Extravaganza is the fourth album by the British rock group Stackridge

Stackridge

Stackridge are a British folk, pop and progressive rock group who were at the height of their success during the early 1970s. The band's output is characterized by quirky humour and rhythmic catchy sing-along tunes....

. The album was produced by Tony Ashton

Tony Ashton

Tony Ashton was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, composer, producer and artist.-Biography:...

 at AIR Studios, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The album was originally released in the UK on Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

's Rocket Records

Rocket Records

The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon and Steve Brown among others, in 1972. The name is from the hit, "Rocket Man"...

 label. Stackridge was the first group signed to the new label.

A different version of the album was released by Sire Records

Sire Records

Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...

 in the U.S and Canada. This version removed 2 songs already released on Pinafore Days

The Man in the Bowler Hat (album)

The Man In The Bowler Hat is the third album by the British rock group Stackridge. The album was produced by George Martin at AIR Studios, London and released in the UK by MCA Records. This was their highest charting album, peaking at number 23 in the UK Albums Chart.A different version of the...

and added "Do The Stanley" from a UK single and "The Indifferent Hedgehog" from the UK album The Man In The Bowler Hat

The Man in the Bowler Hat (album)

The Man In The Bowler Hat is the third album by the British rock group Stackridge. The album was produced by George Martin at AIR Studios, London and released in the UK by MCA Records. This was their highest charting album, peaking at number 23 in the UK Albums Chart.A different version of the...

.

Singer and songwriter Gordon Haskell

Gordon Haskell

Gordon Haskell is a Pop, Rock & Blues music vocalist, songwriter, and bassist. He first gained recognition as a member of the British band Les Fleur de Lys. He sang on one of the songs of King Crimson's second album, then played bass and sang on their third album...

 rehearsed with Stackridge for a short time during 1974. Though Haskell decided not to join Stackridge they did keep one of his songs in their repertoire and decided to record it for Extravaganza. Originally called Worms, the song was re-titled No One's More Important Than the Earthworm.

Side one

1. "Spin 'Round the Room" (Rod Bowkett, Lucy Vernon) – 2:45
2. "Grease Paint Smiles" (Bowkett, Bathos) – 4:04
3. "The Volunteer" (Andy Davis, Smegmakovitch) – 5:05
4. "Highbury Incident (Rainy July Morning)" (Davis, Bowkett, "Mutter" Slater) – 4:02
5. "Benjamin's Giant Onion" (Bowkett, Bathos) – 4:04
6. "Happy in the Lord" (Phil Welton) – 3:51

Side two

1. "Rufus T. Firefly" (Bowkett) – 4:51
2. "No One's More Important Than the Earthworm" (Gordon Haskell
   Gordon Haskell
   Gordon Haskell is a Pop, Rock & Blues music vocalist, songwriter, and bassist. He first gained recognition as a member of the British band Les Fleur de Lys. He sang on one of the songs of King Crimson's second album, then played bass and sang on their third album...
   
   ) – 5:12
3. "Pocket Billiards" (Bowkett) – 4:04
4. "Who's That Up There With Bill Stokes?" (Bowkett, Davis) – 4:36

Track Listing: U.S. version, Sire Records SASD-7509

1. "Do the Stanley" (Wabadaw Sleeve) – 2:53
2. "Grease Paint Smiles" (Bowkett, Bathos) – 4:04
3. "The Volunteer" (Davis, Smegmakovitch) – 5:05
4. "The Indifferent Hedgehog" (Davis, Graham Smith) – 3:15
5. "Benjamin's Giant Onion" (Bowkett, Bathos) – 4:04
6. "Happy in the Lord" (Phil Welton) – 3:51
7. "Rufus T. Firefly" (Bowkett) – 4:51
8. "No One's More Important Than the Earthworm" (Haskell) – 5:12
9. "Pocket Billiards" (Bowkett) – 4:04
10. "Who's That Up There With Bill Stokes?" (Bowkett, Davis) – 4:36

Note that "Bathos", "Smegmaokovitch" and "Wabadaw Sleeve" are entities invented by the band to signify the whole band. Many lyrics were joint efforts.

Personnel

• Andy Davis (Andy Cresswell-Davis) – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , mellotron
  Mellotron
  The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
  
  , vocals
• Michael Evans - violin
  Violin
  The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
  
  
• Michael "Mutter" Slater - flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  , vocals
• James "Crun" Walter - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Keith Gemmell
  Keith Gemmell
  Keith Gemmell is a rock musician and saxophone player best known for being a member of British art rock band Audience from 1969 to 1972. He is now a music educator, author and journalist.-Early life and career:...
  
   - saxophone
  Saxophone
  The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
  
  s, clarinet
  Clarinet
  The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
  
  , flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  
• Paul Karas - bass, vocals
• Rod Bowkett - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• Roy Morgan - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  

Production

• Produced by Tony Ashton and Stackridge
• Engineers : Geoff Emerick, Pete Swettenham, Gary Edwards
• Recorded at AIR Studios, London, England 1974
• Remastered under the watchful eye of Andy Davis and James Warren at Sundried Artits by Glenn Tommey during November 2006.