Initially known as The Ingoes, they were renamed and signed to manager Giorgio Gomelsky's Marmalade label. The original line-up comprised Brian Godding (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jim Cregan (guitar, vocals), Brian Belshaw (bass, vocals), and Kevin Westlake drums).
The band's debut album, We Are Ever So Clean, is a classic example of English psychedelia. On release, it was presented in the U.K. music magazine Melody Maker as "Giorgio Gomelsky's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Although not a major commercial success, tracks such as "What on Earth" or "Look at Me, I'm You" have helped give the album something of a cult period status as it is unearthed by successive generations of 1960s retro fans. It was recently voted number forty in Record Collector’s list of the "100 Greatest Psychedelic Records".
If Only for a Moment saw the band taking a noticeably heavier and rockier direction, with Cregan and Godding's distinctive two-part guitar harmonies playing a prominent role. The album also marked the departure of Westlake, to be replaced by John "Poli" Palmer and then Barry Reeves.
The quartet was dissolved in 1970. While Belshaw and Godding rejoined Westlake in B.B. Blunder, Cregan formed Stud with Jim Wilson and Charlie McCracken, before joining Family. He would find fame later in the decade with Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, and as a part of Rod Stewart's backing band.
The Blossom Toes contributed music to La Collectionneuse (1967), a film by French director Éric Rohmer, and also appeared in Popdown (1967) by Fred Marshall.
People of the Royal Parks
Blossom Toes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Georgie, you're out of tune. You're out of tune, man.
The people who run the Royal Parks will be happy some of these days
No more flowers and ice cream will never spoil their grass
They won't have to smile if they don't want to
They can read their Sunday papers
The people who run the Royal Parks will be happy some of these days
The people from the Parliament will be laughing any day now
They won't have to endure smiling people
Love won't get in their eyes
The people from the Parliament will be laughing any day now
They'll be happy
They'll be smiling
They'll go to the races
They'll drink scotch whiskey
They'll practice smiling
The people that we know are happy all the time
All they want to do is spread a little sunshine for you
So please let us throw out flowers
We wont break the path keeper's glasses
The people that we know are happy all of the time
The lyrics of "People of the Royal Parks" by Blossom Toes speak of a future where the people who run the Royal Parks will be happy as they won't have to worry about maintaining the parks for public use, reading their Sunday papers instead. The song also alludes to the Parliament having locked the parks on Sunday afternoons, as they won't have to endure smiling people anymore or love getting in their eyes. The Parliament will be laughing and happy, drinking scotch whiskey and practicing their smiles. In contrast to the people in charge, the people that the band knows are happy all the time and only want to spread a little sunshine for everyone. They won't break the path keeper's glasses and will throw out flowers, creating a beautiful and cheerful atmosphere.
Line by Line Meaning
Just take the caps up an octave, and you'll be looking fine.
If you increase the pitch of your voice, you will look good.
Georgie, you're out of tune. You're out of tune, man.
Your pitch is wrong, Georgie.
The people who run the Royal Parks will be happy some of these days
The Royal Parks' management will soon be happy.
No more flowers and ice cream will never spoil their grass
Flowers and ice cream won't ruin their grass from now on.
They won't have to smile if they don't want to
They won't have to force a smile.
They can read their Sunday papers
They can read the newspaper on Sunday.
The people from the Parliament will be laughing any day now
Parliament members will be laughing soon.
They've closed the pub stations and locked the parks on a Sunday afternoon
They've closed the pub and locked the parks on a Sunday afternoon.
They won't have to endure smiling people
They won't have to endure people smiling at them.
Love won't get in their eyes
Love won't affect them.
They'll be happy
They will be joyful.
They'll be smiling
They will be grinning.
They'll go to the races
They will attend a horse race.
They'll drink scotch whiskey
They will consume scotch whiskey.
They'll practice smiling
They will practice their smile.
The people that we know are happy all the time
The people that we know are always elated.
All they want to do is spread a little sunshine for you
All they want to do is bring a little brightness to your day.
So please let us throw out flowers
Please let us scatter flowers.
We wont break the path keeper's glasses
We won't break the glasses of the path keeper.
The people that we know are happy all of the time
The people that we know are always happy.
Contributed by Brayden D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.