The Wombles (band)
| The Wombles | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Wimbledon Common, London, England |
| Genres | Bubblegum pop |
| Years active | 1973-1976 2011- |
| Labels | CBS Records |
| Members | |
| Mike Batt Chris Spedding Les Hurdle Clem Cattini Ray Cooper Rex Morris Eddie Mordue Jack Rothstein |
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The Wombles are a British novelty pop group, featuring musicians dressed as the characters from children's TV show The Wombles, which in turn was based on the children's book series by Elisabeth Beresford. Songwriter and record producer, Mike Batt, wrote the series' theme tune, and went on to perform and produce a number of successful albums and singles as 'The Wombles'. British Hit Singles & Albums jokingly referred to them as the "furriest (and possibly the tidiest) act... are natives of Wimbledon Common, London". The band's reunion was officially announced in May 2011.
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[edit] History
Filmfair acquired the television rights to The Wombles and commissioned Batt to write the theme song. He waived the flat fee for writing a single song, and secured the character rights for musical production to write songs under the name 'The Wombles'.[1] To help him get into character, Batt's mother made him a Womble suit, which he wore for a week prior to writing the first songs.[2]
The band released several albums and singles. All four studio albums went gold[citation needed] and four of the singles reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] The Wombles were the most successful act of 1974, with albums in the UK charts for more weeks than any other act.[4]
A single called "Wombling U.S.A.", written to break into the American market, was recorded in 1974 but was not released.[5]
Several of the songs were included in the soundtrack of the 1977 film, Wombling Free.
[edit] Live performances
In January 1974, Mike Batt appeared on the Cilla Black show as Orinoco, having been led onstage by guest Bernard Cribbins, to plug "The Wombling Song". Consequently, when the single charted, the "band" was invited to perform on Top of the Pops. Additional Womble suits were hastily made for the live performance.
When the band performed on stage or television, the characters were always played by experienced musicians in full Womble costumes. This often including session players such as guitarist Chris Spedding (complete with his trademark white Gibson Flying V) as Wellington and drummer Clem Cattini as Bungo, both of whom had played on Batt's recordings. Batt usually played the part of Orinoco. On one edition of Top of the Pops, the costumes were filled by members of Steeleye Span. The costumes were sweltering in the heat of television studios.
Tim and Andy Renton, who had worked with Batt in the latter incarnation of Hapshash and the Coloured Coat also donned the costumes, along with Robin LeMesurier, who also had a Gibson Flying V, but was kicked out of the "band" following an arrest for possession of marijuana following an appearance of the Wombles on Clapham Common.
The band was the interval act at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974.
[edit] Break up
The Wombles were featured in theatrical shows all over the UK during the 1975 Christmas season. However due to a dispute over the rights to the stage shows, none of them had anything to do with Batt. It was a public relations disaster, with the media reporting that hundreds of children were disappointed with the "imitation Wombles".[2]
To split the group, Batt decided to have Wellington Womble leave to pursue a solo career.[5] In 1976, Wellington released the solo single, "Rainmaker".
