Tom Robinson - Live At Abbey Road (1998)

Another one that cost a pound in a charity shop raid, this is a 1998 concert that Robinson gave at Abbey Road to celebrate the first birthday of the Merlin Network One, a short lived worldwide 24 hours entertainment broadcast net on short wave.

Now an avuncular 6 Music elder statesman DJ, it's forgotten that Robinson was once an angry young man, particularly pioneering gay rights, and continues to campaign in many areas.

I had seen Tom Robinson Band, almost twenty years earlier at the first Rock Against Racism Festival in 1978, where they followed the Clash and Aswad on stage to close the show.

This is an acoustic set, covering the entirety of Robinson's career to date, with a good mix of solo stuff as well as older TRB hits. Up Against The Wall and 2-4-6-8 Motorway make an appearance, as well as Atmospherics, co-written with Peter Gabriel, an updated Glad To Be Gay, and  his biggest solo hit, War Baby.

Best among the later stuff is opening song Living In A Boom Time, and the rollicking Rum Thunderbird, while Robinson's intra-song chat is warm and entertaining.

This is a solid record of a decent live performance by a thoroughly likeable performer, and anyone who's listened to Robinson in the past will enjoy this mix of hits and others.

I couldn't find this album online, but here's footage of a gig from 1991

4* - a fine collection of songs, done well on the night