Various Artists - You Can Walk Across It On The Grass: Boutique Sound Of Swinging London / Various (CD)

Details: Celebration of the mid-60s Swinging London scene at it's brash, colourful zenith. A cornucopia of club-friendly mod R&B/soul, era-defining pop hits and cult TV/film themes as England swung like a pendulum do. In April 1966, American magazine Time ran a front-page feature, captioned "You Can Walk Across It On The Grass", that proclaimed London to be the most swinging city in the world and leader of contemporary pop culture. The concept of Swinging London - a zeitgeist-capturing collision of the most daring fashions, the coolest actors/models, the grooviest pop music - had already been fermenting for a year or two, but Time's feature propelled it from well-kept local secret to internationally-acknowledged phenomenon. Over four hours and three CDs, 'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass: The Boutique Sounds of Swinging London' documents a scene that, 60 years later, still grips the public's imagination. From the notorious Profumo affair that brought down the Government and ended the age of deference to Bobby Moore accepting a still-gleaming Jules Rimet Trophy from Queen Elizabeth in the high summer of 1966, 'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass' celebrates a period in which Carnaby Street and the King's Road seemed to be the centre of the universe. Era-defining hit singles from The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces, Manfred Mann and The Troggs are joined by solo performers (Tom Jones, Dusty Springfield etc) and a plethora of groups that played their brand of R&B/soul/jazz at such clubs as The Flamingo, The Cromwellian, The Scotch of St. James and, of course, The Marquee. In addition to various young mods-about-town (The Action, The Creation, David Bowie), we feature cheeky, kinky singles from such names as Avengers pair Honor Blackman and Patrick Macnee, Twiggy and Mandy Rice-Davies, and a clutch of instrumentals that were hits in their own right ('I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman') or gained popularity as TV/radio themes (The Avengers, Man In A Suitcase). With a 48-page booklet that features some fabulous Swinging London images, 'You Can Walk Across It On The Grass' is a nostalgia-inducing time capsule of the original Cool Brittania era. Climb aboard for the ride but, in the words of Dave Dee and his pals, "Hold tight!"

Tracklist:

1. A Touch Of Velvet A Sting Of Brass – The Mood-Mosaic
2. Hold Tight! - Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick And Tich
3. Why Don't I Run Away From You –Kiki Dee
4. I Wanna Be (Your Everything) –Jimmy James ; The Vagabonds
5. When I Think Of You - Twiggy
6. Theme From “The Avengers” -The Laurie Johnson Orchestra
7. Kinky Boots – Patrick Macnee ; Honor Blackman
8. Emergency 999 – The Alan Bown Set
9. Invitation - A Band Of Angels
10. 5-4-3-2-1 – Manfred Mann
11. Good Morning Little
12. Schoolgirl – The Yardbirds
13. That Little Old Heartbreaker
14. Me – David John ; The Mood
15. Girl Don't Tell Me – Tony Rivers ; The Castaways
16. Dolly Catcher Man – The Knack
17. Little By Little – Dusty Springfield
18. She Shot A Hole In My Soul –Geno Washington ; The Ram Jam Band
19. I Don't Wanna Know – The Mike Cotton Sound
20. You Better Believe It Baby – The End
21. In My Lonely Room – The Action
22. I Really Learnt How To Cry –Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
23. Mockingbird – Glenda Collins With The Riot Squad
24. On The Ball (Theme For The
25. World Cup) – The John Schroeder Orchestra
26. She Said Yeah – Neil Christian ; The Crusaders
27. London Look – The Hi-Fis
28. Walking Down The Street – Electric Banana
29. Winchester Cathedral – John Carter
30. I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt On You – Phillip Goodhand-Tait ; The Stormsville Shakers
31. Christine – Miss X
32. You've Got What It Takes – Mandy Rice-Davies
33. Don't Blow Your Cool – The Caravelles
34. I Can't Control Myself – The Troggs
35. Can't Help Thinking About Me –David Bowie With The Lower Third
36. Try And Stop Me – The Creation
37. Viva La Tamla Motown – The London Studio Group
38. New Directions – Dave Anthony's Moods
39. Dedicated Follower Of Fashion-The Kinks
40. She's A Liar – The Shots
41. Caroline – The Fortunes
42. A Man In A Suitcase – Ron Grainer
43. Help Me Girl – Eric Burdon ; The Animals
44. I Like What I'm Trying To Do –Waygood Ellis
45. Wade In The Water – The Graham Bond Organisation
46. I'm A Boy – The Who
47. Red White And You – Sounds Around
48. Put Yourself In My Place –Episode Six
49. Mr. Frantic - Bluesology
50. Little Games – Des James
51. Chills And Fever – Tom Jones
52. Take Me To The Dance - Twinkle
53. I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman –Whistling Jack Smith
54. Big City – The Artwoods
55. Little Girl – John Mayall's Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton
56. Looking Back (Single Version) – The Spencer Davis Group
57. Because I Love You (Aka I Do Love You) – The Mickey Finn
58. Sorrow (Demo Version) – The Merseys
59. If Trees Could Talk – Samantha Juste
60. Portobello Road – The Spectrum
61. Julie Brown Loves Captain Cook – Les ; Paul Barrett
62. Morningtown Ride – Stan
63. Butcher His Birds ; Brass
64. What'cha Gonna Do About It –The Mirage
65. London – My Home Town – The Chantelles
66. Friday On My Mind – The Easybeats
67. The Cost Of Living – The Downliners Sect
68. The Hustle – Basil Kirchin ; John Coleman
69. Crazy Feeling – Carl Douglas ; The Big Stampede
70. Do The Dog – Georgie Fame ; The Blue Flames
71. I'll Go Crazy – The Untamed
72. I Get Excited – Moon's Train
73. I'm Out – The Richard Kent Style
74. Henry's Panter – Wynder K. Frogg
75. Whatcha Gonna Do About It –Small Faces
76. I'm Following You – The Syn
77. I'm Gettin' Tired (Of Drinkin' And Gamblin' Etc) – Jack Bruce
78. Town Talk – Ken Woodman ; His Piccadilly Brass
79. If You Need Me - The Union
80. I'm Out Of My Own – The Roll Movement
81. Where Did My Heart Go – The Good Time Losers
82. Get Out Of My Way – The Drag Set
83. Don't You Ignore Me – The Extreem
84. Don't Stop And Stare – Gary Farr ; The T-Bones
85. Lose Your Money (But Don't
86. Lose Your Mind) – The Moody Blues
87. Cheat And Lie – Miki Dallon
88. Haven't They Got Better Things
89. To Do – The Profile
90. She's A Raver - Dana Gillespie
91. I'm Waiting For The Day - Peanut
92. I'm Back* - The Good Things
93. Not The Sort Of Girl You Take
94. To Bed (Alternative Version) – John's Children
95. How Long Is Time – The Odyssey
96. The Music Goes Round – The Jeeps
97. We Love The Pirates – The Roaring 60's
98. Pageing Sullivan – The London Studio Group
99. Love Ya Illya – Angela ; The Fans
100. England Swings – Petula Clark