''Keep On Wombling'' is the third album released by

the Wombles ''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...

. The songs were written and performed by

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 ...

(vocals/keyboards) with session musicians

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 st ...

(guitars), Les Hurdle (bass),

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 prolifi ...

(drums),

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 ...

(percussion), Rex Morris (sax),

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 Ba ...

(sax) and Jack Rothstein (violin). This was a departure from the first two albums, being a partial

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. Som ...

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 "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 ...

'' by

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 ...

). The album spent six weeks in the UK album charts, peaking at number 17.

Track listing

All songs written by

, 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 a COWBOY'') - 3:17 # The Jungle Is Jumping (''In which Orinoco dreams he is a JUNGLE EXPLORER'') - 3:21 # Underground Overture (''In which Orinoco dreams he is the CONDUCTOR'') - 2:39 # The Hall Of The Mountain Womble (

, arr. Batt) (''In which Orinoco's imaginary orchestra does a little turn'') - 1:44 # Look Out For The Giant (''In which Orinoco imagines a litter crunching giant, GIANT POLU'') - 2:24

Side Two

# The Wombling Twist (''At the Womble club down in West L.A.'') - 3:00 # Tobermory's Music Machine (''In which the NEEDLE STICKS'') - 2:18 # Wipe Those Womble Tears From Your Eyes (''A country Womble ballad'') - 3:42 # Invitation To The Ping-Pong Ball (''In which we meet the Chinese Wombles, Shanghai Burrow'') - 3:49 #

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. ...

(''With virtuoso sleigh bell performance by Great Uncle Bulgaria'') - 3:22

Singles

" was released as single. "The Orinoco Kid" was later released on the B-side of "Superwomble". "The Wombling Twist" was later released on the B-side of "Wombling White Tie And Tails". "Womble Of The Universe" was used in the soundtrack of the 1977 film ''

Wombling Free ''Wombling Free'' is a 1977 British film adaptation of the children's television series ''The Wombles''. Directed by Lionel Jeffries, it stars The Wombles, David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, and Bonnie Langford. Plot Based on the BBC children ...

''.

References

{{Authority control The Wombles albums 1974 albums Concept albums Albums produced by Mike Batt