Description

Record Store Day 2017 exclusive on black and white marbled vinyl with printed innersleeve. Limited 1000 copies

Television Personalities split up in 1982, after five years as D.I.Y. pioneers. It turned out to be a temporary development (although Ed Ball, Dan Treacy’s artistic foil, never did return, busying himself by turning his side project, the Times, into a full-time — sorry — proposition), but the split was marked by the mysterious compilation They Could Have Been Bigger Than the Beatles. An unannotated collection of re-recorded versions of tracks from their first two albums, early singles, and unreleased outtakes, this should by all rights be a complete mess. Funnily enough, it works a treat, being more consistently entertaining than 1982’s Mummy Your [sic] Not Watching Me, though not as conceptually perfect as 1981’s excellent And Don’t the Kids Just Love It. Highlights include a much-improved new version of “David Hockney’s Diaries” and the gentle freakbeat of “The Boy in the Paisley Shirt” and “Psychedelic Holiday.” Treacy also pays tribute to the then-forgotten Creation, with enthusiastically sloppy versions of “Painter Man” and “Making Time.” The original Whaam! release of this album came in hand-painted black-on-tan sleeves with no liner notes or other information.

Track list:
1. Three Wishes
2. David Hockney’s Diary
3. In A Perfumed Garden
4. Flowers For Abigail
5. King And Country
6. The Boy In The Paisley Shirt
7. Games For Boys
8. Painter Man
9. Psychedelic Holiday
10. 14th Floor
11. Sooty’s Disco Party
12. Makin’ Time
13. When Emily Cries
14. The Glittering Prizes
15. Anxiety Block
16. Mysterious Ways