''The Wonderful World of Wreckless Eric'' is the second album by

Wreckless Eric Eric Goulden (born 18 May 1954), known as Wreckless Eric, is an English rock/ new wave singer-songwriter, best known for his 1977 single " Whole Wide World" on Stiff Records. More than two decades after its release, the song was included in ''Mo ...

. It was released on October 13, 1978, as black vinyl LP (SEEZ 9), green vinyl LP (SEEZ 9), and

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

LP (SEEZP 9).

Production

The album was produced by

Pete Solley Peter Solley (born 19 October 1948, London) is an English musician and record producer. He has recorded with Eric Clapton, Al Stewart and Whitesnake as well as producing records for Ted Nugent, Oingo Boingo, Motörhead, The Romantics, Jo Jo Zep, ...

Album cover

The cover features Eric and others wearing Lloyd Johnson suits, including then-''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' journalist

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fam ...

at the drum kit.

Critical reception

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' wrote that "a balance is struck between Eric’s innate looseness and the clarity and sheer musicality needed to adequately present his tunes. As a result, ''The Wonderful World'' is a rollicking good time, propelled by Eric’s trademark guitar chug." Dave Thompson called the songs "stronger" than those on the debut, acknowledging that "a more polished sound and delivery left

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

feeling less immediate." '' The Rough Guide to Rock'' wrote that the album develops Eric's "patent hybrid of punk and pop with a 50s sensibility."

Track listing

All compositions by Wreckless Eric; except where indicated
Side 1 #"Walking On The Surface of the Moon" #"Take The Cash" #" Dizzy" (

Freddy Weller Wilton Frederick "Freddy" Weller (born September 9, 1947) is an American country music artist. He recorded for Columbia Records between 1969 and 1980. He had his highest charted single in 1969 with his debut release, "Games People Play". Musi ...

Tommy Roe Thomas David "Tommy" Roe (born May 9, 1942) is a retired American rock and pop singer-songwriter. Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" (1962) and " Dizzy" (1969), Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late ...

) #"Veronica" #"Roll Over Rock-Ola" Side 2 #"I Wish It Would Rain" #"The Final Taxi" #"Let's Go to the Pictures" #"Girlfriend" #"Crying, Waiting, Hoping" (

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

)

Personnel

*Wreckless Eric - vocals *

Malcolm Morley Malcolm A. Morley (June 7, 1931 – June 1, 2018) was a British-American artist and painter. He was known as an artist who pioneered in varying styles, working as a photorealist and an expressionist, among many other styles. Life Morley was ...

- electric & acoustic guitar *Eunan Brady - electric guitar *John Brown - electric bass guitar *Geir Waade -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

- keyboards,

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

with: *Jo Partridge - electric guitar solos on "Dizzy", "Veronica", "Roll Over Rock-Ola" and "I Wish It Would Rain"; Spanish guitar solo on "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" *Dick Hanson, John Earle - brass on "Dizzy" *Choir of The Latter Day Church of Non-Believers - choir on "Dizzy" and "The Final Taxi" *Gary Taylor - bass voice choir on "Crying, Waiting, Hoping"

References

External links

Official Wreckless Eric website
Wreckless Eric albums 1978 albums Stiff Records albums {{1970s-rock-album-stub