When I Was Born for the 7th Time

When I Was Born for the 7th Time
Studio album by Cornershop
Released	8 September 1997
Studio	657 Holloway Road, London Eastcote Studios, London Sun Plantation, San Francisco West Orange Studios, Preston, Lancashire
Genre	Indie rock electronica raga rock Britpop[1] avant-pop[2]
Length	54:12
Label	Wiiija
Producer	Tjinder Singh, Dan the Automator, Daddy Rappaport
Cornershop chronology
Woman's Gotta Have It (1995) When I Was Born for the 7th Time (1997) Handcream for a Generation (2002)

When I Was Born for the 7th Time is the third studio album by the English indie rock band Cornershop, released on 8 September 1997 by Wiiija. The album received high acclaim from music critics and features the international hit single "Brimful of Asha".

Recording and release

When I Was Born for the 7th Time was recorded over a period of approximately two months.^[3] Singer and guitarist Tjinder Singh described the recording process as "very intense. There was a lot of smoking going on, it was a very relaxed time, and very enjoyable all the way through. At the end, our engineer had to go for medical assistance. He got freaked out. He smoked so much and then he stopped and he went loopy. He was on medication. His body couldn't take it."^[3] The album was released on 8 September 1997 by the independent record label Wiiija.^[4] The song "Brimful of Asha" was released as a single and became an international hit. The track "Candyman" was used in a Nike commercial featuring LeBron James, while "Good Shit" was featured in a commercial for Target with the chorus being altered to read "Good Stuff ..."; in the single release and in the video played on MTV Europe the title was "Good Ships". As of February 2002, the album has sold 198,000 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Chicago Tribune	[6]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A[7]
Entertainment Weekly	B[8]
The Guardian	[9]
NME	6/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]
Select	4/5[3]
Spin	9/10[13]

When I Was Born for the 7th Time received high acclaim from music critics. Writing for Rolling Stone, Neva Chonin opined that the album "is a cohesive, finely crafted LP in which the last album's low-fi funk expands into low, fat grooves, and Singh's pancultural, anti-racist lyrics become more sophisticated but no less impassioned."^[11] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it "an international pop so seamless that its fusion of alt-rock, Punjabi melody, hip hop, and what-all is subsumed into its own song-based catchiness".^[14] In 1998, the album was ranked at number three in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1997.^[15] Similarly, Spin journalists placed the album at number one in their list of Top 20 Albums of the Year.^[16] In 2000, Q magazine placed the album at number 68 in its list of 100 Greatest British Albums.^[17] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[18]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Tjinder Singh unless otherwise noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sleep on the Left Side"		4:06
2.	"Brimful of Asha"		5:17
3.	"Butter the Soul"		3:19
4.	"Chocolat"		1:24
5.	"We're in Yr Corner"		5:47
6.	"Funky Days Are Back Again"		3:41
7.	"What Is Happening?"	Tjinder Singh, Ben Ayres	2:15
8.	"When the Light Appears Boy" (featuring Allen Ginsberg)	Allen Ginsberg, Tjinder Singh	2:41
9.	"Coming Up"		1:03
10.	"Good Shit"		4:40
11.	"Good to Be on the Road Back Home" (with Paula Frazer)		5:45
12.	"It's Indian Tobacco My Friend"		4:51
13.	"Candyman" (with Justin Warfield)	Larry Coryell, Tjinder Singh	3:49
14.	"State Troopers"		3:07
15.	"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"	John Lennon, Paul McCartney	2:27

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's album notes.^[19]

Cornershop Tjinder Singh – vocals, guitar, scratching, dholki Ben Ayres – tamboura, guitar, keyboards Anthony Saffery – sitar, harmonium, keyboards Nick Simms – drums Peter Bengry – percussion Additional musicians Robert Buller – strings ("Brimful of Asha") Elizabeth Johnson – strings ("Brimful of Asha") Grace Winder – strings ("Brimful of Asha") Allen Ginsberg – vocals ("When the Light Appears Boy") Lourdes Belart – vocals ("Good Shit") Paula Frazer – vocals ("Good to Be on the Road Back Home") Ray Dickaty – flute ("Good to Be on the Road Back Home") Justin Warfield – rapping ("Candyman")

Technical Tjinder Singh – production (tracks 1., 2., 4. – 12., 14., 15.) Dan the Automator – production (tracks 1., 10., 13.) Daddy Rappaport – production (track 3.) Alan Gregson – engineering Philip Bagenal – engineering Mike Marsh – mastering Deborah Norcross – art direction and design Catalina Gonzales – front cover photography Thomas Bayrle – inside illustration Frank Maddocks – afro illustration

Charts

Chart performance for When I Was Born for the 7th Time

Chart (1997–1998)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[20]	81
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21]	12
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22]	22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23]	60
UK Albums (OCC)[24]	17

Certifications

Certifications for When I Was Born for the 7th Time

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Gold	100,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Barker, Emily (21 July 2014). "30 Glorious Britpop Albums That Deserve A Reissue Pronto". NME. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
2. "New on CD". The Burlington Free Press: 53. 1 January 1998. Retrieved 4 November 2022. On their third full-length release, Djinder Singh and the lads in Cornershop have made a nearly-perfect avant-pop album of transnational scope...
3. Harrison, Ian (October 1997). "Ill Reincarnation: Forget all memories of lo-fi losers, Cornershop are the British Beastie Boys ...". Select. No. 87.
4. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "When I Was Born for the 7th Time – Cornershop". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
5. "Cornershop Tease New Set With 24-Hour Remix". Billboard. 12 February 2002. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
6. Kot, Greg (19 September 1997). "Cornershop: When I Was Born for the 7th Time (Luaka Bop)". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
7. Christgau, Robert (October 2000). "Cornershop: When I Was Born for the Seventh Time". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312245603. Archived from the original on 7 August 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
8. Browne, David (6 September 1997). "When I Was Born for the 7th Time". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
9. Hodgkinson, Tom (5 September 1997). "Tjinder sticks". The Guardian.
10. Moody, Paul (9 June 1997). "Cornershop – When I Was Born For The 7th Time". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
11. Chonin, Neva (5 August 1997). "When I Was Born for the 7th Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2006.
12. McLeod, Kembrew (November 2004). "Cornershop". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Fireside Books. p. 192. ISBN 978-0743201698.
13. Davis, Erik (September 1997). "Cornershop: When I Was Born for the 7th Time". Spin. Vol. 13, no. 6. p. 153. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
14. Christgau, Robert (4 November 1997). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
15. "The 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 24 February 1998. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
16. Aaron, Charles (January 1998). "Top 20 Albums of the Year". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 1. p. 86. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
17. "100 Greatest British Albums". Q. No. 165. June 2000. p. 65.
18. Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
19. When I Was Born for the 7th Time (CD booklet). Cornershop. Wiiija. 1997. WIJCD 1065.
20. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 66.
21. "Charts.nz – Cornershop – When I Was Born for the 7th Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
22. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
23. "Swedishcharts.com – Cornershop – When I Was Born for the 7th Time". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
24. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
25. "British album certifications – Cornershop – When I Was Born for the Seventh Time". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 January 2019.

External links

• When I Was Born for the 7th Time at Discogs (list of releases)