"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'" (also known as "Grocer Jack") is a 1967 single by Keith West, produced by Mark Wirtz. It was a big hit in Europe, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.[1] The single was part of a bigger "A Teenage Opera" project. The song was written by Wirtz and West, credited as "Philwit / Hopkins".
According to Mark Wirtz, the song comes from a dream he had about an ageing door-to-door grocer named Jack in a small, turn of the 20th century village, who was mocked by the children as he was taken for granted by the town folk. When Jack unexpectedly died, the town folk reacted with anger about the inconvenience of now having to be self-reliant about their staple provisions, while the children were heartbroken, in truth having loved and appreciated Jack all the while.[2]
Working with EMIrecording engineerGeoff Emerick at Abbey Road Studios on a project called Mood Mosaic, Wirtz developed the idea which he called "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera" because, he said: "That way, if the single is a hit, people will want an entire LP of the whole opera". The recording used the voices of children from the Corona Academy, with Keith West of the band Tomorrow, with whom Wirtz was also working, as lead vocalist, and his bandmate Steve Howe on guitar. At first, EMI executives were critical of the use of children's voices on a supposedly "rock" record, but Wirtz played an acetate of the record to Radio LondonDJJohn Peel, who loved it and played it on his show.[2] After its eventual release, it climbed the UK singles chart, reaching number 2 in September 1967 (behind "The Last Waltz" by Engelbert Humperdinck).[3] The single was a major hit in Europe, but in the US only reached number 109.[4]
According to Wirtz, EMI treated the single as a one-off novelty, and refused to give the go-ahead for a full album until there had been a second hit single. Wirtz turned down an offer from Robert Stigwood to help develop the project. He continued to work on the project, which he intended to be "a kaleidoscope of stories, a bouquet of allegorical, tragiccomic tales about a variety of characters and their fate, all related to each other by the common thread of living in the same imaginary turn-of the-century village. Each character distinguished him/herself by rebelliously pursuing a dream or lifestyle against all odds and in defiance of conformity, their ageless celebration of youth and individuality embodying the very spirit of Rock’n’Roll."[2] However, Wirtz became involved in a contractual dispute with EMI, and the ending of the offshore radio stations around the UK with the introduction of Radio 1 led to changes in the company's marketing approach. The second single from the proposed Teenage Opera, "Sam", was only a modest hit, and Wirtz and West lost interest in the project and ended their working partnership.[2]
In 2000, Wirtz wrote: "Quintessentially, what killed Teenage Opera was EMI’s blind and stubborn procrastination and political tomfoolery, which ultimately shot us all to shit. Nevertheless, even in its incomplete form and ultimate failure, Teenage Opera entered the history books as a bright torch and shining star, having set a precedent and broken down barriers to pave the way for others to succeed where I had failed."[2]
Cultural references
The song was namechecked on Half Man Half Biscuit's song 'Our Tune' from the album McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt (1991), the last lines of which are "Grocer Jack! Grocer Jack! Get off your back! Go into town!" from the chorus, except bellowed rather than sung.
^Whitburn, Joel (1982). Joel Whitburn's Bubbling Under the Hot 100 1959–1981. Record Research. p. 179. ISBN9780898200478.
