Performers include: Felt, Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Robert Wyatt, Monochrome Set.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Liner Note Author: Alex Ogg.

Authors: Edward Barton ; Mark Perry & Alternative TV; Rick Brown ; Iain McNay; Robert Lloyd; Lester Noel; Simon Toulson Clarke; Mike Alway; Dick Witts; Kevin Hewick; Martyn Bates; Piero Milesi; Thomas Leer; Tracey Thorn; Peter Becker; Morgan Fisher; Joe Crow; Robert Coyne.

Originally released in 1983 in the U.K. as a double vinyl LP that famously sold for only 99 pence--and subsequently dominated the indie charts for 19 weeks--PILLOWS & PRAYERS has been given the extended box set treatment for its 25th Anniversary release. This version contains not only the originally sequenced record--here on Disc One--but two more extraordinary discs that read as a Who's Who of the post-punk romantics that dotted the Cherry Red roster in the early '80s. Everything But the Girl, Tracey Thorn, Ben Watt, Eyeless in Gaza, the Monochrome Set, Felt, Marine Girls, and the Reflections are among the many heart-on-the-sleeve luminaries compiled here. The tracklist contains mostly early recordings of these seminal artists--many of them previously unavailable on CD. The handsome box also includes a bonus DVD featuring artist videos.

Originally released as a specially-priced LP on Christmas Day 1982, PILLOWS AND PRAYERS was an immediate success, topping the U.K. indie chart for nearly five months and selling over 120,000 copies. As such, the 17-track LP introduced an entire generation of indie kids worldwide to the then fairly obscure Cherry Red Records label, and such artists as Everything But the Girl (whose two members also had a solo track each), Felt, Eyeless In Gaza, and the Monochrome Set. 1984's second volume was originally released only in Japan but included equally beloved gems like Jane's "It's A Fine Day," a melancholy two-minute reverie for an unaccompanied female voice that is one of the archetypes of the twee pop aesthetic. In 2007, Cherry Red celebrated the 25th anniversary of PILLOWS AND PRAYERS by combining both volumes, a third disc of rare and obscure tracks by the same artists (including Everything But the Girl's Tracey Thorn's heartbreaking version of the Monochrome Set's "Goodbye Joe") and a DVD of 10 rare promo videos from the era in a lavishly appointed box with a large and compelling book detailing the story.

Originally released in 1982 on the U.K. Cherry Red label, this compilation was initially sold for 99 pence, a marketing ploy that caused it to stay on the U.K. indie charts at number one for almost five months. Focusing on the famed post-punk/new wave label's earliest recordings from artists like Everything But the Girl ("On My Mind"), Eyeless in Gaza ("No Noise"), Felt ("My Face Is on Fire"), Monochrome Set ("Eine Symphonie des Grauens"), and Marine Girls ("Lazy Ways"), it opens a vivid and eclectic window into the dawn of alternative rock and the death of the U.K. punk scene. ~ James Christopher Monger

Uncut (5/03, p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Art-rockers like Monochrome Set and Fantastic Something stand up well..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.123) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "With such disparate entities as Everything But The Girl, The Misunderstood, Felt and Quentin Crisp contained within, it continues to nail the label's then-ethos perfectly."