"Welcome To The Garden Party‘" is a 1986 single by British neo-progressive rock band

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

released exclusively in West Germany to accompany a series of concerts the band played at festivals in that country as second bill to Queen, following their commercial breakthrough with the album ''

Misplaced Childhood ''Misplaced Childhood'' is the third studio album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion, released in 1985. It is a concept album loosely based on the childhood of Marillion's lead singer, Fish (singer), Fish, who was inspired by a ...

'' and the hit singles "

Kayleigh "Kayleigh" is a song by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was released as the first single from the concept album '' Misplaced Childhood''. It was the band's most successful single in the UK, where it peaked at number-two an ...

" and " Lavender" the year before. The single was released on 7" and 12" vinyl; neither version contained any new or previously unreleased material. The 7" and 12" versions contained completely different recordings from each other. The A-side, "Garden Party", originally the second single from the band's debut album, '' Script for a Jester's Tear'', had reached #16 on the UK Singles Chart in 1983, but—like all Marillion singles before "Kayleigh"—had failed to chart in Germany. However, the single received little airplay and failed to enter the German top 100.chart.de query for Marillion singles
/ref> While the 7" single contained the edited studio version of "Garden Party" also found on the original 1983 7" single (on which the line ''I'm fucking'' was replaced with ''I'm miming'' to avoid airplay problems), the A-side of the 12" single featured a live recording made at

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Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, on 5 March 1984, previously released on the 1984 live album '' Real to Reel'' (on which the aforementioned line is sung by the audience). The B-side of the 7" single was the edited version of the 1984 re-recording of " Market Square Heroes" (originally the band's 1982 non-album debut single) first released on B-side of the 1984 7" single

Punch & Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character w ...

. In its place, the B-side of the 12" single featured the two live tracks "Kayleigh" and "Script for a Jester's Tear". These versions, recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon in January 1986, are the same as on '' Brief Encounter'', an EP released only in the USA a few months earlier. Accordingly, the title printed on the 12" version was "Welcome To The ‚Garden Party‘ (LIVE)". The cover was, as usual, designed by

Mark Wilkinson Mark Wilkinson (born 3 October 1952) is an English illustrator. He is best known for the detailed surrealistic cover art he created for a number of British bands. Wilkinson's breakthrough came through his association with the neo-progressive r ...

and features artwork based on promotional material for the band's series of open-air concerts in the summer of 1986. As the band did not release any new material domestically in year following their commercial breakthrough, both this single and ''Brief Encounter'' were in demand by fans in the UK and thus widely stocked by record shops as imports. Today it is a sought-after collectors' item. Having been released in Germany only, "Welcome to the Garden Party" was not part of the collectors box-set released in July 2000 and was re-issued as a 3-CD set in 2009 (see ''

The Singles '82–'88 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''); however, both tracks of the 7" single are included as they featured on the singles " Garden Party" and " Punch and Judy".

Track listing

7" version

Side A

#"Garden Party" (edited version)—4:29 (Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Pointer)

Side B

#"Market Square Heroes"(edited re-recorded version)—03:58 (Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Pointer)

12" version

Side A

#"Garden Party" (live)—6:56 (Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Pointer)

Side B

#"Kayleigh" (live version)—4:10 (Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Mosley) #"Script for A Jester's Tear" (live)—8:50 (Dick/Rothery/Kelly/Trewavas/Pointer)

Personnel

* Fish – vocals * Steve Rothery - guitars *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...

- keyboards * Pete Trewavas - bass, backing vocals * Ian Mosley - drums on "Garden Party" (live) / "Kayleigh" / "Script for A Jester's Tear" * Mick Pointer - drums on "Garden Party" (edited version) *

John Marter John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

- drums on "Market Square Heroes"

References

{{Marillion Marillion songs 1986 singles