Label: Soul Jazz

Reissued 6/7/2024, Originally released 2001

Unavailable for over 20 years, In The Beginning There Was Rhythm was Soul Jazz Records first foray into post-punk and punk-funk in the UK and captures the ground-breaking and seminal groups that crossed the divide of punk and dance music for the first time. // "In the Beginning is essentially missing-link history – and body-rockin' fun" The Guardian // "In the Beginning doesn't have a single limp tune. It'll amaze new listeners and give old ones some hard-to-find tracks. Buy it." Pitchfork // "There's no denying that In the Beginning There Was Rhythm is a great gateway into this expansive, fruitful, trailblazing era." All Music // First released in 2001, this album is fully remastered, remade and presented once more in its entirety and features A Certain Ratio, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, The Human League, The Pop Group, Gang of Four, The Slits, 23 Skidoo and This Heat. // The CD format of the album comes with extensive sleevenotes and original photography. // As Muzik magazine noted on its initial release 'In The Beginning' is a choice selection from the fertile post-punk period when bands thought nothing of combining politics and philosophy with imported dance rhythms and edgy industrial angst. // The bands featured come (mostly) from the then bleak post-industrial North of England – Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds as well as Bristol and London, and yet all show a fascination with black American rhythms and an experimentation in sound that was completely unique at the time. // The title of the album comes from The Slits track of the same name.

Track listing:

1. A Certain Ratio– Shack Up 
2. 23 Skidoo– Coup 
3. Gang Of Four– To Hell With Poverty 
4. The Human League– Being Boiled 
5. The Slits– In The Beginning There Was Rhythm 
6. This Heat– 24-Track Loop 
7. Throbbing Gristle– 20 Jazz Funk Greats 
8. A Certain Ratio– Knife Slits Water 
9. Cabaret Voltaire– Sluggin Fer Jesus
10. The Pop Group– She's Beyond Good And Evil 
11. 23 Skidoo– Vegas El Bandito