Let's have a listen to 'Music In A Dolls House' by Family

There are times when only the unlikely combination of a bacon sarnie and a large whiskey will do. But as I doubt there is the makings of either in the kitchen at the moment and a lightning trip over to Chorleywood is not practical at this moment in time, a coffee and a couple of the ‘toffee pennies’ – you know, the ones that can remove fillings, or even teeth if you are not careful - from the Quality Streets left over from Christmas will have to do. For someone who claims to have such a broad and varied taste in music, there are still quite a few bands that I only know one song by. If I mention Blue Oyster Cult, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Boston and Golden Earring (to name but a few) I wonder if you could possibly guess which songs they might be? And there’s me getting all irate when people say the only song they know by The Vapors is ‘Turning Japanese’ – talk about double standards. Up until recently, the same applied to Family (their 1973 chart hit ‘Burlesque’, another favourite of my brother Brian, being the song in question) until I read somewhere or another that The Beatles had intended to call what became their eponymous 1968 double (‘The White Album’) ‘A Dolls’ House’, then discovered that Family had beaten them to it with their debut, ‘Music In A Dolls’ House’ This incredible feat of inadvertantly putting one over on the musically omnipotent Fab Four was reason enough for me to want to investigate ‘MIADH’ for myself a few years back. Thankfully good old Milton Keynes library had a lonesome and distinctly under borrowed looking copy in stock. Job done. MIADH is, dare I say it, quintessentially 'British Rock From 1968', in that it blends left over remnants of psychedelia, embryonic progressive rock, back to basics blues rock, folkie ballads and some oddball humour into an addictive and hugely enjoyable 35 minutes or so. Prominent throughout are the distinctive trademark wobbly vibrato vocals of Roger Chapman, backed by the striking falsetto of multi instrumentalist Jim King. As for content, it’s one great big (but massively enjoyable and strangely cohesive) mess of differing themes and styles. Sit back and enjoy the eccentric tally ho and gallop of the opener ‘The Chase’, the beautiful string backed ballad ‘Mellowing Grey’ and the shuffling boogie of ‘Old Songs New Songs’. Jig around a bit to the funky / bluesy ‘Hey Mr Policeman’, the power house rock- reminiscent of late Small Faces – of ‘Winter’ and the dreamlike tick / tock of ‘Breeze’. The psychedelic phased drums and mellotrons of the mini epic ‘3xTime’ close the album, but not before you get a short raucous blast of ‘God Save The Queen’ – and that’s only half of what is on offer here. Both Jim King and bassist Ric Grech (who went to join Clapton, Baker and Winwood in ‘Blind Faith’) left the band one year later after the band released their follow up, the more mature but equally impressive ‘Family Entertainment’, but the band continued, developed and went from strength to strength. Family continued to produce some fine records well into the 1970s (I have since caught up with most of their back catalogue and would recommend ‘Family Entertainment’ and ‘Bandstand’ for further listening) but would never again produce something quite so whacky and wonderful as ‘MIADH’, without doubt one of the great British albums of the late 1960s. More to follow.......