When the Beatles released "Penny Lane" in early 1967, it struck a tinkling, twinkling chord with a generation of budding English eccentrics, oddballs, and bandwagon jumpers. Suddenly everyone and their Uncle Arthur embraced music hall-inspired, psychedelically inclined vignettes about little old ladies, tottling trains, precocious kiddies, and other topics previously deemed not very "rock & roll." It was a rock-ribbed group indeed who could withstand the urge to join in; even the mighty Stones fell prey to the charms of ...
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When the Beatles released "Penny Lane" in early 1967, it struck a tinkling, twinkling chord with a generation of budding English eccentrics, oddballs, and bandwagon jumpers. Suddenly everyone and their Uncle Arthur embraced music hall-inspired, psychedelically inclined vignettes about little old ladies, tottling trains, precocious kiddies, and other topics previously deemed not very "rock & roll." It was a rock-ribbed group indeed who could withstand the urge to join in; even the mighty Stones fell prey to the charms of toytown in a weak moment. The kids at heart who run Grapefruit Records feel no shame to hold a soft spot for this sound, and Climb Aboard My Roundabout! The British Toytown Pop Sound 1967-1974 is a cornucopia of harpsichords, vocal harmonies, bubblegum-sticky melodies, corner-pub piano thumping, and Mellotron whirl. From bands as big as the Kinks, David Bowie, and the Spencer Davis Group to small-fry groups such as Dragonmilk, Kidrock, the Cortinas, and Persimmon's Peculiar Shades and a bunch -- the Mindbenders, the Shadows, Tomorrow, the Idle Race -- who land somewhere in between, the collection makes a case that this mostly overlooked, sometimes derided variant of psychedelia is just as wonderfully weird and tuneful -- and brilliant -- as any other strain. Yes, it can be childish, it can be silly, and some of the songs here stretch the boundaries of believability, but that's all part of the charm. Who would be such a tough nut not to be swept away by the creaky falsetto and swinging beat of the Wimple Winch's "Lollipop Minds" or the gentle mod clang and thrilling vocal harmonies of Scrugg's "Lavender Popcorn." Who wouldn't be tickled by the rollicking good nature of Magic Valley's "Uptight Basil" or the drunken singalong at sea of the Alan Bown!'s "Mutiny." Who wouldn't be moved by Harmony Grass' nostalgic ballad "Happiness Is Toy Shaped" or Tim Andrews' lachrymose "Sad Simon Lives Again." Hard-hearted bums who don't believe in magic, that's who! Everyone else is free to proclaim Mark Wirtz -- creator of both Keith West's "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera" and his own "(He's Our Dear Old) Weatherman," two pinnacles of the sound -- the honorary mayor of Toytown and start looking for their own little gingerbread house to move into. Maybe it's on the side of town that skews a little tougher and where the neighbor might be Ambrose Slade (later to drop the Ambrose), or maybe it's the twee side where Friends rouse the block with a chorus of "Piccolo Man" every morning. No matter where one ends up, this collection will be the perfect soundtrack to a life well lived. Fine for listening straight through on a tangerine-colored Sunday afternoon spent wandering -- either a meadow or bustling city streets -- it's also an invaluable source for further discovery. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a compilation more focused, more well curated, or more enjoyable than this. ~ Tim Sendra, Rovi
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