VIA PRESS RELEASE | A Certain Ratio has announced details of the latest release in their reissue campaign: Live in America, a 10-track album that captures the exuberance of their 1985 tour of America. It will be out on vinyl, CD, and digitally on August 8, 2025, via Mute.
Originally available as a self-released cassette the band sold on tour the following year, the album compiles performances from ACR’s summer 1985 tour of North America with then (and current!) labelmates New Order when both artists were on Factory Records. The line-up documented on the album consists of Andrew Connell – keyboards, Donald Johnson – drums and vocals, Jez Kerr – bass and vocals, Martin Moscrop – guitar and trumpet, and Anthony Quigley – sax. That same lineup went on to release Force the following year, shortly before Connell left to concentrate on Swing Out Sister.
The band’s sheer joy in their performance is evidenced across the release, charting what sounded like an intense tour across North America only a few years into their career. They explain: “The tour was fun and we were very well looked after by New Order and especially Rob Gretton, New Order’s manager. Rob always made sure that we were well fed and watered and would fulfill any request we had. Sometimes the promoters wouldn’t want us to eat in the same swanky restaurants as New Order due to costs and because we were the ‘warm up’ act. When this happened Rob would just tell them that he would pay for ACR. He watched our performances every night and gave us his opinion on how he thought it went. He was one of our biggest fans, and we miss him dearly.”
Live in America was recorded at: Felt Forum, NYC; Opera House, Boston; Agora Theatre, Akron; Bismarck Theater, Chicago, and Warner Theatre, Washington DC. A Certain Ratio Live in America is available on August 8, 2025 on vinyl, CD and limited cassette. Pre-order HERE.
