The Teenage Opera - one of the legendary long lost projects of the sixties. RPM presents a soundtrack for The Teenage Opera - inspired by the original concept envisioned in 1967 by Mark Wirtz - an approximation of what could have been had EMI not pulled the plug back in 1968.
Producer, arranger, songwriter, singer and all round musical genius Mark Wirtz began work on The Teenage Opera concept in 1966 when contracted to EMI, and teamed up with a group of musicians including Steve Howe and Keith West plus engineer Geoff Emerick.
The story of The Teenage Opera was to include sketches of different characters who inhabited a fantasy village, which in turn was part of a story being told by a young man to a young woman. Three singles were released as elements of the Teenage Opera – ‘Grocer Jack’ in July 1967 and ‘Sam’ in November 1967 (both here in stereo and featuring Keith West's vocals - the former also including ‘Theme From A Teenage Opera’ on the B-side) and 'He's Our Dear Old Weatherman' in February 1968. Whilst ‘Grocer Jack’ became a huge UK & European hit, ‘Sam’ and 'Weatherman' failed to emulate it and after EMI saw how much money the singles had swallowed up they lost interest and patience, and refused to finance further work on the Teenage Opera project.
Over the following months Mark allowed elements of his ideas that had formed aspects of the Teenage Opera project to inhabit a variety of tracks that were unrelated directly, but certainly inspired by, his original concept and vision for Teenage Opera, that he recorded with an assortment of artists, bands and indeed as solo projects.
It was by using several of these singles and tracks that we were able to present our take on 'A Teenage Opera'. There are 23 tracks - most never reissued on any format prior to the original pressing of this CD, six previously unreleased. The Opera is presented as a Film Soundtrack and includes incidental music linking the tracks together, taken from Mark's own library of original demos. These include different versions of the 'Theme', 'Grocer Jack', and 'Weatherman'. While Mark himself was very vocal in his assertion that this collection should not be taken as being a representation of his intended Teenage Opera vision, it can be considered to be our translation of Mark's original ideas for the project interpreted as a compilation album of disparate tracks of the period written and/or produced and arranged by Mark Wirtz that convey the feel or vibe of what could have been.
At the time of its first appearance in the form of 'Grocer Jack' in 1967, the Teenage Opera was very newsworthy with Cliff Richard being mooted to play the leading role in an associated film. The hype reached crazy proportions and made the daily newspapers. Today The Teenage Opera is still talked about in "whatever happened to" circles and this approximation will be of immense interest to all lovers and collectors of 1960's music.
Barcode | 5022911311650 |
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Genre | 60s, Soundtrack |
Label | RPM |
Format | CD |
Artist | Various Artists |
2. FESTIVAL OF KINGS – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus
3. GROCER JACK (EXCERPT FROM A TEENAGE OPERA) – Keith West
4. THE PARANOIAC WOODCUTTER # 1 – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
5. MR RAINBOW – Steve Flynn
6. GLORY’S THEME (ALL ABOARD) – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
7. ON A SATURDAY – Keith West
8. POSSUM’S DANCE – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
9. AUNTIE MARY’S DRESS SHOP - Tomorrow
10. LOVE & OCCASIONAL RAIN – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus
11. GROCER JACK (REPRISE) – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
12. SAM – Keith West
13. FAREWELL TO A BROKEN DOLL – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus
14. (HE’S OUR DEAR OLD) WEATHERMAN – Mark Wirtz
15. SHY BOY – Kippington Lodge
16. GROCER JACK’S DREAM – The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
17. BAREFOOT & TIPTOE – The Sweetshop
18. KNICKERBOCKER GLORY – Mark Wirtz
19. DREAM DREAM DREAM – Zion De Gallier
20. COLONEL BROWN - Tomorrow
21. CELLOPHANE MARY-JANE – Astronaut Alan & The Planets
22. PARANOIAC WOODCUTTER # 2 - The Mark Wirtz Orchestra
23. THEME FROM A TEENAGE OPERA (END TITLES) - The Mark Wirtz Orchestra & Chorus