First-ever legitimate anthology of British toytown pop, a much-loved sub-genre among
Issued at the start of 1967, the Beatles’ single ‘Penny Lane’ coupled a widescreen production (bolstered by a phalanx of session musicians on brass and woodwind) with a mildly hallucinogenic lyric populated by mundane characters going about their unremarkable suburban lives.
It proved to be an enormously influential record. For the next year or two, British pop was awash with records that married quasi-classical arrangements with newly-minted fairy tales and character vignettes based around the grey everyday lives of ordinary small-town folk.
Celebration of hitherto unheralded ’60s genre
Many years later, this burst of English eccentricity came to be known in collector circles as toytown pop – a pseudo-genre that took in everything from Jeff Lynne‘s early band The Idle Race and Deram-era David Bowie to backroom auteurs like Mark Wirtz, whose ambitious ‘Teenage Opera’ project inspired the young Andrew Lloyd Webber, who provided similarly over-the-top arrangements for CBS hopefuls Cardboard Orchestra.
Featuring 87 excerpts from various pre-teenage operas, ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout!’ is a 3CD celebration of the toytown pop experience. It includes contributions from the key players as well as many obscure delights and some huge rarities, including a hitherto-unreleased track from Wirtz’s aborted ‘Teenage Opera’ project.
With four hours of music housed in a clamshell box featuring a lavish 48-page booklet, ‘Climb Aboard My Roundabout!’ is an invitation that very few late 60s pop aficionados will be able to resist.
Four-hour compilation with 87 tracks including hits, misses, rarities and previously unreleased
Track Listing:
DISC ONE
1 THE SKELETON AND THE ROUNDABOUT (mono single mix) – The Idle Race
2 JENNY ARTICHOKE – Kaleidoscope
3 CUDDLY TOY – Fruit Machine
4 PHENOMENAL CAT – The Kinks
5 LITTLE LESLEY – The Alan Bown!
6 EMILY SMALL (THE HUGE WORLD THEREOF) – The Picadilly Line
7 MAN IN THE TEAPOT – Fire
8 MR LIGHT – John Carter and Mickey Keen
9 THE DUBIOUS CIRCUS COMPANY – Clifford T. Ward
10 ICE CREAM MAN (alternative version) – Kidrock
11 LOLLIPOP MINDS – Wimple Winch
12 PETER’S BIRTHDAY (BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOWS) – World Of Oz
13 HA! HA! SAID THE CLOWN – Tony Hazzard
14 SAD SIMON LIVES AGAIN – Tim Andrews
15 UNCLE JOE, THE ICE CREAM MAN – The Mindbenders
16 PHOEBE’S FLOWER SHOP – The Cortinas
17 COPLINGTON – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades
18 COLOUR SERGEANT LILLYWHITE – West Coast Consortium
19 OUR FAIRY TALE – The Herd
20 TEENAGE LOVE SONG – Hetherington
21 EBANEEZER BEAVER (demo version) – The Mirage
22 FAIRY TALE (demo version) – The Next Collection
23 BROTHER JACK – Barry Wigley
24 TRAFALGAR SQUARE – The Good Time Losers
25 SADIE AND HER MAGIC MR. GALAHAD – The New Generation
26 MARJORY DAW – Morning Glory
27 THE LAST PERFORMANCE OF THE ROYAL REGIMENTAL VERY VICTORIOUS AND VALIANT BAND – The Syn
28 RAINBOW ROCKING CHAIR – Majority One
29 EXCERPT FROM “A TEENAGE OPERA” – Keith West
DISC TWO
1 LAVENDER POPCORN – Scrugg
2 KNOCKING NAILS INTO MY HOUSE – Ambrose Slade
3 MR JOB – Jigsaw
4 UNCLE ARTHUR – David Bowie
5 THE BITTER THOUGHTS OF LITTLE JANE – Timon
6 CELLOPHANE MARY JANE – Astronaut Alan and The Planets
7 MR KIPLING – Tuesday’s Children
8 IT’S THE BEST SEASIDE IN THE WORLD – Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon
9 AND NOW FOR A LITTLE TRAIN NUMBER – Kenny Everett
10 GLORIOUS HOUSE OF ARTHUR – Fairfield Parlour
11 LAUGHING BOY FROM NOWHERE – Simon Dupree and The Big Sound
12 AUNTIE MARY’S DRESS SHOP – Tomorrow
13 THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE – The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
14 JAMES IN THE BASEMENT – Denis Couldry
15 TALES OF FLOSSIE FILLETT – Turquoise
16 MY BEST FRIEND – The Picadilly Line
17 HAPPINESS IS TOY-SHAPED – Harmony Grass
18 BIRMINGHAM BRASS BAND – The Bullring
19 WATCHMAKER – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades
20 ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS – Timothy Blue
21 AFTER TEA – Spencer Davis Group
22 DREAM DREAM DREAM – Kidrock
23 LEMON PIE FAIR – Complex
24 UNCLE HENRY’S MAGIC GARDEN – David Matthews
25 BRIC-A-BRAC MAN – Bill Niles
26 WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE* (full version) – Chas Mills and Mark Wirtz
27 EVERYBODY LOVES THE CLOWN – Nirvana
28 SHARKEY – Christopher
29 POOR JOHNNY – The Secrets
30 FAIRGROUND – Pure Gold
31 TOY SOLDIER – The Riot Squad
DISC THREE
1 (HE’S OUR DEAR OLD) WEATHERMAN – Mark Wirtz
2 ZEBEDY ZAK – Cardboard Orchestra
3 FLORENCE – Tapestry
4 MR MOODY’S GARDEN – Gilbert O’Sullivan
5 MUTINY – The Alan Bown!
6 UPTIGHT BASIL – Magic Valley
7 BANG BANG – Kidrock
8 TOYMAKER – Wild Silk
9 LANTERNLIGHT – Peter and The Wolves
10 LOVE AND THE BIG BRASS BAND – Dave Christie
11 PICCOLO MAN – Friends
12 UWE AUS DUISBERG – The Hi-Fis
13 EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK – Tony Rivers and The Castaways
14 THE HAPPY KING – Music Box
15 MRS DAISY – Tintern Abbey
16 MRS MURPHY’S BUDGERIGAR – Blossom Toes
17 ANNIE’S PLACE – Gene Latter
18 GLASSHOUSE GREEN, SPLINTER RED – John Pantry
19 HENRY EVERYDAY* – Timothy Blue
20 DEAR OLD MRS BELL – The Shadows
21 MR NICE GUY – Dragonmilk
22 MISTER WHITE’S WHITE FLYING MACHINE (album version) – Ayshea
23 MAGIC SHOES (demo) – Fire
24 KING OF THE CASTLE – Jason Crest
25 THROUGH MY TELESCOPE – Marty Wilde
26 TIME TO GO HOME – The Tots
27 THE SAD STORY OF SIMON AND HIS BUGLE* (correct version) – Mark Wirtz