I’m delighted to bring to you a long overdue extremely comprehensive 5CD retrospective collection of a man whose name outside of the music business is quite possibly unknown to many people. However if I was to say ‘Excerpt From A Teenage Opera’ (or ‘Grocer Jack’) that it’s often referred to, that would instantly be recognised by any ‘baby boomer’ as one of the most well loved songs from 1967. And we wouldn’t have the record to luxuriate in if it wasn’t for its co-writer & producer Mark Wirtz. When Mark passed away in August 2020 the music business lost, in my opinion, a titan whose name should be up there with the likes of Joe Meek, George Martin, et al. This lovingly put together exhaustive collection of Mark’s work by fan & later collaborator Stephen C Wilson of duo Sound Menagerie is a perfect celebration of a mans lifetime work, a man who was not only a visionary producer but also variously a singer, writer, composer, poet, arranger, painter & even in latter years a stand up comedian. One might say Mark had an embarrassing amount of multi-talents. Born in Strasbourg & brought up in Cologne he moved to London in 1962 where he initially studied performing arts at RADA & had his own beat band The Beatcrackers who were signed to EMI in 1963 as Mark Rogers & the Marksmen, the first of many different names attached to his life’s work & career. By 1965 he had formed his own production company working with big names including Marlene Dietrich. In 1966 he wrote & produced a piece that after ‘Grocer Jack’ is probably his best known piece to the public, the instrumental ‘A Touch of Velvet- A Sting of Brass’ credited to The Mood Mosiac, it was much played on pirate radio & used as a theme by several DJ’s, notably Dave Lee Travis on Radio Caroline. It was his next work that really caught my attention. After accepting an invitation to join EMI as an in-house producer in 1967 & working at Abbey Road alongside Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, Mark started working with Hastings Pier regulars Kippington Lodge & Keith West & Tomorrow, the latter producing psychedelic classics ‘My White Bicycle’ & ‘Revolution. Together with Keith he then embarked on his most famous work the ultimately unfinished ‘Teenage Opera’. This work has been mentioned by industry ‘heavyweights’ Pete Townshend & Paul McCartney as an influence on their own projects ‘Tommy’ & ‘Abbey Road’ respectively. Although ‘Teenage Opera’ was never fully realised it did also produce one of my favourite singles of the 60’s in ‘Sam’ the follow up to ‘Grocer Jack’ another delightful whimsical tale, beautifully realised & produced. This new compilation gives you an unrivalled journey through the ‘opera’ story & so much more as Mark moved into the 70’s. Over 5 CD’s this collection spans the years 1963 on through the 70’s with 131 tracks, featuring outtakes, previously unheard & unreleased material, spoken insights into Marks world, Mono mixes that have been unavailable for over 50 years for some of his most famous work like ‘Grocer Jack’ & so much more. The 5 CD’s come in separate sleeves in a sturdy clamshell box that also contains an exclusive yellow badge & a facsimile letter of the handwritten lyrics to ‘Grocer Jack’ & as an added bonus if you order the set direct from Cherry Red Records themselves you get a bonus digital download of additional tracks. The accompanying 40 page booklet perfectly annotates the tracks with a wealth of detail I sadly don’t have the space to go into here, but rest assured if you, like me, are a lover of 60’s psyche or just want to go on a magical journey of discovery into Mark Wirtz’s fascinating world of diverse musical projects then indulge yourself with this set. Its a cracking start to this years Smart Sounds & 10 years of my association with Cherry Red. Enjoy.
Steve Wilson… Thank you so much for this lovely review of the Mark Wirtz box set
Colin Bell… My pleasure Steve, love his work
Alan Esdaile… I also really like the track ‘Sam’.