Too Many Cowboys is the second double-album and first live album to be released by Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

 anarchist punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

 band The Ex. Released in 1987, Too Many Cowboys was the first of the Ex's records to be issued simultaneously in more than one country, having been released on the band's own Ex Records in the Netherlands, by Ron Johnson Records

Ron Johnson Records

Ron Johnson Records was an UK independent record label based in Long Eaton operating between 1983 and 1988. The label contributed five tracks to the NME's C86 compilation. Run by Dave Parsons, the label released records by artists such as Big Flame, The Shrubs, A Witness, The Great Leap Forward,...

 in England, and by Mordam Records

Mordam Records

Mordam Records was a Sacramento, California record distribution company for independent record labels. It was originally founded in San Francisco in 1983 as an independent punk distribution company by Ruth Schwartz...

 in the United States.

In addition to material not available on any other Ex release, the album contains live versions of songs previously found on the band's double-single/book about the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 and from their then-forthcoming Peel Sessions compilation album, as well as a cover version of "Vivisection" by seminal communist Dutch punks The Rondos. The original vinyl

Gramophone record

A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

 double-LP came packed with newsprint posters and comics designed by members of the band and their friends. The Ex reissued Too Many Cowboys on CD in 1993.

Track listing

1. "Red + Black"
2. "White Shirts"
3. "Adversit"
4. "People Again"
5. "Knock mp3"
6. "Hands Up! You're Free"
7. "Ignorance"
8. "Butter or Bombs"
9. "Dumbo"
10. "How Can One Sell the Air"
11. "Business as Usual"
12. "Olympigs"
13. "Choice"
14. "A Job"
15. "Stupid"
16. "Oops"
17. "No Fear"
18. "Vivisection" (by The Rondos)
19. "A Piece of Paper"
20. "They Shall Not Pass"

Personnel and recording

• Terrie (guitar)
• G.W. Sok (vocals)
• Luc (bass)
• John (vocals)
• Katrin (drums)

Recorded partly live and partly at Emma's Koeienverhuurbedrijf, Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Netherlands.
Produced by Dolf Planteijdt.