The Herbs and The Adventures of Parsley

CLASSIC BBC KID'S ANIMATION DEVISED & WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BOND

If your favourite series made it on to vinyl then you know it wasn't made yesterday.But it's sometimes easy to forget that in the time before cd's,and right upto the eighties,most kids series usually had some kind of spin-off vinyl record.

And anything from a single of the theme tune to the re-telling of complete episodes-as is the case here.....

ADVENTURES OF PARSLEY LP   This is the only piece of vinyl specifically devoted to either series,so there's nothing at all for The Herbs.But,fortunately,the sequel's far better-suited to visual-free vinyl verbals in any case. And,without the "distraction" of the pictures,you can fully appreciate the quality of the writing and Gordon Rolling's narrative performance -plus the fact that storytelling on vinyl is just so darn evocative.

Like me though,you may have to buy a record player specifically for the purpose,as our old family one had been sold ages ago,together with quite a good record collection.Which wasn't one of our smartest moves.Particularly as I've now got an excuse to start buying them all back again.

But what price memories eh   ? Well,considering some of the gems we let go,quite a lot unfortunately.But at least you can still pick this one up quite easily and won't have to pay more than a fiver.And there are plenty of very nice unscratched examples out there too.

CHILDREN'S TV FAVOURITES

Admittedly this is a little tenuous as it's just a compilation album of kid's tv signature tunes (well,mostly- see blurb)

But Parsley's theme is on there,so here it is.

And there's quite a nice cross-section on offer actually.

Although it's a rather bizarre experience if you listen to it all the way through in one sitting.But if you tell your doctor "it hurts when I do this" then you have to expect him to say  "well,don't do it then !" Which is sound advice of course and something I really must try and remember before I do these things !

And if you think you've also seen it on cassette,then you'd be right.But it's considerably harder to find for some reason.

Details 12" Vinyl LP GH547 on the Pye Records Label under their "Golden Hour" banner.

1972 release date.  60 minutes total runtime.

Side One

1)    Sesame Street

2)    The Tra-La-La Song

3)    Medley -Play School & Magic Roundabout

4)    Rupert the Bear

5)    The Cuckoo Clock

6)    Medley -Joe & Trumpton

7)    Hatty Town

8)    Felix the Cat

9)    Lollipop Loves Mr. Mole

10)  Sir Prancelot

11)  Old MacDonald

12)  Parsley

13)  Jackanory

14)  Oh Susanah

15)  Shaun the Leprechaun

16)  Andy Pandy

Side Two

1)    Dr.Who

2)    Scooby Doo (Where Are You)

3)    Thunderbirds

4)    Bonanza

5)    Aqua Marina (from 'Stingray')

6)    Captain Scarlet

7)    The Virginian

8)    Lidsville

9)    Pink Panther

10)  Song of the Diddymen

11)  Maverick

56K USERS- LARGE FILE SIZE

Details 12" Vinyl LP BBC Records,'Roundabout' Series No.18 Mono. 1973 release date.

Side One

1) The Conch Shell

2) Dill's Who's Who Entry

3) The Theatre Show

4) Dill's Paintings

5) Fortune Telling

Side Two

1) The Quiz Programme

2) Dill's Laundry

3) Parsley's Illness

4) Dill's Pop Group

5) Mr.Onion's Karate Lesson