I do not own the song, and am uploading it only to display an example of this band's sound for no profit. Perhaps it will even create new fans for the artist
“Novelty Medley” (Green Door, Turning Japanese, Baggy Trousers, Stop the Cavalry, You Drive Me Crazy, There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop) starts with the traditional pub rock song. The young boys vocals are a little off putting, but not horrible. Baggy Trousers is kinda great with the young kids with heavier British accents. It is followed up with the straightforward folky protest song with simple instrumentation, with a little bit of Christmas feeling. The Motown style of the next bit makes the song fun, but the vocals are pretty high. And there is a little lisp on the word Crazy. It ends with a faster paced, driving song that completes this as more of a new wave than novelty medley of songs.
I was shocked to find that it was VERY uncomfortable. Picture 5-12 year old children, singing songs that contain some very adult oriented lyrics. As I listened, I wondered who would possibly greenlit this, let alone dressed up the kids to look like the artists they are covering. Not all of music’s fashions were meant for pre-teens (nightdresses?). Society still allows for creepy child beauty pageants, and there are still companies making these ‘Kids Sing The Hits’ records, so maybe I’m way off in my reaction. I had to do a little more research to find out more behind this album.
The album was, at first, just that: a record of kids (including the creator’s own daughter) singing popular songs in England. And to sell the record, it made sense for the kids to recreate the album covers and artists that were being covered. One single (Stupid Cupid) even reached number one in France, so there was definitely a market for this product. A couple of producers saw this, so they rearranged the format to create a TV series targeting children viewership. This album in review was the record that preceded the TV series.
The major flaw in the concept was that, while making a TV show aimed at children, they never stepped back to see how the parents and other adults would view pre-teens singing about adult themes and wearing adult make-up. Even though the kids found acting in and watching the show appealing and entertaining, many adults saw the production as uncomfortable, embarrassing, painful and just plain wrong. The production team went overboard in making the kids ‘fit the part’ of the artists. The choreography contained somewhat adult dance moves, the little girls were covered in layers of make-up (almost comically so) and they sang the songs with unedited lyrics involving relationships and making love. Just as kids don’t understand many of the jokes in Looney Tunes, the kids didn’t know what they were singing. To them, it was just a harmless, good natured project. In a ‘where are they now’ documentary, many of the kids- now adults, agreed to the good natured sense of the project. But it is also completely understandable (by people outside of the project, at least), that this did not sit well with many viewers.
The show only lasted one season, as the new Head of Entertainment at channel 4 cancelled the plans for a second series. But the group continued to record albums without the TV series. In total with the original cast, there were 7 albums released from 82-88. Perhaps the brightest part of the Mini-Pop’s career was when they toured Canada after the album became the third best-selling album of all time behind Michael Jackson and Kenny Rogers in 1983. Their tour was received with a pop-star reception, and it went faultlessly, without the slightest protest from cautious or worried adults. There is still an incarnation of The Mini Pops going on covering today’s hit music via the same K-Tel record label, but this time, it is without the wardrobe or make up, let alone the TV series.