The second (and third) of my suggestions for omitted albums from the 1001 Albums book, and I’m suggesting these completely unironically, even though I did toy with moving this particular entry to April 1st just because it seems so un-serious. There aren’t any albums on the list aimed at children (or, at the very least, the family) which is an oversight in my opinion. These were two that I owned as a child, and re-visiting them they still hold up to adult scrutiny.
Keep on Wombling is the third Wombles album by producer/musician Mike Batt. The first two were more closely tied to the children’s TV series, a stop-motion animation based on Elizabeth Beresford’s books. For those who may not know, Wombles are small furry creatures that live on Wimbledon Common in London, who busy themselves picking up litter which they reuse and recycle - very progressive for the time. The first album featured music from the TV show, and songs about each character, the second continued this theme.
This third one is more of a concept album. Side One is loosely based on fantasies supposedly dreamt by Orinoco, the sleepy daydreaming Womble characterised by a big floppy hat and red scarf and the onstage persona adopted by Batt as the lead of the Wombles band when they performed live (which they did at Glastonbury!). Side Two is less thematic, but is broadly scenes from the wider world, including Wombles from China and California.
But just because this is a novelty record aimed at children it doesn’t mean that Batt decides to sleepwalk through the music. Womble Of The Universe, wherein Orinoco dreams he is an astronaut, brings together elements of Elton John’s Rocketman and the Also Sprach Zarathustra motif from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The lyrics “Are you never coming down now? I heard everyone say. If you wanna come down, you know it’s okay” even seem to reference David Bowie’s Space Oddity. Like Bowie’s Major Tom, Batt’s Orinoco drifts away into space.
The album is also a little like ELO’s album Out Of The Blue, not least with the rock/classical elements (including a take on Grieg with The Hall Of The Mountain Womble); where ELO have Wild West Hero, Batt has The Orinoco Kid. Where ELO have Jungle, Batt has The Jungle Is Jumping. And in an odd way, the Batt versions seem less jokey.
The connection to the Wombles books and TV series is tenuous, at best (apart from some lyrics to do with tidying up litter – The Orinoco Kid “cleans up the town” in a literal sense rather than defeating law-breakers, for example) or the use of “womble” as a verb and adjective. Some of the sentiments of Jungle Is Jumping and Invitation To A Ping-Pong Ball are a little outdated in terms of stereotyping as well, and Batt's voice is at times perhaps not quite up to the high notes.
But, the album does have the entertainingly funky Giant Polu (sort of Love Potion Number Nine meets Superstitious), and what is unironically a great glam-rock Christmas song in the form of Wombling Merry Christmas, that can sit happily alongside Slade and Wizzard's seasonal offerings. Musically speaking, the whole thing is in a different realm to Baby bleedin’ Shark.
As an alternative, and equally as good for different reasons, is the first Muppet Show album. This is a mix of songs and sketches, mostly from the show, but with some new interjections by Statler and Waldorf – one where they start off hating an act before convincing themselves by degrees to love it, and one vice versa (and one where they go in opposite directions).
There are some famous Muppet songs on here – Bein’ Green and Lydia The Tattooed Lady by Kermit, and the classic Mahna Mahna. Some lose a bit by not having the visuals – Hugga Wugga for example features a small yellow muppet singing You Are My Sunshine with a hairy monster with a trunk that blasts out smoke trying to chase it off the stage so that it can sing the (vastly superior) funky Hugga Wugga track. The stereo effects capture the chase somewhat, but you miss the visuals of the puppetry, and the unique design of the Hugga Wugga muppet.
In other tracks, however, the lack of visuals serves to enhance the comedy. Fozzie Bear’s "dancing" along to Scooter singing Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear, for example. I'd like to think that Frank Oz donned the full Fozzie puppet and was actually dancing and grunting in the studio. Or the wonderfully daft The Great Gonzo Eats A Rubber Tyre To The Flight Of The Bumblebee (exactly what it says), not to mention Marvin Suggs And His Amazing Muppaphone – you get the sense of how the Muppaphone works by the thumps and the “ow!”s (some small round furry muppets get hit on the head with a mallet courtesy of Marvin).
Sam the American Eagle tries to keep his dignity intact as he accompanies Rolf to play the part of Gilbert and Sullivan's Tit Willow (from The Mikado). Miss Piggy tries threats and flattery on Kermit to get to play her number What Now My love, but when she finally gets to sing it she is drowned out by her backing singers getting louder and louder. Sadly, there's no Piiiiigss Iiiiiin Spaaaaaace on this album.
There's also a wonderful comedy piece featuring Kermit and Fozzie Bear ("Good grief! The comedian's a bear!") that's very "Who's on first?". I can still recall bits and pieces of the Veterinarian’s Hospital Sketch – Nurse Janice: “Doctor Bob, the patient is sinking!”. Doctor Bob [in bad German accent] “I vonder vat he is sinking about”. Terrible, but great, in a corny sort of way.
Which, really, is part of the Muppets’ charm. There’s no celebrity guest, only a few backstage sections, but apart from that it’s got the same sense of benign shambolic chaos that you get from the TV show. Funny, with a big heart.
Comments
Post a Comment