Whether it’s Sia hiding her stage fright behind her fringe, Daft Punk’s ‘helmets on’ policy, or the scary giant eyeballs of The Residents, anonymity is a common refuge in the word of pop.
And those of a certain age will remember The Wombles – a musical offshoot from the popular 1970s teatime kids show created by Elisabeth Beresford and narrated by Bernard Cribbins.
Now, this ageless band of furry friends are celebrating 50 years since their run of top 10 hits. For this retro celebration ‘Golden’ comes, appropriately, as a limited edition LP with the hits remastered and in chronological order with bonus rare tracks including ‘Wombling USA’.
From the release of their very first single ‘The Wombling Song’ – written by Mike Batt as the theme tune for their TV show – the original eco-warriors from Wimbledon Common became a UK phenomenon, elevated to household-name status and a part of the fabric of British life.
Over their four gold-status albums, the group had eight top 40 hits in the British charts, and became the top selling singles act of 1974 ahead of Slade, The Bay City Rollers and even Abba. In June of that year, The Wombles had three songs simultaneously in the charts (‘Wombling Song’, ‘Remember You’re A Womble’, and ‘Banana Rock’), the first act to achieve that since The Beatles. They even reunited in 2011 for an appearance at Glastonbury.
Thanks to Batt – who would go on to a hit-studded career including writing Art Garfunkel’s ‘Bright Eyes’ – the ‘band’ developed their trademark sound – an eclectic mix including blues, country, folk, barbershop, glam, military brass and classical.
Originally commissioned to write the theme tune for the TV series, the producer negotiated the rights to record and perform music under The Wombles name – while his mother Elaine made the costumes that would be donned the likes of future Sex Pistols producer Chris Spedding and members of folk icons Steeleye Span, alongside Batt as Orinoco, on TV shows such as Top of the Pops and Blue Peter.
‘Orinoco’ said: “The Golden Anniversary certainly makes me think about the ridiculous fun we had, and that what we thought of as a temporary moment in pop has endured beyond our expectations.
He added: “I’m not sure which is the bigger thrill, having the three singles in the chart simultaneously at the time, or looking back on it fifty years later!”
‘Golden’ is out now. This article originally appeared in the Shields Gazette.
Also chief newshound at Jockrock
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