Penis Envy, released in 1981, was the third LP by the anarchist punk band Crass. The album is included as #36 on Rolling Stone's "40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time" list in 2016. The Crassical Collection version of this release, including new artwork by Gee Vaucher, remastered sound, liner notes by Eve Libertine and Penny Rimbaud and bonus material, was released in November 2010.
Background and release
Named as a reference to some of Freud's ideas concerning sexuality, this release marked something of a departure from the somewhat 'macho', 'hardcore punk' image that The Feeding of the 5000 and its follow up, Stations of the Crass, had to some extent given the group, for it featured more obviously complex musical arrangements, as well as exclusively female vocals by Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre. The album addressed feminist issues and once again attacked the institutions of 'the system' such as marriage and sexual repression. One track, not actually listed on the album cover, was a deliberately saccharine parody of a "middle of the road" love song entitled "Our Wedding". This was given away as a flexi disc with a teenage girl's romance magazine called Loving after having been offered it by an organisation calling itself Creative Recording And Sound Services. A minortabloid furore erupted once the hoax was revealed, with the News of the World going so far as to state that the album's title was "too obscene to print".. Now considered a rarity, the original flexi-disc fetches high prices on the collectors' market. The album was banned by the retailer HMV. During the mid-1980s, Greater Manchester Police under the direction of James Anderton seized copies along with other records by Crass and the Dead Kennedys, from Eastern Blocrecord shop. Frank Schofield was charged with displaying "obscene articles for publication for gain". The bandFlux of Pink Indians, its two record labels and its publishing company were also charged under the Obscene Publications Act. The judge ruled against Crass in the ensuing court case, although this decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal, apart from the lyrics to one song, "Bata Motel". The heavy costs incurred by this episode were a contributing factor in Crass deciding to disband.
