Billy Childish - 25 Years Of Being Childish [2CD Set] (2002)

25 YEARS OF BEING CHILDISH collects tracks from Billy Childish's 1977 debut with the Pop Rivets, to his late '90s output with the Buff Medways, and everything in between. Sharing only a few songs in common (such as Thee Mighty Caesars' "You Make Me Die" and Thee Headcoats' "All My Feeling Denied") with the 1991 release I AM THE BILLY CHILDISH, this compilation acts almost as its companion. It provides a deeper portrait of his early years (including demos and a scorching live cover of the Small Faces' "Watcha Gonna Do About It"); more cuts by his female counterparts, Thee Headcoatees; and selections from seven more years of '90s material (which in Childish's prolific terms means 50-odd more albums from which to cull songs). A great overview of the Chatham legend, 25 YEARS offers compelling evidence that Childish--a major influence on American trad revisionists from Jon Spencer to Jack White to Jay Reatard--remains the signature artist of modern British garage rock.