The Fivepenny Piece Discography

City Of Manchester

Release Date: 1st October 2010
Label: Wednesday Music

'City Of Manchester' is a collection of songs from founder Fivepenny Piece members John Meeks and Lynda Meeks. There are 22 tracks - a mix of reworked old songs and brand new material.

1. City of Manchester (Meeks /Radcliffe)
2. Miss Prim & Proper (Meeks/Ashton)
3. Wonderful Time (Meeks /Radcliffe)
4. Wakes Holiday (Meeks/Bush)
5. Emerald Dew of The Morning (Meeks /Radcliffe)
6. Dukinfield Park (Meeks/Johnson)
7. Tupence Change (Meeks /Radcliffe)
8. Molly Cinders (Meeks /Radcliffe)
9. Passing of To-Day (Meeks /Radcliffe)
10. Barefoot Days (Trad/arr /Meeks)
11. Sometimes (Meeks /Radcliffe)
12. Lancashire Lyne (Meeks /Radcliffe)
13. Winter Sun (Meeks /Radcliffe)
14. Oh Gosh By Gosh (Trad/arr /Meeks)
15. Velvet Cushions (Meeks /Radcliffe)
16. He Came To Me (Meeks /Radcliffe)
17. Peddler of Songs (Meeks /Radcliffe)
18. Tater Pie (Meeks/Ashton)
19. You Have Been This Way Before (Meeks /Radcliffe)
20. Codswallop (Meeks)
21. Can I (Meeks /Radcliffe)
22. Time (Meeks /Radcliffe)

The CD artwork was designed by award-winning graphic artist DJ Sampson, who has also produced the album covers for the likes of The Mangledwurzels, Circle of Blues and The Glambusters.

You can now order City Of Manchester on CD from the 5PP corner shop.

Front Sleeve

CD label

Review of City Of Manchester by retired journalist (and Fivepenny Piece fan) Keith Whittaker

The City Of Manchester CD arrived in the post on the morning of Friday, October 1. The next item on my agenda was a trip to the local grocery store so I put the disc into the car's CD player to hear the first couple of tracks during the journey. By the time I pulled on to the store's car park I was hooked and ended up listening to another four tracks as the rain streamed down the car windows.

I eventually tore myself away and did some shopping before listening to two more tracks on the way home and four more while sat outside the house with the rain still streaming down the windows. It wasn't the rain which pinned me in the car, it was the music. I thought the previous "homemade" discs were excellent but everything seems to have moved up a gear with this new CD. I assume that as John becomes more familiar with the technology he is finding ever more ways of exploiting the possibilities. The instrumental backing and vocal harmonies on the disc are remarkable considering that it features only two people, and there are times when it is easy to imagine that Colin, George, Eddie and Phil are making their contributions such is the authenticity of that unique Fivepenny Piece sound. I realise that achieving that will not have been easy, but whatever effort was involved is fully justified by the end product.

John's and Linda's voices were always one of the key trademarks of any Fivepenny Piece concert or album but on this disc they seem, dare I say, in even better form. I suppose maturity lends more assuredness. That certainly appears to be so in Linda's case because I have replayed the original recordings of Emerald Dew Of The Morning, Tuppence Change, Passing Of Today and Winter Sun and her performances of these songs on this new CD or even better than the originals, which is saying something. She's obviously maturing like a fine wine!

It's always a joy to hear Colin's lyrics, and particularly those which have now been set to music sadly too late to be appreciated by the concert audiences of the Seventies. At least they can now be enjoyed by people like me who find that they so often strike a chord and revive half-forgotten experiences. Velvet Cushions evoked memories of my Mum who died, aged 91, three years ago and who I would visit daily and find her sitting in her armchair watching the world go by and probably remembering how it used to be.

I also enjoyed the mix of ballads and comedy numbers which is firmly in the tradition of Fivepenny Piece albums of years ago. And the sentiments expressed on Tuppence Change and Passing of Today are just as valid now as when they were first performed. I was delighted with John's composition, Codswallop, which follows in the footsteps of the group's previous "social commentary" numbers like Tuppence Change, They'll Tell Us Owt and Where There's Muck There's Brass. It would have gone down a storm on That's Life and with Northern concert audiences if Fivepenny Piece had still been performing today.

Unfortunately those days are gone but those of us who lived through them will never forget the "amateur" group that was more professional than many professionals, and which gave so much pleasure to thousands of concert-goers. This new CD not only recaptures the old magic but uses new technology to entertain people like me with songs that are often amusing, occasionally thought-provoking, and always easy on the ear. It's like a breath of fresh air compared to most of the rubbish which fills the airwaves these days.