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

Sealed. 3-disc box set.

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!"

Disc 1
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

Disc 2
1 Don't Blow Your Cool - the Caravelles
2 I Can't Control Myself - the Troggs
3 Can't Help Thinking About Me -David Bowie with the Lower Third
4 Try and Stop Me - the Creation
5 Viva la Tamla Motown - the London Studio Group
6 New Directions - Dave Anthony's Moods
7 Dedicated Follower of Fashion-The Kinks
8 She's a Liar - the Shots
9 Caroline - the Fortunes
10 A Man in a Suitcase - Ron Grainer
11 Help Me Girl - Eric Burdon & the Animals
12 I Like What I'm Trying to Do -Waygood Ellis
13 Wade in the Water - the Graham Bond Organisation
14 I'm a Boy - the Who
15 Red White and You - Sounds Around
16 Put Yourself in My Place -Episode Six
17 Mr. Frantic - Bluesology
18 Little Games - Des James
19 Chills and Fever - Tom Jones
20 Take Me to the Dance - Twinkle
21 I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman -Whistling Jack Smith
22 Big City - the Artwoods
23 Little Girl - John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton
24 Looking Back (Single Version) - the Spencer Davis Group
25 Because I Love You (Aka I Do Love You) - the Mickey Finn
26 Sorrow (Demo Version) - the Merseys
27 If Trees Could Talk - Samantha Juste
28 Portobello Road - the Spectrum
29 Julie Brown Loves Captain Cook - Les & Paul Barrett
30 Morningtown Ride - Stan
31 Butcher, His Birds & Brass
32 What'cha Gonna Do About It -The Mirage
33 London - My Home Town - the Chantelles

Disc 3
1 Friday on My Mind - the Easybeats
2 The Cost of Living - the Downliners Sect
3 The Hustle - Basil Kirchin & John Coleman
4 Crazy Feeling - Carl Douglas & the Big Stampede
5 Do the Dog - Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames
6 I'll Go Crazy - the Untamed
7 I Get Excited - Moon's Train
8 I'm Out - the Richard Kent Style
9 Henry's Panter - Wynder K. Frogg
10 Whatcha Gonna Do About It -Small Faces
11 I'm Following You - the Syn
12 I'm Gettin' Tired (Of Drinkin' and Gamblin' Etc) - Jack Bruce
13 Town Talk - Ken Woodman & His Piccadilly Brass
14 If You Need Me - the Union
15 I'm Out of My Own - the Roll Movement
16 Where Did My Heart Go - the Good Time Losers
17 Get Out of My Way - the Drag Set
18 Don't You Ignore Me - the Extreem
19 Don't Stop and Stare - Gary Farr & the T-Bones
20 Lose Your Money (But Don't
21 Lose Your Mind) - the Moody Blues
22 Cheat and Lie - Miki Dallon
23 Haven't They Got Better Things
24 To Do - the Profile
25 She's a Raver - Dana Gillespie
26 I'm Waiting for the Day - Peanut
27 I'm Back* - the Good Things
28 Not the Sort of Girl You Take
29 To Bed (Alternative Version) - John's Children
30 How Long Is Time - the Odyssey
31 The Music Goes Round - the Jeeps
32 We Love the Pirates - the Roaring 60's
33 Pageing Sullivan - the London Studio Group
34 Love Ya Illya - Angela & the Fans
35 England Swings - Petula Clark