Excerpt from A Teenage Opera

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"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'"
Philwit/Hopkins
Producer(s)Mark Wirtz
Keith West singles chronology
"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'"
(1967) 		"Sam"
(1967)

"Excerpt from 'A Teenage Opera'" (also known as "Grocer Jack") is a 1967 single by

UK Singles Chart.[1] The single was part of a bigger "A Teenage Opera
" project. The song was written by Wirtz and West, credited as "Philwit / Hopkins".

History

According to Mark Wirtz, the song comes from a dream he had about an ageing door-to-door grocer named Jack in a small, turn of the 20th century village, who was mocked by the children as he was taken for granted by the town folk. When Jack unexpectedly died, the town folk reacted with anger about the inconvenience of now having to be self-reliant about their staple provisions, while the children were heartbroken, in truth having loved and appreciated Jack all the while.[2]

Working with

DJ John Peel, who loved it and played it on his show.[2] After its eventual release, it climbed the UK singles chart, reaching number 2 in September 1967 (behind "The Last Waltz" by Engelbert Humperdinck).[3] The single was a major hit in Europe, but in the US only reached number 109.[4]

According to Wirtz, EMI treated the single as a one-off novelty, and refused to give the go-ahead for a full album until there had been a second hit single. Wirtz turned down an offer from Robert Stigwood to help develop the project. He continued to work on the project, which he intended to be "a kaleidoscope of stories, a bouquet of allegorical, tragiccomic tales about a variety of characters and their fate, all related to each other by the common thread of living in the same imaginary turn-of the-century village. Each character distinguished him/herself by rebelliously pursuing a dream or lifestyle against all odds and in defiance of conformity, their ageless celebration of youth and individuality embodying the very spirit of Rock’n’Roll."[2] However, Wirtz became involved in a contractual dispute with EMI, and the ending of the offshore radio stations around the UK with the introduction of Radio 1 led to changes in the company's marketing approach. The second single from the proposed Teenage Opera, "Sam", was only a modest hit, and Wirtz and West lost interest in the project and ended their working partnership.[2]

In 2000, Wirtz wrote: "Quintessentially, what killed Teenage Opera was EMI’s blind and stubborn procrastination and political tomfoolery, which ultimately shot us all to shit. Nevertheless, even in its incomplete form and ultimate failure, Teenage Opera entered the history books as a bright torch and shining star, having set a precedent and broken down barriers to pave the way for others to succeed where I had failed."[2]

Cultural references

The song was namechecked on Half Man Half Biscuit's song 'Our Tune' from the album McIntyre, Treadmore and Davitt (1991), the last lines of which are "Grocer Jack! Grocer Jack! Get off your back! Go into town!" from the chorus, except bellowed rather than sung.

Chart performance

Chart (1967–68) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 49
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 2
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 2
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11] 1
New Zealand (Listener)[12] 10
UK Singles (OCC)[13]
 2
US
Bubbling Under the Hot 100 (Billboard)[14]
 109

References

  1. ISBN 1-904994-10-5
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e "The Story Behind "The Teenage Opera"". Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2016-09-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ^ Official UK Singles Chart, 20-27 September 1967. Retrieved 9 August 2020
  4. ^ Keith West Top Songs, MusicVf. Retrieved 9 August 2020
  5. ^ "Every AMR Top 100 Single in 1968". www.top100singles.net.
  6. ^ ""A+Teenage+Opera"&cat=s Keith West – Excerpt from "A Teenage Opera"" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. ^ ""A+Teenage+Opera"&cat=s Keith West – Excerpt from "A Teenage Opera"" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ^ "Keith West – Excerpt from "A Teenage Opera"" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  9. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Excerpt from A Teenage Opera". Irish Singles Chart.
  10. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Keith West" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  11. ^ ""A+Teenage+Opera"&cat=s Keith West – Excerpt from "A Teenage Opera"" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  12. ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Archived from the original on 2021-04-18. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  13. ^ "Keith West: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  14. ISBN 9780898200478
    .
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