The Infotainment Scan

Track information

The album features covers of the Sister Sledge disco track "Lost in Music" and of Steve Bent's "I'm Going to Spain", an obscure song which Bent performed on the British talent show New Faces in 1974 (Bent's version was included on The World's Worst Record album, compiled by disc jockey Kenny Everett in 1978). The CD edition of The Infotainment Scan also includes "Why Are People Grudgeful?", the only track to be released as a single (albeit in a different version). It is based on two reggae songs: "People Grudgeful" by Joe Gibbs and "People Funny Boy" by Lee "Scratch" Perry.

Of the original compositions on The Infotainment Scan, "Glam-Racket" drew much attention for its alleged criticism of Britpop band Suede, with the lyric "you are entrenched in suede". At the time, Suede were regarded as a "nouveau glam rock" band. "The League of Bald-Headed Men", meanwhile – identified variously as a "jokey conspiracy theory" and a "diatribe against gerontocracy" — appears to borrow its riff from Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop", despite claims by Fall front man Mark E. Smith that he had never heard the band's music. A remix of "The League of Bald-Headed Men", retitled "League Moon Monkey Mix", is also included on the CD edition.

"Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Room" adapts its title from Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room, an episode of The Twilight Zone. Smith had previously borrowed episode titles What You Need and Time Enough at Last (and would later use Kick the Can).

Reissues

The Infotainment Scan was reissued by Artful in 1999 with the same track listing as the original CD editions. It was remastered and expanded to a 2xCD set by Castle Music in 2006 in slightly amended artwork. The first disc followed the original CD album programme, while the second added B-sides, demos, alternate versions and radio sessions.

Legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Personnel

Additional personnel