View source for Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One)
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Alternative TV]]
| cover        = Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One) cover.jpg
| alt          =
| released     = {{start date|1979|03|02|df=y}}
| recorded     = October–November 1978
| venue        =
| studio       = [[Pathway Studios]], London
| genre        = {{flatlist|
* [[Experimental music|Experimental]]
* [[post-punk]]
}}
| length       = {{Duration|m=38|s=47}}
| label        = Deptford Fun City
| producer     = {{flatlist|
* Dennis Burns
* [[Mark Perry (musician)|Mark Perry]]
}}
| prev_title   = [[The Image Has Cracked]]
| prev_year    = 1978
| next_title   = [[Strange Kicks]]
| next_year    = 1981
}}
{{italic title|noerror|all=yes}}
'''''Vibing Up the Senile Man (Part One)''''' is the second studio album by English rock band [[Alternative TV]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Tony |title=Boy About Town |date=2013 |publisher=Random House |page=163}}</ref> It was released in March 1979 by record label Deptford Fun City.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gimarc |first1=George |title=Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970-1982 |date=2005 |publisher=Backbeat Books |page=191}}</ref> The band followed a more experimental and [[avant-garde]] approach than on ''[[The Image Has Cracked]]'' (1978).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Dave |title=Alternative Rock |date=2000 |publisher=Miller Freeman Books |page=22}}</ref>
== Recording ==
The album's tracks were all reportedly recorded in a single take.<ref name="Reynolds">{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984 |date=2009 |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=9780571252275 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dK-F43T8V0wC&q=%22vibing+up+the+senile+man%22&pg=PT92 |accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref>
== Musical style ==
Regarding its musical style, Alternative TV frontman [[Mark Perry (musician)|Mark Perry]] recalled: "There are [[free jazz]] influences; I'd got into the [[Art Ensemble of Chicago]], [[Sun Ra]] [...] I'd moved into this house with an amazing music room – pianos, clarinets, you name it – and we'd always be picking up stuff from junk shops."<ref name="Reynolds"/>
== Reception ==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="McFarlane">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/vibing-up-the-senile-man-mw0000052910 |title=''Vibing Up the Senile Man'' – Alternative TV <nowiki>| Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards |</nowiki> AllMusic |last=McFarlane |first=Dean |website=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=16 February 2015}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[The New Rolling Stone Record Guide]]''
| rev2score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Dave |last2=Swenson |first2=John |date=12 October 1983 |title=The New Rolling Stone Record Guide |page=10 |publisher=Rolling Stone Press |isbn=9780394721071 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpXkSKRpMg0C&q=%22vibing+up+the+senile+man%22 |accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref>
}}
According to Simon Reynolds in ''[[Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984]]'', the album received a "uniformly hostile" response from reviewers upon its release.<ref name="Reynolds"/> ''[[Trouser Press]]'' described the record as being "up the pseudo-avant creek without a paddle".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=alternative_tv |title=Alternative TV |last1=Lamey |first1=Charles P. |last2=Green |first2=Jim |work=[[Trouser Press|trouserpress.com]] |accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref>
In his retrospective review of the album, Dean McFarlane of [[AllMusic]] noted that "... Mark Perry and friends did to punk exactly what the movement had intended for the establishment", asking, "... who would have expected a follow-up [to ''The Image Has Cracked''] as avant-garde abstraction ...?" He goes on to state that "Vibing Up the Senile Man became closer to free improvisation and avant-garde jazz without a punk anthem in sight ..." and continuing that what it "... represents two decades later is a door opening on multi-faceted post-rock music -- which draws on avant-garde, noise, and jazz and arguably makes more sense in the context of year 2000 as a musical treasure much more than in 1980 ...".<ref name="McFarlane"/>
== Legacy ==
Paul Hegarty, in ''Noise Music: A History'', described the album as "forming the bridge into [[industrial music]]".<ref>{{cite book |last=Hegarty |first=Paul |title=Noise Music: A History |date=September 2007 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |page=101 |isbn=9780826417275 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MSsJAQAAMAAJ&q=%22vibing+up+the+senile+man%22 |accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref>
The record was placed at number 19 on ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of readers' choice of 50 "Weirdest Albums".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mojo4music.com/14604/mojo-readers-50-weirdest-albums/ |title=Even Weirder: ''Mojo'' Readers' Weirdest Albums |date=15 May 2014 |work=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref>
== Track listing ==
{{track listing
| headline = Side A
| title1 = Release the Natives
| writer1 = [[Mark Perry (musician)|Mark Perry]]
| length1 = 4:02
| title2 = Serpentine Gallery
| writer2 = Dennis Burns, Perry
| length2 = 2:24
| title3 = Poor Association
| writer3 = Perry
| length3 = 1:49
| title4 = The Radio Story
| writer4 = Burns, Perry
| length4 = 7:48
| title5 = Facing Up to the Facts
| writer5 = Perry
| length5 = 4:08
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side B
| title1 = The Good Missionary
| writer1 = Perry
| length1 = 7:17
| title2 = Graves of Deluxe Green
| writer2 = Perry
| length2 = 2:58
| title3 = Smile in the Day
| writer3 = Burns, Perry
| length3 = 8:21
}}
== Personnel ==
; Alternative TV
* [[Mark Perry (musician)|Mark Perry]] – all other instruments, [[record producer|production]]
* Dennis Burns – all other instruments, production
; Additional personnel
* Mick Linehan – guitar on "Release the Natives" and "The Good Missionary"
* Steve Jameson – third voice on "Smile in the Day"
* [[Genesis P. Orridge]] - percussion on "Release the Natives", "Serpentine Gallery" and "Graves of Deluxe Green"
; Technical
* Wally Brill – [[audio engineering|engineering]], production, "vibing"
* [[Jill Furmanovsky]] – cover photography, sleeve layout
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|10414}}
{{Alternative TV}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1979 albums]]
[[Category:Experimental music albums]]
[[Category:Alternative TV albums]]