Ha!-Ha!-Ha!

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For other uses, see Ha Ha Ha (disambiguation).

Ha! Ha! Ha!
Studio album by
Ultravox!
Released14 October 1977
RecordedMay–June 1977
Genre
Length34:40
LabelIsland
ProducerUltravox!, Steve Lillywhite
Ultravox! chronology
Ultravox!
(1977) 		Ha! Ha! Ha!
(1977) 		Retro
(1978)
Singles from Ha! Ha! Ha!
  1. "ROckWrok"
    Released: 7 October 1977
  2. "Quirks (only with initial copies of the album)"
    Released: 14 October 1977
  3. "Frozen Ones (Germany only)"
    Released: 1977
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Record Mirror[2]
Sounds[3]

Ha! Ha! Ha! is the second album by British pop group Ultravox, at that time known as "Ultravox!", with an exclamation mark, as a nod to Neu!. Although the group would later achieve fame and commercial success with lead singer Midge Ure the band was, in 1977, led by singer/songwriter John Foxx who was accompanied by guitarist Stevie Shears, drummer Warren Cann, bassist Chris Cross and keyboard/violist Billy Currie.

Release

Ha! Ha! Ha! was released on 14 October 1977, and was accompanied by lead single "ROckWrok" backed with "Hiroshima Mon Amour", which was released a week earlier. Neither reached the pop charts, although Island Records continued to have faith in the band. As a consequence of the album's confusing typography – it is variously known as Ha!-Ha!-Ha!, -ha!-ha!-ha! and Ha! Ha! Ha! (which is the actual title), the group decided to abandon their exclamation mark for subsequent releases.[4]

Description

Whilst the group's first album had been a product of the

Roland Rhythm 77 (TR-77) drum machine, which appeared on the album's final track, "Hiroshima Mon Amour". This song was the most indicative of the group's later synth-pop direction, and remains both a fan and critical favourite.[5][6]
It was performed on the group's 1978
Old Grey Whistle Test appearance and was covered by the Church on their 1999 covers album A Box of Birds and also by Jan Linton
.

"ROckWrok" was the lead single. An unusually sensual paean to unrestrained sexuality, the song featured a chorus which began "come on, let's tangle in the dark/fuck like a dog, bite like a shark" and lyrics such as "the whole wide world fits hip to hip" – despite which, it apparently achieved airplay on BBC Radio 1 on account of Foxx's garbled vocal delivery and the song's punky guitars.[7]

Other songs included "Fear in the Western World", which was also a punk number, with socially conscious references to contemporary global hot spots including

Roland Rhythm 77 (TR-77) drum machine working a modified bossa-nova preset by drummer Warren Cann, and foreshadowed the music both John Foxx and Ultravox were to make later, apart. In 2012, in an interview with peek-a-boo magazine, John Foxx agreed to say that it was the first synthpop/new-wave song in rock history: "I think no one else had done a song like that before", he said.[8] This was the last album featuring original guitarist Stevie Shears
, who left the band early 1978, after the forthcoming Ha! Ha! Ha! tour.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."
The Frozen Ones"
Foxx4:07
3."Fear in the Western World"Warren Cann, Chris Cross, Billy Currie, Foxx, Stevie Shears4:00
4."Distant Smile"Currie, Foxx5:21
5."The Man Who Dies Every Day"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears4:10
6."Artificial Life"Currie, Foxx4:59
7."While I'm Still Alive"Foxx3:16
8."Hiroshima Mon Amour"Cann, Currie, Foxx5:13
2006 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Young Savage"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears2:56
10."The Man Who Dies Every Day (Remix)"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears4:15
11."Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alternate Version)"Cann, Currie, Foxx4:54
12."Quirks"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears1:40
13."The Man Who Dies Every Day (Live)"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears4:15
14."Young Savage (Live)"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears3:25
Give-away single with first 10000 LPs
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
15."Quirks"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears1:40
16."Modern Love"Cann, Cross, Currie, Foxx, Shears2.31

Personnel

Ultravox!
Additional personnel
  • c.c. (from Gloria Mundi) – saxophone on "Hiroshima Mon Amour"

References

  1. ^ Thompson, Dave. "Ha! Ha! Ha! – Ultravox". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  2. ^ Lott, Tim (19 November 1977). "Ultrah! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Vox". Record Mirror. p. 13.
  3. ^ Silverton, Pete (22 October 1977). "Ultravox!: Ha! Ha! Ha!". Sounds.
  4. ^ "Ultravox interview at tiscali.se". Archived from the original on 11 February 2005.
  5. ^ Grant, Steven; Robbins, Ira; Reno, Brad. "Band history at TrouserPress".
  6. ^ Stratton, Jeff (20 November 2003). "New Times' The Quiet Man". Archived from the original on 4 December 2004.
  7. ^ "Page from ultravox.org.uk" (PDF).
  8. ^ "Page from peek-a-boo-magazine.be".
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