December 28, 2022
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Excerpt from A Teenage Opera news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Excerpt from A Teenage Opera also known as Grocer Jack is a 1967 single by Keith West produced by Mark Wirtz It was a big hit in Europe peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles Chart 1 The single was part of a bigger A Teenage Opera project The song was written by Wirtz and West credited as Philwit Hopkins Excerpt from A Teenage Opera Single by Keith WestB side Theme From A Teenage Opera by The Mark Wirtz OrchestraReleased28 July 1967Recorded1967GenrePsychedelic popLength4 25LabelParlophone R 5623Odeon O 23 597Songwriter s Philwit HopkinsProducer s Mark WirtzKeith West singles chronology Excerpt from A Teenage Opera 1967 Sam 1967 Contents 1 History 2 Cultural references 3 Chart performance 4 ReferencesHistory EditAccording to Mark Wirtz the song comes from a dream he had about an ageing door to door grocer named Jack in a small turn of the 20th century village who was mocked by the children as he was taken for granted by the town folk When Jack unexpectedly died the town folk reacted with anger about the inconvenience of now having to be self reliant about their staple provisions while the children were heartbroken in truth having loved and appreciated Jack all the while 2 Working with EMI recording engineer Geoff Emerick at Abbey Road Studios on a project called Mood Mosaic Wirtz developed the idea which he called Excerpt from A Teenage Opera because he said That way if the single is a hit people will want an entire LP of the whole opera The recording used the voices of children from the Corona Academy with Keith West of the band Tomorrow with whom Wirtz was also working as lead vocalist and his bandmate Steve Howe on guitar At first EMI executives were critical of the use of children s voices on a supposedly rock record but Wirtz played an acetate of the record to Radio London DJ John Peel who loved it and played it on his show 2 After its eventual release it climbed the UK singles chart reaching number 2 in September 1967 behind The Last Waltz by Engelbert Humperdinck 3 The single was a major hit in Europe but in the US only reached number 109 4 According to Wirtz EMI treated the single as a one off novelty and refused to give the go ahead for a full album until there had been a second hit single Wirtz turned down an offer from Robert Stigwood to help develop the project He continued to work on the project which he intended to be a kaleidoscope of stories a bouquet of allegorical tragiccomic tales about a variety of characters and their fate all related to each other by the common thread of living in the same imaginary turn of the century village Each character distinguished him herself by rebelliously pursuing a dream or lifestyle against all odds and in defiance of conformity their ageless celebration of youth and individuality embodying the very spirit of Rock n Roll 2 However Wirtz became involved in a contractual dispute with EMI and the ending of the offshore radio stations around the UK with the introduction of Radio 1 led to changes in the company s marketing approach The second single from the proposed Teenage Opera Sam was only a modest hit and Wirtz and West lost interest in the project and ended their working partnership 2 In 2000 Wirtz wrote Quintessentially what killed Teenage Opera was EMI s blind and stubborn procrastination and political tomfoolery which ultimately shot us all to shit Nevertheless even in its incomplete form and ultimate failure Teenage Opera entered the history books as a bright torch and shining star having set a precedent and broken down barriers to pave the way for others to succeed where I had failed 2 Cultural references EditThe song was namechecked on Half Man Half Biscuit s song Our Tune from the album McIntyre Treadmore and Davitt 1991 the last lines of which are Grocer Jack Grocer Jack Get off your back Go into town from the chorus except bellowed rather than sung Chart performance EditChart 1967 68 PeakpositionAustralia Kent Music Report 5 49Austria O3 Austria Top 40 6 11Belgium Ultratop 50 Flanders 7 2Germany Official German Charts 8 2Ireland IRMA 9 3Netherlands Dutch Top 40 10 1Netherlands Single Top 100 11 1New Zealand Listener 12 10UK Singles OCC 13 2US Bubbling Under the Hot 100 Billboard 14 109References Edit Roberts David 2006 British Hit Singles amp Albums 19th ed London Guinness World Records Limited p 596 ISBN 1 904994 10 5 a b c d e The Story Behind The Teenage Opera Archived from the original on 2012 12 31 Retrieved 2016 09 30 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint bot original URL status unknown link Official UK Singles Chart 20 27 September 1967 Retrieved 9 August 2020 Keith West Top Songs MusicVf Retrieved 9 August 2020 Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1968 www top100singles net A Teenage Opera amp cat s Keith West Excerpt from A Teenage Opera in German O3 Austria Top 40 A Teenage Opera amp cat s Keith West Excerpt from A Teenage Opera in Dutch Ultratop 50 Keith West Excerpt from A Teenage Opera in German GfK Entertainment charts The Irish Charts Search Results Excerpt from A Teenage Opera Irish Singles Chart Nederlandse Top 40 Keith West in Dutch Dutch Top 40 A Teenage Opera amp cat s Keith West Excerpt from A Teenage Opera in Dutch Single Top 100 flavour of new zealand search listener Flavourofnz co nz Retrieved 2021 03 25 Keith West Artist Chart History Official Charts Company Whitburn Joel 1982 Joel Whitburn s Bubbling Under the Hot 100 1959 1981 Record Research p 179 ISBN 9780898200478 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Excerpt from A Teenage Opera amp oldid 1124025371, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
