indians!
| length10 = 3:05
| writer10 = Newman/Simmons/Gillham/Gotobed
| title11 = Remove for Improvement
| length11 = 4:07
| writer11 = Newman/Gilbert
| title12 = Blue Jay Way
| length12 = 3:11
| writer12 = George Harrison
}}
Personnel
- Robert Gotobed – drums, percussion
- Colin Newman – vocals, guitars, piano, tabla, vibes, percussion
- Simon Gillham – bass, vocals
- Desmond Simmons – guitars, piano, recorder, vocals
- Bruce Gilbert – "guest greatest hits guitar" on "Indians!"
- Colin Newman – producer
- Steve Parker – engineering
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|59032|Not To|type=album}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Colin Newman}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Not To}}