Idle Race

The Idle Race were a British rock group from Birmingham in the late 1960s and early 1970s who had a cult following but never enjoyed mass commercial success. In addition to being the springboard for Jeff Lynne, the band holds a place of significance in British Midlands' pop-rock history as a link between The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, the Steve Gibbons Band and Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
"'You get much more money if you've got a hit and the colleges will still like us because John Peel plays us.…' (Jeff Lynne, Melody Maker interview, Aug. 30 1969: 'Why no success for Idle Race?')"

Despite strong support from Peel and others, the Idle Race failed to match the chart popularity of Birmingham contemporaries such as session bands The Move and Moody Blues, as noted in the Peel-narrated TV documentary Rock Family Trees: Birmingham Beat. Band leader Jeff Lynn left in early 1970 to join the Move and would go on to enjoy many hits with Electric Light Orchestra and Traveling Wilburys, while in 1972 the final Idle Race line-up became the Steve Gibbons Band, who later recorded three Peel sessions.

During the Lynne era, Idle Race recorded six Top Gear sessions in less than two years, with two of their singles played on the programme’s inaugural show in October 1967, introduced by Peel and Pete Drummond. These included “Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree”, which was later found among his most treasured 45s in John Peel's Record Box and featured in the DJ’s last month of BBC radio shows, in September 2004. The band recorded no Peel sessions after Lynne’s departure.

In 2012, three albums by the Idle Race were among the first 100 by artists beginning with I when initial details of Peel’s Record Collection were released online. Their first LP, “Birthday Party”, pictured the DJ (among others) on the inside of the gatefold sleeve. In his ABC Of Beauty, published in November 1968, Peel commented:

"'Observant songs very well performed. The [debut] LP should be heard again and again.'"

Festive Fifty Entries

 * None

Sessions

 * Six sessions. No known official release.

1. Recorded 1967-10-02. First broadcast: 08 October 1967. Repeated 12 November 1967. 2. Recorded 1968-02-19. First broadcast: 25 February 1968. 3. Recorded 1968-06-04. First broadcast: 09 June 1968. Repeated: 07 July 1968, 03 August 1969. 4. Recorded 1968-09-03. First broadcast 22 September 1968. 5. Recorded 1969-01-20. First broadcast: 26 January 1969. Repeated: 09 March 1969. 6. Recorded 1969-06-23. First broadcast: 29 June 1969. Repeated: 03 August 1969.
 * I Like My Toys / Hey Grandma / Knocking Nails Into My House / Imposters Of Life’s Magazine / Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree
 * The Lady Who Said Would Fly / Skeleton And The Roundabout / Tell Me The Time / Don’t Put Your Boys In The Army Mrs Ward
 * End Of The Road / Blueberry Blue / On With The Show / The Morning Sunshine (& Follow Me Lucky Man)
 * Follow Me Follow / The Birthday / Told You Twice / Pie In The Sky
 * Mr Crowd And Sir Norman / Days Of Broken Arrows / Sea Of Dreams / Worn Red Carpet (& Frantic Desolation)
 * Sea of Dreams / Please No More Sad Songs / Someone Knocking / Reminds Me Of You (& Come With Me)

(Please correct mistakes and add any missing info)

Other Shows Played

 * 1960s
 * 01 October 1967: Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree (single) Liberty 55997
 * 01 October 1967: Imposters Of Life's Magazine (single) Liberty LBF15026
 * 19 May 1968: The End Of The Road (7") Liberty
 * 02 October 1968: She sang hymns out of tune (LP - Idle Race) Liberty
 * 03 November 1968: On With The Show (LP - The Birthday Party) Liberty
 * 18 May 1969: Days of the Broken Arrows (single) Liberty
 * 01 November 1969: Hurry Up John (LP: Idle Race) Liberty


 * later
 * 25 December 1973: Skeleton And The Roundabout (LP - The Birthday Party) Liberty
 * 21 September 1991: On With The Show (LP – The Birthday Party) Liberty
 * 06 March 1993: Impostors Of Life's Magazine (7") Liberty
 * 16 September 2003: Sitting In My Tree' (LP- The Birthday Party) Liberty
 * 11 April 2001: Imposters Of Life's Magazine (7" single, 1967) Liberty
 * 18 February 2003: Here We Go Around The Lemon Tree (7") Liberty
 * 02 September 2004: Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree' (LP - Light At The End Of The Road) See For Miles Records