The Great White Wonder
Encyclopedia
The Great White Wonder is the second full-length album by the Welsh
band The Pooh Sticks. The album was released in June 1991 and is the band's final album release on an independent label
before signing to RCA Records
in 1992. The album features guest vocals
from Amelia Fletcher
.
Americana". Like their previous work, The Great White Wonder takes bit of material (song titles, guitar riffs, melodies) of 1970s music icons and molds them into something of their own. This release features nods to Neil Young
, Helen Reddy
, Kim Fowley
, Smokey Robinson
, Ozark Mountain Daredevils
, Peter Frampton
, Jonathan Richman
, Lou Reed
, Sweet
, Chic
, James Taylor
and Sham 69
. Despite a poor response both at home and in America it was voted Spin
's 'Number 1 Album of 1991 You Didn't Hear'.
has described The Great White Wonder. He also writes that their "obsession with recapturing innocent thrills...keeps them on the right side of parody". He closes by saying the album is "brilliant, clever, and sarcastic, but more importantly, incredible fun." Also from Spin, Regina Joseph in describing the influence of the 1970s on this album writes that the band "shamelessly wallow[s] in the goofiest dreck of that misbegotten era" and closes by writing that the album's "triumph lies in creating cool parody while keeping it as innocent as child's play." Jason Ankeny of Allmusic writes that the band "rape, plunder and pillage the history of pop music with manic glee" in reference to their use of old source material, and concludes that the they are "in love with pop music" and the album is "their valentine to rock & roll." In his New York Times
review of the album Milo Miles calls the band "a potent, ingenious rock-and-roll band" and comments on the albums "bright vocal harmonies and guitar-pumped melodies of mid-60's pop".
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
band The Pooh Sticks. The album was released in June 1991 and is the band's final album release on an independent label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
before signing to RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in 1992. The album features guest vocals
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
from Amelia Fletcher
Amelia Fletcher
Amelia Fletcher is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, and economist. She has been the frontwoman of an evolving series of pop groups from the 1980s to the present...
.
Overview
The Pooh Sticks released this album in 1991 after a 1990 tour of America, and the album reflected their "embrace of kitschKitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
Americana". Like their previous work, The Great White Wonder takes bit of material (song titles, guitar riffs, melodies) of 1970s music icons and molds them into something of their own. This release features nods to Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, Kim Fowley
Kim Fowley
Kim Vincent Fowley is an American record producer, impresario, songwriter, musician, film maker, and radio actor. He is best known for his role behind a string of novelty and cult rock pop singles in the 1960s, and for managing The Runaways in the 1970s...
, Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
, Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are a Southern rock/country rock band formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri, USA. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975....
, Peter Frampton
Peter Frampton
Peter Kenneth Frampton is an English musician, singer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. He was previously associated with the bands Humble Pie and The Herd. Frampton's international breakthrough album was his live release, Frampton Comes Alive!. The album sold over 6 million copies...
, Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Richman
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970 he founded The Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key, generally acoustic backing...
, Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, Sweet
Sweet (band)
Sweet was a British rock band that rose to worldwide fame in the 1970s as one of the most prominent glam rock acts, with the classic line-up of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bass player Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott, and drummer Mick Tucker.Sweet was formed in 1968 and achieved their first...
, Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
and Sham 69
Sham 69
Sham 69 is an English punk band that formed in Hersham in 1976.Although not as commercially successful as many of their contemporaries, albeit with a greater number of chart entries, Sham 69 has been a huge musical and lyrical influence on the Oi! and streetpunk genres. The band allegedly derived...
. Despite a poor response both at home and in America it was voted Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
's 'Number 1 Album of 1991 You Didn't Hear'.
Reception
"Tough and tight like early punk, hooky like sugar pop" is how Joe Levy of SpinSpin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
has described The Great White Wonder. He also writes that their "obsession with recapturing innocent thrills...keeps them on the right side of parody". He closes by saying the album is "brilliant, clever, and sarcastic, but more importantly, incredible fun." Also from Spin, Regina Joseph in describing the influence of the 1970s on this album writes that the band "shamelessly wallow[s] in the goofiest dreck of that misbegotten era" and closes by writing that the album's "triumph lies in creating cool parody while keeping it as innocent as child's play." Jason Ankeny of Allmusic writes that the band "rape, plunder and pillage the history of pop music with manic glee" in reference to their use of old source material, and concludes that the they are "in love with pop music" and the album is "their valentine to rock & roll." In his New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review of the album Milo Miles calls the band "a potent, ingenious rock-and-roll band" and comments on the albums "bright vocal harmonies and guitar-pumped melodies of mid-60's pop".
Track list
All songs written by Steve Gregory unless noted- "Young People" (Andrew Griffiths/Hywel James) – 3:54
- "The Rhythm of Love" (Bob Feldman/Jerry GoldsteinJerry GoldsteinJerry Goldstein is a space physicist whose research has focused on the Earth's plasmasphere, a high-altitude extension of the ionized portion of the planet's upper atmosphere...
/Richard GottehrerRichard GottehrerRichard Gottehrer is an American songwriter, record producer and record label executive.-Career:Gottehrer came to prominence as a songwriter in the 1960s with his most notable songs being "My Boyfriend's Back" and "I Want Candy". As Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer , he wrote various songs including...
) – 3:26 - "Sweet Baby James" (Bob Gaudio) – 3:11
- "Pandora's Box" – 2:56
- "Desperado" – 4:45
- "Goodtimes" – 2:01
- "The Wild One, Forever" – 1:16
- "I'm in You" – 14:38
- "When Sunny Gets Blue" – 2:41
Personnel
- Steve Gregory – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, songwriter - Hue Williams – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Alison – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Stephanie – drumsDrum kitA 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 ....
- Trudi Tangerine – liner notesLiner notesLiner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
, Moog synthesizerMoog synthesizerMoog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all.... - Paul – guitarGuitarThe 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...
- Amelia FletcherAmelia FletcherAmelia Fletcher is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist, and economist. She has been the frontwoman of an evolving series of pop groups from the 1980s to the present...
– vocals - Alan ForbesAlan ForbesAlan Forbes is a rock music poster artist. He developed the signature icon of The Black Crowes, as well as posters, symbols and album artworks for many other bands, including Queens of the Stone Age, Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, White Stripes, AFI, Dinosaur Jr. and The Misfits...
– art directorArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games.... - Andrew Griffiths – composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
- Hywel James – composer
- Crazy Katie Lake – engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...