Album review : ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL: The UK Pop Explosion 1967-69

August 13th, 2025 by brianmc

Cherry Red [Release date 22.08.25]

All Things Bright And Beautiful comprises of 82 tracks and 3 CDs.

Several of the songs in the boxset were used to launch the first hour of the BBC’s pop music flagship, Radio One, in 1967.

The station knew it had to compete with the Pirates, even though they were now defunct, and so there’s a rich seam of quality pop running through this collection.

In particular, The Move’s ‘Flowers In The Rain’ opened the station and kicks off the first of these 3 CDs.

The “hook” was everything of course. Witness ‘Carrie Ann’ (The Hollies); ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You’ (The Foundations); ‘Something Here In My Heart, (The Paper Dolls); ‘I Can’t Let Maggie Go’ (Honeybus); ‘Bringing On Back The Good Times’ (The Love Affair).

These songs, and songs like these became the currency of best selling popular music in the late sixties. Frequently written and produced by talented Brits like Tony Macauley, Howard Blaikley, Roger Cook, but just as often imported from the USA where competition was fierce and unrelenting.

Marmalade turned ‘Lovin’ Things’ from a romantic Bobby Rydell moment into something commercial, a Britpop consumable.

Amen Corner translated Ambra Borelli’s sleek, smooth version of ‘If Paradise Is Half as Nice’ into a rollicking, singalong rock song. It put Wales and Andy Fairweather-Low onto the rock’n’roll map.

American songwriters, Spooner Oldham and Dann Penn wrote many soul hits of the sixties, like ‘Everything I Am’, originally recorded by The Box Tops. The orchestrated Plastic Penny version became a pop classic, thanks to the strings and Brian (later of the Congregation) Keith’s smoky vocals.

Then there’s the catchy candyfloss pop of ‘The Boat That I Row’ (Lulu), ‘Come Back And Shake Me’ (Clodagh Rogers), ‘Mickey’ (Twinkle), ‘Jesamine’ (The Casuals) ‘Even The Bad Times Are Good’ (The Tremeloes).

And of course a share of real classics :

‘I Don’t Want Our Loving To Die’ (The Herd…a teenage debut by Peter Frampton).

The epic, ahead of its time ‘Eloise’ (Barry Ryan). Freddy Mercury’s inspiration for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ boasted a studio band that included Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones. It just couldn’t fail.

‘Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear’, a classic, ragtime piano pop song written (for Sinatra, who never recorded it) and first recorded by Randy Newman, became a huge hit for Alan (The Animals) Price in 1967.

‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’, sung by Keith West, was peak writer producer Mark Wirtz. His theatrical pop music artistry never made it any further. And probably because of that, this singular achievement carved a permanent place in our musical memory.

Those were the days, my friend… ****1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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