The Idle Race – I Like my Toys

In need of cheering up? I certainly am. Following a week of unbearable heat and now thunderstorms, lightning and perpetual rain (not so bad, in my opinion), a dose of the absurd might be in order. What better than the Idle Race?

Birmingham’s very own kaleidoscopic curios blossomed out of beat group The Nightriders, who at one time counted Roy Wood amongst their numbers. With the arrival of Jeff Lynne -- later of The Move and, of course, the Electric Light Orchestra -- and his psychedelic songbook, they changed their name and set about trying to make a mark on the flower power world of paisley-hued pop and rock.

‘I Like my Toys’ is as jaunty as it is silly and taken from 1968’s album The Birthday Party, a review of which will follow next week. It’s the daft tale of a man who refuses to bow to life’s responsibilities -- a man of incredible good sense in my opinion -- and even when all else has gone to pot, it still manages to raise a smile.

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music vid, psych-pop, psychedelic rock