In The 1970s Wombles with Mike Batt

The pop charts in the 1970s were full of so many things. So a group dressed up in Womble costume playing instruments and singing is just so natural. The group were just a few guys dressed up and the music of the Wombles came from musician Mike Batt.

Mike Batt was broke when he was asked to write a song for the new TV series The Wombles, which was all bout creatures om Wimbledon Common that cleared rubbish. He was offered in 1973 £200 to make the song.but he decided he would ask them for the musical rights instead. That mad him a wealthy man.

Mike also wrote the No.1 song Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel in 1979 and had a hand in the hits for Steeleye Span with All Around My Hat and Lilac Wine by Elkie Brooks

Mike also wrote the TV theme to BBC Seaside Special called Summertime City which was a big hit too in the 1970s.

Mike Batt Interview

The Wombles started as a book and then became a very popular TV cartoon before crossing over in the charts. Mike Batt wrote and produced the main theme which he extended to make it a No. 4 single in 1973.

The furry creatures continued to have huge chart success with more singles in the next year. The No. 3 hit was Remember You're A Womble which everybody sang along to. The silly creatures continued to chart with  Banana Rock.

The Wombles had several Gold singles and LPs and even had a small hit in the U.S.. The next UK hit was the French style hit Minuetto Allegretto In November that year we were treated to a classic Christmas song with Wombling Merry Christmas. 

In The 1970s Elkie Brooks

Elaine Bookbinder was born in the UK in 1945 and spent most of the 1960s doing the cabaret circuit. She also worked with the Beatles, Small Faces and Animals. In 1971 she joined the group Vinegar Joe which included the vocals of Robert Palmer. Her husband Pete Gage was also a member.

When the group disbanded she went solo with A&M Records. Her album Two Days Away produced by Elvis writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which gave her several single UK chart hits.

Pearl's A Singer tells the story of a singer who did not make the big time. This was followed by Sunshine After the Rain from the same album and both charting in 1977. In 1978 the hits continued with Lilac Wine a song from the 1950s written by  James Sheldon.

Her last top twenty single hit of the 1970s was Dont Cry Out Loud  written in 1976 by Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen.