In
Chart's three Best Canadian Albums of All Time polls,
Shakespeare My Butt... is one of six albums to have ranked in the top ten all three times, peaking at #6 in the 2000 poll.
John K. Samson of
The Weakerthans wrote the album's blurb in the 2005 poll, citing it as a major influence on his own music. The album was also ranked 84th in
Bob Mersereau's 2007 book
The Top 100 Canadian Albums. The album enjoyed incredible staying power and went Gold in 2008, seventeen years after its release. Hawkins explains: "It came out at a time before Soundscan, I believe. I think we sold 4,000 records off the stage before Victor Page got involved with us. I think they sold in the vicinity of 13,000 copies, but they weren't recognised as being documentable. I think in reality it probably went gold in the late '90s, but was just certified about two years ago (in 2008)." British author
John Donoghue's 2004 book
Shakespeare My Butt!, a humorous travel memoir of quirky destinations in Great Britain, also took its name from the album; Donoghue acknowledges the band's influence in the book, and the cover features a blindfolded image of
William Shakespeare in homage to the blindfolded band photo on the album cover. Two songs from the album ("Letter from Bilbao", "For the Hand of Magdalena") are featured in virtual museum dedicated to the
Spanish Civil War. Vocalist
Ron Hawkins offers commentary on the songs' origins and inspirations on this museum's website.
The Clash and
Manic Street Preachers are other artists featured in the museum. ==Track listing==