NATIONAL ALBUM DAY 2026 – The Farm – Spartacus

Exclusively reissued on CD for the first time in over twenty years, presented in
Deluxe 7″ sized packaging with 2CDs featuring the abum newly mastered,
plus a comprehensive selection of the best of the original era remixes
Also features brand new sleeve notes written by author Kevin Sampson, The Farm’s
former manager.
To celebrate National Album Day and the 2026 theme of ‘Icons’, Demon Records are
proud to present the reissue of the Number One debut album from The Farm featuring
the Top 10 singles ‘All Together Now’ and ‘Groovy Train’ on it’s 35th anniversary.
The Farm had long been flying the flag for terrace chic, anthemic street poetry, training
shoes and street fashion for many years since the mid 1980s, before the music press
finally decided at the start of the 90s that with upstarts like The Happy Mondays it
was de rigueur. Peter Hooton the front man and lead singer had been at the forefront
of music, politics and football fanzine ‘The End’ where he honed his writing skills
writing poems.
Finally the world was catching up; The Farm had been banging their drum from the
start, and now their time had come with all the key pieces falling into place with the
band’s influences from the likes of Buzzcocks, the Clash and the Jam melding with
dance and acid house-influenced grooves.
Originally released fully independently on their own label, Produce Records, the album
was recorded with Madness frontman Graham “Suggs” McPherson as producer, with
another track ‘Tell The Story’ produced by the Housemartins members Paul Heaton
and Stan Cullimore and guest vocals on a number of tracks from Pete Wylie. Terry
Farley a founding editor of Boy’s Own magazine and regular acid house DJ who’d
collaborated with Andrew Weatherall mixed the album.
Not only was competing at the highest level on an independent label hugely unusual
at the start of the 90s, ‘Spartacus’ had to see off competition from the current No.1
Chris Rea’s ‘Auberge’ and The KLF’s ‘White Room’. It was to be an Ibiza clubbing
documentary The Farm had been prominently featured in, ‘A Short Film About Chilling’
that helped get ‘Spartacus’ all the way to No.1 – a feat that bands like Primal Scream,
Happy Mondays, EMF and Electronic, and even U2’s ‘Achtung Baby’ had failed match
in 1991.
1991 saw The Farm selling out live shows, appearing on TV and featuring on the
covers of the NME, The Face, Vox, Sounds and Record Mirror with ‘Spartacus’ making
‘Album of the Month’ in Select and included in the NME and Vox magazine’s ’50
Albums of 1991′ lists. Finally the world HAD caught up.

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LP NAD2026 – TRI COLOUR VINYL Tracks:

Hearts & Minds / How Long / Sweet
Inspiration / Groovy Train / Higher & Higher / Don’t Let Me Down / Family Of Man / Tell
The Story / Very Emotional / All Together Now

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CD2 NAD2026 – 2CD Tracks:

Hearts & Minds / How Long / Sweet Inspiration / Groovy
Train / Higher & Higher / Don’t Let Me Down / Family Of Man / Tell The Story / Very
Emotional / All Together Now / Stepping Stone (Ghost Dance Mix) / Family Of Man
(Ghost Dance Mix) / Stepping Stone (Gary Allan Mix) / Family of Man (Underground
Mix) / Groovy Train (12″ Mix) / Don’t Let Me Down (Terry Farley Mix) / Sweet
Inspiration (Terry Farley Mix) / Higher & Higher (Terry Farley Mix) / Hearts & Minds
(Terry Farley Mix) / Very Emotional (Terry Farley Mix) / Groovy Train (Terry Farley
Mix) / All Together Now (Terry Farley / Pete Heller Mix) / Don’t Let Me Down (Original
Extended Mix) / Groovy Train (Jumped at 3.30am Mark Saunders Mix) / All Together
Now (Rocky & Diesel Mix) / Don’t Let Me Down (Rocky & Diesel Mix) / All Together
Now (Dream Mix