VA - All Things Bright And Beautiful : The UK Pop Explosion 1967-1969 (2025) @ Flac

 A four-hour, 3CD anthology of the late 60s British pop scene during the early years of Radio 1. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review by Tim Sendra

In late 1967, the BBC launched Radio 1 as an attempt to fill the void created by the banning of the pirate radio stations that had been beaming pop music into homes around the nation. Leaving the more experimental sounds to John Peel at night, the DJs played a bright and sunny mix of pop music, something that the minds behind Grapefruit's 2025 collection All Things Bright and Beautiful: The UK Pop Explosion 1967-1969 have sought to recapture. Over the course of three CDs, a parade of hooks so sharp they could cut glass do battle with melodies so sweet they would scare a diabetic and harmonies so rich they might need to move to the Isle of Man. Big names like the Hollies drop in occasionally with big hits like "Carrie Anne," but for the most part the selection digs a little deeper to fill the playlist with also-rans who would be played on the air to fill up the day's schedule -- sounding lush and lovely, and somewhere close to brilliant decades later. Some of the songs included did come close to being hits, like Barry Ryan's over-the-top "Eloise" or Honeybus' "I Can't Let Maggie Go," and it's nice to hear them, but the heart of the compilation is songs like the Hi-Fi's goofy novelty "I'm a Box (Mum-Mum-Mum)," the Secrets' brutally honest "I Think I Need The Cash," or Gene Latter's rock-hard slice of bubblegum soul "Sign on the Dotted Line" -- tracks that were just a blip on the radar of radio listeners at the time but are brimming with good ideas and skillful execution. It's impossible to go more than two songs without finding another example of a track that could have been a hit if the breaks had broken differently. Check out Twiggy's mellow girl group lament "Beautiful Dreams" or Sons and Lovers' gleaming sunshine-pop trifle "Things You Do" for a couple of good examples. The general level of quality is so high that the songs by all-time great bands like the Kinks ("Wonderboy") and the Move ("Flowers in the Rain") don't overshadow the artists who barely got a look in. Indeed, it's all sunshine and sweetness from start to finish, and All Things Bright and Beautiful does a bang-up job of documenting a golden era of pop in the U.K.

and

https://louderthanwar.com/all-things-bright-and-beautiful-the-uk-pop-explosion-album-review/

==============================

CD 1 

01. The Move - Flowers In The Rain  (2:32)

02. Alan Price Set - Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear  (2:03)

03. Neil Christian - You're All Things Bright And Beautiful  (2:56)

04. Vanity Fare - I Live For The Sun  (2:30)

05. A New Generation - Smokey Blue's Away  (3:19)

06. The Foundations - Baby Now That I've Found You  (2:38)

07. J. Vincent Edward - Thanks  (3:04)

08. Living Daylights - Let's Live For Today  (2:54)

09. The Hollies - Carrie Anne  (2:54)

10. Jonathan King - Round, Round  (2:58)

11. The Hi-Fi's - I'm A Box (Mum-Mum-Mum)  (2:36)

12. Arrival - Friends  (3:58)

13. Val McKenna - House For Sale  (2:02)

14. The Sweetshop - Slow Motion (Demo Version)  (3:02)

15. Plastic Penny - Everything I Am  (2:22)

16. Magic Lanterns - Shame, Shame  (3:00)

17. The Kinks - Wonderboy  (2:50)

18. Force West - Mr. Blue  (2:49)

19. Don Fardon - The Lament Of The Cherokee Reservation Indian  (3:26)

20. Davey Payne and The Medium Wave - A Walk In The Sunshine  (3:31)

21. The Spectrum - Samantha's Mine  (2:23)

22. Candy - Little Bit O' Soul  (2:00)

23. The Paper Dolls - Something Here In My Heart (Keeps A Tellin' Me No)  (2:56)

24. The Secrets - I Think I Need The Cash  (2:19)

25. The Sundowners - The Gloria Bosom Show  (2:46)

26. The Flower Pot Men - In A Moment Of Madness  (3:02)

27. Keith West - Excerpt From "A Teenage Opera"  (4:29)

CD 2 

01. The Love Affair - Bringing On Back The Good Times  (3:25)

02. Lulu - The Boat That I Row  (2:50)

03. Twiggy - Beautiful Dreams  (2:57)

04. Simon De Lacy - Baby Come Back To Me  (3:03)

05. The Wheels - What's The Matter With Juliet  (2:37)

06. Clodagh Rodgers - Come Back And Shake Me  (2:37)

07. Cindy Ann Lee - March  (2:24)

08. Gene Latter - Sign On The Dotted Line  (2:39)

09. The Skatalites - Please Let Me Hide  (2:48)

10. The Family Dogg - A Way Of Life  (4:07)

11. The Episode - Wide Smiles  (1:51)

12. The Cymbaline - Peanuts And Chewy Macs  (2:24)

13. Genesis - The Silent Sun  (2:13)

14. U.K. Jones - And The Rains Came Down  (2:57)

15. The Merseys - Lovely Loretta  (3:06)

16. Chuckles - I Thought You Thought  (2:28)

17. The Marmalade - Lovin' Things  (3:05)

18. The Quotations - Cool It  (2:57)

19. Mike Stuart Span - Baubles And Bangles  (2:34)

20. The Unit (Unit 4+2) - Would You Believe What I Say  (2:14)

21. Whichwhat - Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'  (2:18)

22. The Eggy - Hookey  (2:44)

23. Amen Corner - (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice  (2:46)

24. The Chocolate Watch Band - What's It To You  (2:45)

25. Twinkle - Micky  (2:28)

26. Tony Ritchie - Anybody At The Party Seen Jenny  (2:54)

27. Circus - Gone Are The Songs Of Yesterday  (3:03)

28. Violent Thimble - Gentle People Pts. 1 And 2  (5:50)

CD 3 

01. Barry Ryan - Eloise  (5:14)

02. The Herd - I Don't Want Our Loving To Die  (2:58)

03. The Mirage - Mystery Lady  (2:31)

04. Jason Crest - (Here We Go Round The) Lemon Tree  (3:03)

05. Dave Christie - Penelope Breedlove  (2:37)

06. The Casuals - Jesamine  (3:34)

07. Grapefruit - Round Going Round  (2:48)

08. The Gnomes Of Zurich - Publicity Girl  (2:10)

09. Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick And Tich - Last Night In Soho  (3:18)

10. Harmony Grass - I Remember  (3:06)

11. Tony Hazzard - Everything's Gone Wrong  (2:16)

12. Sun Dragon - Blueberry Blue  (2:22)

13. Outer Limits - Great Train Robbery (Demo Version)  (3:40)

14. The Honeybus - I Can't Let Maggie Go  (2:57)

15. Apple - Let's Take A Trip Down The Rhine  (3:05)

16. Yellow Pages - Ding Dong Bell  (2:08)

17. The Carlew Choir - Huma-Luma  (2:46)

18. Sons And Lovers - Things You Do  (2:34)

19. Katch 22 - While We're Friends  (3:03)

20. Guy Darrell Syndicate - The Turtle Tortoise And The Hare  (2:24)

21. Steve Rowland - I See Red  (3:16)

22. Warm Sounds - Angeline  (3:53)

23. Jimmy Henderson Set - Drive, Drive, Drive  (2:50)

24. The Roll Movement - Just One Thing  (2:08)

25. Tuesday's Children - Bright-Eyed Apples  (3:38)

26. The Picadilly Line - Evenings With Corrina (So Long Ago)  (2:48)

27. The Tremeloes - Even The Bad Times Are Good  (2:38)

***

Thanks to original uploaders