Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Sound 1967-1974

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More Info Issued at the start of 1967, Beatles’ single ‘Penny Lane’ coupled a widescreen production (bolstered by a phalanx of session musicians on brass and woodwind) with a mildl y 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.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. Tracklist DISC ONE1 THE SKELETON AND THE ROUNDABOUT (mono single mix) – The Idle Race2 JENNY ARTICHOKE – Kaleidoscope3 CUDDLY TOY – Fruit Machine4 PHENOMENAL CAT – The Kinks5 LITTLE LESLEY – The Alan Bown!6 EMILY SMALL (THE HUGE WORLD THEREOF) – The Picadilly Line7 MAN IN THE TEAPOT – Fire8 MR LIGHT – John Carter and Mickey Keen9 THE DUBIOUS CIRCUS COMPANY – Clifford T. Ward10 ICE CREAM MAN (alternative version) – Kidrock11 LOLLIPOP MINDS – Wimple Winch12 PETER’S BIRTHDAY (BLACK AND WHITE RAINBOWS) – World Of Oz13 HA! HA! SAID THE CLOWN – Tony Hazzard14 SAD SIMON LIVES AGAIN – Tim Andrews15 UNCLE JOE, THE ICE CREAM MAN – The Mindbenders16 PHOEBE’S FLOWER SHOP – The Cortinas17 COPLINGTON – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades18 COLOUR SERGEANT LILLYWHITE – West Coast Consortium19 OUR FAIRY TALE – The Herd20 TEENAGE LOVE SONG – Hetherington21 EBANEEZER BEAVER (demo version) – The Mirage22 FAIRY TALE (demo version) – The Next Collection23 BROTHER JACK – Barry Wigley24 TRAFALGAR SQUARE – The Good Time Losers25 SADIE AND HER MAGIC MR. GALAHAD – The New Generation26 MARJORY DAW – Morning Glory27 THE LAST PERFORMANCE OF THE ROYAL REGIMENTAL VERY VICTORIOUS AND VALIANT BAND – The Syn28 RAINBOW ROCKING CHAIR – Majority One29 EXCERPT FROM “A TEENAGE OPERA” – Keith WestDISC TWO1 LAVENDER POPCORN – Scrugg2 KNOCKING NAILS INTO MY HOUSE – Ambrose Slade3 MR JOB – Jigsaw4 UNCLE ARTHUR – David Bowie5 THE BITTER THOUGHTS OF LITTLE JANE – Timon6 CELLOPHANE MARY JANE – Astronaut Alan and The Planets7 MR KIPLING – Tuesday’s Children8 IT’S THE BEST SEASIDE IN THE WORLD – Frabjoy and Runcible Spoon9 AND NOW FOR A LITTLE TRAIN NUMBER – Kenny Everett10 GLORIOUS HOUSE OF ARTHUR – Fairfield Parlour11 LAUGHING BOY FROM NOWHERE – Simon Dupree and The Big Sound12 AUNTIE MARY’S DRESS SHOP – Tomorrow13 THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE – The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band14 JAMES IN THE BASEMENT – Denis Couldry15 TALES OF FLOSSIE FILLETT – Turquoise16 MY BEST FRIEND – The Picadilly Line17 HAPPINESS IS TOY-SHAPED – Harmony Grass18 BIRMINGHAM BRASS BAND – The Bullring19 WATCHMAKER – Persimmon’s Peculiar Shades20 ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS – Timothy Blue21 AFTER TEA – Spencer Davis Group22 DREAM DREAM DREAM – Kidrock23 LEMON PIE FAIR – Complex24 UNCLE HENRY’S MAGIC GARDEN – David Matthews25 BRIC-A-BRAC MAN – Bill Niles26 WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE* (full version) – Chas Mills and Mark Wirtz27 EVERYBODY LOVES THE CLOWN – Nirvana28 SHARKEY – Christopher29 POOR JOHNNY – The Secrets30 FAIRGROUND – Pure Gold31 TOY SOLDIER – The Riot SquadDISC THREE1 (HE’S OUR DEAR OLD) WEATHERMAN – Mark Wirtz2 ZEBEDY ZAK – Cardboard Orchestra3 FLORENCE – Tapestry4 MR MOODY’S GARDEN – Gilbert O’Sullivan5 MUTINY – The Alan Bown!6 UPTIGHT BASIL – Magic Valley7 BANG BANG – Kidrock8 TOYMAKER – Wild Silk9 LANTERNLIGHT – Peter and The Wolves10 LOVE AND THE BIG BRASS BAND – Dave Christie11 PICCOLO MAN – Friends12 UWE AUS DUISBERG – The Hi-Fis13 EINER KLEINER MISER MUSIK – Tony Rivers and The Castaways14 THE HAPPY KING – Music Box15 MRS DAISY – Tintern Abbey16 MRS MURPHY’S BUDGERIGAR – Blossom Toes17 ANNIE’S PLACE – Gene Latter18 GLASSHOUSE GREEN, SPLINTER RED – John Pantry19 HENRY EVERYDAY* – Timothy Blue20 DEAR OLD MRS BELL – The Shadows21 MR NICE GUY – Dragonmilk22 MISTER WHITE’S WHITE FLYING MACHINE (album version) – Ayshea23 MAGIC SHOES (demo) – Fire24 KING OF THE CASTLE – Jason Crest25 THROUGH MY TELESCOPE – Marty Wilde26 TIME TO GO HOME – The Tots27 THE SAD STORY OF SIMON AND HIS BUGLE* (correct version) – Mark Wirtz Show more