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If you are English, you already know this. The Wombles first appeared on British television in the late 1960's and were subsequently featured in a series of children's books. They earned a regular TV series in 1973 - underwritten by the British government to raise awareness of environmental issues - and were a smash hit. The Wombles eventually grew into cross-generational cultural icons - and a minor industry, thanks to not only to books and television, but movies, toys, and records bearing their altogether cute (if puzzling) mugs. Outside of England, however, the Wombles remained obscure since, not too surprisingly, their fanciful, eccentric appeal failed to translate well beyond British shores. In England, the TV show ran for a total of four years, and the Womble franchise produced five books, four original record albums, eight hit singles, and a movie. In America, the TV show ran briefly, and only one album (Remember You're A Womble) and three singles were ever issued - all of them in 1974. Only one song ("Wombling Summer Party," #55) crept into the Billboard Top 100. [close]
The Wombles were created by children's author Elisabeth Beresford (who died on Christmas Eve, 2010) and they certainly reflected the peace-and-love sensibilities of their day. They were, in many respects, hippies. Musically speaking, however, the Wombles were almost wholly the creation of musician, songwriter, and producer Mike Batt who, like Beresford, employed current British tastes when giving voice to these subterranean tree huggers. In the early 70's, glam rock (T. Rex) and glitter pop (Elton John) ruled the UK record charts. Batt took all that, threw in a bit of bubblegum and and a healthy dose of the old fashioned British musical hall tradition, to create the sound of the Wombles. Batt, who voiced the Womble character Orinoco in the show, sang lead on all the songs, and he employed some genuine rock 'n' rollers, including guitarist Chris Spedding and Elton John's percussionist, Ray Cooper. So, at their very best, the Wombles rocked pretty hard, and their melodies stuck to your skull like peanut butter. "Wombling Summer Party" is a good example, as is "Remember You're A Womble," which might be their best known song in the United States - at least to those of us old enough to have seen the show during our Saturday morning cartoons.
Because the Wombles were so otherwise so obscure, "Wombling Merry Christmas" was never issued in the United States - not in 1974, and never since. Even in England it's tough to find, though it appears with some regularity on perennial British compilations like The Christmas Album (1999) and Christmas Hits (2006). At the time, "Wombling Merry Christmas" was released in November 1974 as a single b/w "Madame Cholet" and soon appeared on the album Keep On Wombling (1974). Later, "Wombling Merry Christmas" appeared on The Wombles Christmas Party (1976) which, despite appearances, was simply a collection of hit singles. And, it's on such collections that you are most likely to find "Wombling Merry Christmas," including the definitive, two-disc set The Wombles Collection (2000) and The Very Best Of The Wombles (2005), though it does not appear, oddly enough, on The Best Wombles Album So Far (1998). As of this writing, however, those collections are all out-of-print and subject to exorbitant collector's pricing. American fans who really want to hunt this treasure down might be advised to visit Amazon's UK branch....
Roy Wood, though relatively obscure these days, was a pretty big deal during the Wombles' 1970's salad days. He was a founding member of The Move in the 60's, and then he formed the Electric Light Orchestra with fellow Mover Jeff Lynne (though Wood quit after only one album, long before ELO became 70's hitmakers). At the time of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day," Wood was the leader of Wizzard - under whose name the record was originally released - a band who rivaled T. Rex and Roxy Music for glam rock supremacy in England. As for the remake, Mike Batt explained to the BBC at the time, "We've taken the two songs and made the silliest song ever by juggling the two bits together." The writer for the Beeb expected that the new Wombles/Wood record would "fight it out for the number one spot with releases from Westlife and the Spice Girls" - both pop sensations at the time. Instead, the #1 record in England on Christmas went to (believe it or not) juvenile TV sensation Bob The Builder and his theme song "Can We Fix It?" while the Wombles and Wood entry struggled to #22. [top of page]
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© 1999-2012 Randall Anthony, www.hipchristmas.com and www.randysrodeo.com
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