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Keep On Wombling
''Keep On Wombling'' is the third album released by the Wombles. The songs were written and performed by Mike Batt (vocals/keyboards) with session musicians Chris Spedding (guitars), Les Hurdle (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), Rex Morris (sax), Eddie Mordue (sax) and Jack Rothstein (violin). This was a departure from the first two albums, being a partial concept album with the first side (subtitled "Orinoco's Dream") following singer Orinoco Womble through a series of dreams. The styles included pop, rock and classical (''Hall Of The Mountain Womble'' is an arrangement of ''In the Hall of the Mountain King'' by Edvard Grieg). The album spent six weeks in the UK album charts, peaking at number 17. Track listing All songs written by Mike Batt, unless otherwise noted. Side One ORINOCO'S DREAM (''Fantasies of a sleeping Womble'') # Womble Of The Universe (''In which Orinoco dreams he is an ASTRONAUT'') - 3:41 # The Orinoco Kid (''In which Orinoco dreams he is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wombles (band)
The Wombles were a British novelty pop group, featuring musicians dressed as the characters from the children's TV show ''The Wombles'', which in turn was based on the children's book series by Elisabeth Beresford. Songwriter and record producer Mike Batt wrote and also performed many commercially successful singles and albums as 'The Wombles', including the TV series' theme tune. ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' jokingly referred to them as the "furriest (and possibly the tidiest) act... are natives of Wimbledon Common, London". In 2011, the band played at The Glastonbury Festival. History Filmfair acquired the television rights to ''The Wombles'' and commissioned Batt to write the theme song. He waived the flat fee for writing a single song and instead secured the rights to write songs under the name 'The Wombles'. The band released several albums and singles. All four studio albums went gold, and four of the singles reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The Wombles we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Batt
Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer, director and conductor. He was formerly the Deputy Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry. Having achieved substantial international success as a solo artist, he is particularly known in the UK for creating The Wombles pop act, writing many hits including the chart-topping " Bright Eyes", and discovering Katie Melua. He has also conducted many of the world's great orchestras, including the London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Stuttgart Philharmonic in both classical and pop recordings and performances. Early life and career Michael Philip Batt was born on 6 February 1949, in Southampton, England. He attended Peter Symonds School, Winchester. His blog refers to his role as cadet Company Sergeant Major at the school. Batt began his career in pop music at the age of eighteen when he answered an advertisement plac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Remember You're A Womble
''Remember You're a Womble'' was the second album released by The Wombles. The songs were recorded by Mike Batt (vocals/keyboards) with session musicians Chris Spedding (guitars), Les Hurdle (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), Rex Morris (saxophone), Eddie Mordue (saxophone) and Jack Rothstein (violin). After the success of the first album, '' Wombling Songs'', Batt experimented with more character-based songs in a variety of musical styles. He described it as "really the first proper album for The Wombles as a group". The styles included pop, rock, calypso, classical (the music of "Minuetto Allegretto" was based on Mozart's Symphony No.41) and surf rock in the style of the Beach Boys. The songs also developed the Womble characters further, for example "Wellington Goes To Waterloo" described Wellington Womble taking a rare day off and visiting London Waterloo station for a bit of trainspotting. This was the first album with a cover showing the full-siz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superwombling
''Superwombling'' was the fourth and final studio album released by the Wombles. The songs were recorded by Mike Batt (vocals/keyboards) with session musicians Chris Spedding (guitars), Les Hurdle (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Ray Cooper (percussion), Rex Morris (sax), Eddie Mordue (sax) and Jack Rothstein (violin). The various musical styles of the songs include rock, pop, blues, reggae, barbershop harmony and James Bond themes. "The Myths and Legends of King Merton Womble and His Journey to the Centre of the Earth" is a parody of two contemporary concept albums – ''The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'' and ''Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' – both by Rick Wakeman. Despite having several successful singles, the album did not chart but did eventually go Gold. Track listing All songs written by Mike Batt Michael Philip Batt, LVO (born 6 February 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, record producer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wombling Merry Christmas
"Wombling Merry Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Mike Batt, and recorded by British band the Wombles. Released in November 1974, the song rose to a peak of No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in December that year, spending 8 weeks in the chart. The song was also released in West Germany, but failed to chart. Music video The video was recorded in 2011 as part of a re-release that year and shows the Wombles dancing to the song. The band also appeared on ''Top of the Pops'' performing the song over Christmas 1974. Reception Despite significant success, the song was widely mocked on release. However, the song, labelled as 'innocent', and likened to 'golden tears falling from heaven' was liked by many, and was described in 2011 as 'actually sound nggood this time around'. Bob Stanley described it as having 'more bonhomie than a dozen boxes of crackers'. Later on, Mike Batt remarked on this criticism of the song, saying '...I wrote Wombling Merry Christmas, so I'm not scared o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Spedding
Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his studio session work. By the early 1970s, he had become one of the most sought-after session guitarists in England. Spedding has played on and produced many albums and singles. He has also been a member of eleven rock bands: the Battered Ornaments, Frank Ricotti Quartet, King Mob, Mike Batt and Friends, Necessaries, Nucleus, Ricky Norton, Sharks, Trigger, and the Wombles. In May 1976, Spedding also produced the very first Sex Pistols recordings. AllMusic has described Spedding as "one of the UK's most versatile session guitarists, ehas had a long career on two continents that saw him tackle nearly every style of rock and Spedding, a long-time friend of Chrissie Hynde, was a regular concert feature artist with the Pretenders on their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clem Cattini
Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolific drummers in UK recording history, appearing on hundreds of recordings by artists as diverse as Cliff Richard and Lou Reed, and has featured on 42 different UK number one singles. Biography Born to Italian parents living in Stoke Newington, North London, Cattini worked in his father's restaurant before deciding to pursue a career in music. He began as a drummer at The 2i's Coffee Bar, backing performers such as Terry Dene, before joining the touring band known as the Beat Boys, backing singers managed by Larry Parnes,Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p.101 including Marty Wilde and Billy Fury. He then joined Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, playing on their hit "Shakin' All Over", and became Joe Meek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Cooper
Raymond Cooper (born 19 September 1947) is an English musician who has worked as a session and road-tour percussionist. During his career, Cooper has worked and toured with numerous musically diverse bands and artists including Elton John (as a duo and as a member of his band), Billy Joel, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Roger Waters and Art Garfunkel. Cooper absorbed the influence of rock drummers from the 1960s and 1970s such as Ginger Baker, Carmine Appice and John Bonham. Incorporation of unusual instruments for rock drummers of the time such as cowbells, glockenspiel and tubular bells, along with several standard kit elements, helped create a highly varied setup. Continually modified to this day, Cooper's percussion set offers a large array of percussion instruments for sonic diversity such as the tambourine, congas, crash cymbals, cowbells, rototoms, tubular bells, the gong, snar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Mordue
Edwin "Eddie" Mordue (5 January 1928 – 26 January 2011) was a British jazz saxophonist whose career spanned 70 years. Born in South Shields in January 1928, Edwin Mordue moved to London in 1941 aged 13 and toured with 'Archie's Juvenile Band'. During the Second World War, he played tenor saxophone with the Eric Winstone Band where he met singer Julie Dawn, whom he married after the war. The couple went on to record and perform with Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Sammy Davis, Jr. Eddie joined the Jack Nathan Band in 1951, a regular at the London Palladium and the emerging West End jazz scene, then worked as a freelance, loaning his sound to the benefit of Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday's last concert. Many recordings followed in the 1960s including tracks with Dusty Springfield, Alexis Korner and Shirley Bassey. Eddie remarried in 1967, his wife, Gudrun, bore him three sons. During the 1970s, Mordue played on a number of television shows including ''Top of the Pops'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is. The format originates with folk singer Woody Guthrie's ''Dust Bowl Ballads'' (1940) and was subsequently popularized by traditional pop/jazz singer Frank Sinatra's 1940s–50s string of albums, although the term is more often associated with rock music. In the 1960s several well-regarded concept albums were released by various rock bands, which eventually led to the invention of progressive rock and rock opera. Since then, many concept albums have been released across numerous musical genres. Definiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" ( no, I Dovregubbens hall, , In the Dovre man's hall, link=no, italic=no) is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875 as incidental music for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen's 1867 play ''Peer Gynt''. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of ''Peer Gynt'', Suite No. 1, Op. 46. Its easily recognizable theme has helped it attain iconic status in popular culture, where it has been arranged by many artists (See Grieg's music in popular culture). The English translation of the name is not literal. Dovre is a mountainous region in Norway, and "gubbe" translates into (old) man or husband. "Gubbe" is used along with its female counterpart "kjerring" to differentiate male and female trolls, "trollgubbe" and "trollkjerring". In the play, Dovregubben is a troll king that Peer Gynt invents in a fantasy. Setting The piece is played as the title character Peer Gynt, in a dream-like fanta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to fame, as well as helping to develop a national identity, much as Jean Sibelius did in Finland and Bedřich Smetana in Bohemia. Grieg is the most celebrated person from the city of Bergen, with numerous statues which depict his image, and many cultural entities named after him: the city's largest concert building (Grieg Hall), its most advanced music school (Grieg Academy) and its professional choir (Edvard Grieg Kor). The Edvard Grieg Museum at Grieg's former home Troldhaugen is dedicated to his legacy. Background Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway (then part of Sweden–Norway). His parents were Alexander Grieg (1806–1875), a merchant and the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