[edit] Legacy
Batt remains sensitive about the legacy of the band. In a 2008 interview he said "It is hard to be taken seriously with the Wombles hanging around my neck like a furry anvil."[1] More recently (program with Aled Jones on the BBC in 2010) Batt pointed out that, in balance, the Wombles also served as a "furry balloon" as it gave him his first chart success.[citation needed]
[edit] Reunion
In April 2011, Batt announced that the Wombles would be reuniting to play at the Glastonbury Festival in June 2011.[6] Michael Eavis, the founder of the Glastonbury Festival, said that booking the Wombles was "a bit of a mistake".[7] Batt quipped that Uncle Bulgaria had been offended by Eavis' comments and had withdrawn an offer to tidy up the site after the festival.[8]
[edit] Personnel
[edit] The Wombles
- Orinoco Womble – vocals, keyboards
- Wellington Womble – guitar
- Tomsk Womble – bass
- Bungo Womble – drums, percussion
- Madame Cholet – saxophone
- Great Uncle Bulgaria – violin, musical director
[edit] Additional personnel
- Amy Adkins – percussion, violin, vocals
- Eric Bulger – keyboards, saxophone, vocals
- Richard Nicholas Kingston – keyboards, percussion, vocals
[edit] Discography
| Releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 4 | |
| ↙Compilation albums | 9 | |
| ↙Singles | 15 | |
| ↙Music videos | 2 | |
| ↙Soundtracks | 1 | |
[edit] Studio albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1973 | Wombling Songs
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| 1974 | Remember You're A Womble
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Keep On Wombling
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| 1975 | Superwombling
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[edit] Compilation albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1975 | The Best of The Wombles - 20 Wombling Greats
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| 1976 | The Best of The Wombles - 20 Wombling Greats (reissue)
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| 1978 | The Wombles Christmas Party
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| 1983 | The Wombles Christmas Album
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| 1989 | Wombling Hits
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| 1997 | Underground, Overground - The Ultimate Wombles Collection
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| 1998 | 'The Best Wombles Album So Far - Volume 1
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| 2000 | The Wombles Collection
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| 2005 | The Very Best Of The Wombles
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| 2011 | The W Factor
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[edit] Singles
| Year | Single details |
|---|---|
| 1973 | "The Wombling Song" / "Wombles Everywhere"
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| 1974 | "Remember You're A Womble" / "Bungo's Birthday"
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"Banana Rock" / "The Womble Square Dance"
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"Wombling Summer Party" / "Wimbledon Sunset"
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"Minuetto Allegretto" / "Womble Burrow Boogie"
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"Remember You're A Womble" / "Wellington Womble"
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"Wombling Merry Christmas" / "Madame Cholet"
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| 1975 | "Wombling White Tie And Tails" / "The Wombling Twist"
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"Superwomble" / "The Orinico Kid"
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"Let's Womble To The Party Tonight" / "Down At The Barber Shop"
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"The Womble Shuffle" / "To Wimbledon With Love"
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| 1976 | Wellington Womble - "Rainmaker" / The Wombles - "Wombling in the Rain"
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| 1998 | "Remember You're A Womble" / "Remember You're A Womble (Dance Mix)"
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"The Wombling Song" / "The Orinoco Kid"
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| 2000 | "I Wish It Could Be A Wombling Merry Christmas Every Day" (with Roy Wood)
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| 2011 | "Wombling Merry Christmas" / "Madame Cholet"
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[edit] Music videos
| Year | Video details |
|---|---|
| 1998 | The Wombling Song
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Remember You're A Womble
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[edit] Soundtracks
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Wombling Free - Original Soundtrack
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[edit] Parodies
The BBC Four comedy program Don't Watch That, Watch This showed a dubbed footage of The Wombles from TOTP2, of the Wombles purportedly performing "Anarchy in the U.K." live in June 1988. The scrolling caption during the song read "During the early eighties the Wombles reformed as a funk soul fusion. But the project soon failed and the group disbanded, only to come together again as the Dixie Minstrel Wombles. In 1988 the original line up were reunited for the third time to record their version of this Sex Pistols classic.... for a Pot Noodle commercial. Later released as a single it reached 57 on the charts".
The film The Rutles featured a Ringo Starr-inspired character named Barrington Womble who "shortened his name to save time...he simply became Barry Wom."
[edit] References
- ^ a b McCormick, Neil (2008-04-10). "Mike Batt: he can't forget he's a Womble". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/10/bmbatt110.xml.
- ^ a b Kim Cooper, David Smay, Jake Austen (2001). Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth. Feral House. pp. 160. ISBN 0922915695.
- ^ a b c d Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 608. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Phil Hardy and Dave Laing (1988). Encyclopedia of Rock. Schirmer Books. pp. 38. ISBN 0029195624.
- ^ a b Stanley, Bob (2004-02-27). "Bob Stanley on the man inside the Womble suit". The Times.
- ^ "Wombles of Glastonbury festival are we". Daily Mail. 22 April 2011. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1379372/Glastonbury-2011-Wombles-form-band-summer-festival.html.
- ^ "Glastonbury boss Michael Eavis regrets Wombles booking". BBC News. 8 June 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13702105.
- ^ "Wombles re-form to play Glastonbury". BBC News. 22 June 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13875973.
[edit] External links
- Chris Spedding - Wombles index
- Obituary for Elisabeth Beresford, and Mike Batt's connections with the Wombles
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