Artist	Song
The Beatles	Eleanor Rigby
Rolling Stones	Ruby Tuesday
The Zombies	A Rose For Emily
Mirage	The wedding Of Ramona Blair
Price & Sherridan	Tracey Smith
The Executive	Tracy took A Trip
Orange Bicycle	Amy Peate
Picadilly Line	Emily Small
Cuppa T	Miss Pinkerton
The Shadows	Dear Old Mrs Bell
The Alan Bown	Little Lesley
Status Quo	Auntie Nelly
The Attack	Neville Thumbcatch
The Kinsmen	Glass House Green, Splinter Red
Tuesday's Children	Mr Kipling
The Tremeloes	Norman Stanley James St Clair
Pink Floyd	Arnold Layne
Keith West	Excerpt From A Teenage Opera
Fortes Mentum	Mr Partridge Passed Away Today
West Coast Consotrium	Colour Sergeant Lillywhite
Noah's Ark	Paper Man
The Searchers	Second Hand Dealer
The Hollies	Charlie & Fred
David Mc Williams	The Days Of Pearly Spencer
The Beatles	She's Leaving Home

Comment:

The mid to late 60's have been regularly caricatured as a time when every former teddy-boy, rocker or mod turned seer: searchers for the Ultimate Kosmik Truth. Er, up to a point. Actually, just as many fancied themselves as amateur sociologists; social observers documenting life's little episodes: touching snapshots of the day to day existence of the passed over. At times, it seemed impossible to tune into any of the radio pirates without stumbling over jilted brides, lonely spinsters, latch-key infants, men named Neville and Arnold, rag & bone collectors or dead grocers.
----------

It was an essentially British phenomenon. Why? Perhaps a corollory of the American can-do mentality is a reluctance to engage with the left-behind and disposessed (Thomas Pynchon's preterite) and so the trend failed to take root Stateside. Perhaps it had something to do with the nagging sense that the subsequent loss of Empire rendered Britain's victory in WW2 pyrrhic. Or more probably, it was simply a case of the quick cash-in (the chart success of Eleanor Rigby this time round).

Whatever the reasons, it offered further demonstration that during this period, pop's lyrical boundaries were expanding exponentially.



A special mention for The Executive's track.The mind-boggling mis-match between lyrics (failed actress drowns herself in river) & setting (brassy big-combo soul stomp) is so callously cheerful (or cheerfully callous) it has to be heard to be believed.Great stuff.-----------------

(Lack of time / space and a desire to investigate some of the less beaten tracks meant there was no room for the Pretty Things, Who, Kinks or dozens of others. Maybe if I can get round to Vol 2....)

Feedback: