Best Before 1984 is a compilation of Crass

Crass

Crass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...

' singles and other tracks, released in 1986, including lyrics and a booklet ("...In Which Crass Voluntarily 'Blow Their Own'") which details the history of the band in their own words. The album was named in reference to the notion that 1984 was the band's 'sell by date', the year that they had often publicly stated that they would split up. Indeed the band ceased gigging and recording in that year.

According to a blog on the Southern Records

Southern Records

Southern Records is an independent record label closely associated with Crass Records, Corpus Christi Records and Dischord Records. It is based in London and previously had offices in Chicago , Le Havre and Berlin .Southern was originally a recording studio owned and operated by John Loder...

 website, there are plans to release an expanded edition of "Best Before 1984", which will include currently unavailable material (such as the "Merry Crassmas" and "Whodunnit?" singles) and rarities, in the same vein as the 'Crassical Collection' editions of the band's albums which are currently being released. However, no release date or definite plans have been provided as of October 2010.

Track listing

1. "Do They Owe Us a Living?"
2. "Major General Despair"
3. "Angela Rippon"
4. "Reality Asylum"
5. "Shaved Women"
6. "Bloody Revolutions"
7. "Nagasaki Nightmare"
8. "Big A Little A"
9. "Rival Tribal Rebel Revel"
10. "Sheep Farming In The Falklands (Flexi)"
11. "How Does It Feel?"
12. "The Immortal Death"
13. "Don't Tell Me You Care"
14. "Sheep Farming In The Falklands"
15. "Gotcha"
16. "You're Already Dead"
17. "Nagasaki Is Yesterday's Dog-End"
18. "Don't Get Caught"
19. "Smash The Mac"
20. "Do They Owe Us A Living? (Live in Aberdare
    Aberdare
    Aberdare is an industrial town in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dare and Cynon. The population at the census was 31,705...
    
     from last gig)"

Song Origins

Tracks 1-3 are from an early recording session on the 27th of February, 1978.

Tracks 4 and 5 are from the "Reality Asylum" single, released in 1979.

Track 6 is from the "Bloody Revolutions / Persons Unknown" split single with Poison Girls

Poison Girls

The Poison Girls were an English anarcho-punk band. The female singer/guitarist, Vi Subversa, was a middle-aged mother of two at the band's inception, and wrote songs that explored sexuality and gender roles, usually from an anarchist perspective...

, released in 1980.

Tracks 7 and 8 are from the "Nagasaki Nightmare" single, released 1980.

Track 9 is from the "Rival Tribal Rebel Revel" flexi-single, released in 1980 (later released on 7" vinyl).

Track 10 is from an anti-war flexi-single released anonymously in 1982.

Tracks 11-13 are from the "How Does It Feel (To Be The Mother Of A Thousand Dead)?" single, released in 1982.

Tracks 14 and 15 are from the "Sheep Farming In The Falklands" single, released in 1983.

Tracks 16-18 are from the band's final single, "You're Already Dead", released in 1984.

Track 19 is previously unreleased.

Track 20 was recorded live at the band's final gig at Aberdare in 1984. A full copy of the gig is in existence, but it is bad quality.