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THE IDLE RACE

GREG MASTERS, JEFF LYNNE, DAVE PRITCHARD, ROGER SPENCER

In the history of 1960s British rock, Birmingham was a source of talent virtually in the same league with Liverpool. 

Although the city never produced a group as big as the Beatles, it was a seething cauldron of musical activity 

and home to literally hundreds of groups whose activities and memberships were in a constant state of ferment, 

yielding acts such as the Move, the Moody Blues, and the Electric Light Orchestra, whose influences extended well 

into the 1970s and beyond. Perhaps the most important of the Birmingham groups that didn't make it to the front rank was the Idle Race.

"THE BIRTHDAY PARTY"

Produced by Chevin & Offord & The Idle Race

1968      LP        LIBERTY RECORDS       STEREO   LST-7603

PRINTED IN U.S.A.     ORIGINAL PRESSING

THICK CARDBOARD COVER (AMERICAN STYLE)

WITH COMPANY INNER SLEEVE

Timing for Happy Birthday/Birthday on label as one track at 3:20

Barcode and Other Identifiers

LABEL:  LIBERTY -  BLACK LABEL WITH RAINBOW SEGMENT TO THE LEFT - SILVER TEXT

Catalog on cover: LST-7603

Catalog on labels: LST-7603 (1 / 2)

Matrix / Runout (Side A, Etched): LST-7603-1 

Matrix / Runout (Side B, Etched): LST-7603-2

Other (Etching): 12-14-68

On labels:  ...visual sound STEREO

Liberty Records, Inc. Los Angeles, California

On Back Sleeve: ...seeking a diversion from the sobering reality of becoming one year older.

Public performance clearance--BMI

Notes by John Paul Shoptaw

Liberty Records Inc./Los Angeles, California 90028/Printed in U.S.A.

from my records collection

tracklisting

Side 1: THE SKELETON AND THE ROUNDABOUT - HAPPY BIRTHDAY

THE BIRTHDAY - I LIKE MY TOYS - THE MORNING SUNSHINE

FOLLOW ME, FOLLOW - SITTING IN MY TREE

Side 2: ON WITH THE SNOW - LUCKY MAN

(DON'T PUT YOUR BOYS IN THE ARMY) MRS. WARD - PIE IN THE SKY

THE LADY WHO SAID SHE COULD FLY - THE END OF THE ROAD

  grading

RECORD  EX but  (please, read above description)

SLEEVE NEAR EX but (please, see pictures and read above description)

The debut album by this unjustly overlooked band is a piece of classic British psychedelia 

that transcends its origins. Most British bands trying to achieve a psychedelic sound in those days 

simply played softly and sang in a very effete and poetic manner -- the Idle Race, by contrast, 

play hard here and don't sound effete so much as just cheerfully trippy, a lot like the Beatles 

of "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever"; indeed, "End of the Road" from this album sounds 

like a rewrite of "Penny Lane." Jeff Lynne is the dominant personality here, as composer, guitarist, 

and singer, and, as one might expect given his presence, the music all has a Beatles-like quality 

of playfulness amid the musical invention. The single "Skeleton and the Roundabout" may be 

a little over-produced, but it is beguilingly innocent in its zaniness, and the softer middle section 

anticipates the structure of Lynne's later work with ELO. Much more indicative of his future 

direction are "Morning Sunshine," one of the prettiest songs to come out of the entire 

Birmingham music scene and displaying a languid guitar flourish that anticipates...(AllMusic)