Wombling Songs is the first album released by the Wombles. "The Wombling Song" was released as a single. The album was written, arranged and performed by Mike Batt, with vocals credited to "the younger Wombles, assisted by Mike Batt".
| Wombling Songs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1973 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Studio | CBS Studios, Wessex Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 35:29 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Producer | Mike Batt | |||
| The Wombles chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Wombling Songs | ||||
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History and reception
editAccording to Batt, the album is a simple compilation of character songs and background music for the television series.[2] It has garnered a small cult following in the 21st century, with music journalist Bob Stanley calling it "something of a kid-rock masterpiece, a pre-teen Odessey and Oracle, chock-full of woodwinds, harpsichords, and minor-key McCartney-esque melodies".[3] Staff writers of The Scotsman noted the album's "glimpses of pop sophistication – the clarinet figure in the theme tune, the wistful pop of Orinoco's song "Dreaming In The Sun"...".[1]
In 2022, Batt revealed he destroyed the master tapes of Wombling Songs and the three subsequent Wombles albums, so "people can't fuck with them after I'm gone...if I wanted to go back and change it I would. They aren’t perfection but they are a faithful representation of what I offered to the world in 1974 and 1975."[4]
Chart Performance
editThe album spent 17 weeks in the UK album charts, peaking at number 19 on 2 March 1974.[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Mike Batt.
- "The Wombling Song (Television Version)" - 1:40
- "Wombles Everywhere" (3:20)
- "Exercise Is Good for You (Laziness Is Not)" - 2:30
- "The Wombles' Warning" - 3:25
- "Tobermory" - 3:35
- "Dreaming in the Sun (Orinoco's Song)" - 4:10
- "Madame Cholet" - 3:48
- "Great Uncle Bulgaria's March" - 3:28
- "Wellington Womble" - 3:50
- "Bungo's Birthday" - 2:30
- "Wombling Along (Link Piece)" - 0:48
- "The Wombling Song (Full Version)" - 2:25
References
edit- ^ a b The Newsroom (19 June 2011). "Album reviews: The Wombles: Wombling Songs, Remember You're A Womble, Keep On Wombling, Superwombling". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Kim Cooper; David Smay; Jake Austen (2001). Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth. Feral House. p. 159. ISBN 0-922915-69-5.
- ^ Stanley, Bob (2 December 2010). "Bubblegum pop: all the young dudes". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ Shutler, Ali (10 October 2022). "Wombles songwriter destroys master tapes to avoid The Beatles-style remasters". NME. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ Neil Warwick; Jon Kutner; Tony Brown (2004). The Complete Book Of The British Charts: Singles and Albums. Omnibus Press. pp. 1203–1204. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.