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The Five Day Week Straw People - The Five Day Week Straw People (1967)

Track listing:
  1. Five Day Week Straw People
  2. I'm Going Out Tonight
  3. Gold Digger 3:30
  4. Postmen
  5. Car Wash
  6. Feel Like Having A Party 3:21
  7. Sunday Morning? 4:30
  8. Does It Rain! 3:15
  9. If You Were Around 3:51
  10. Dust Is In My Eyes
  11. Magic Is In The Air (As The Attack)
  12. Mr. Pinnodmy's Dilemma (As The Attack)
  13. Freedom For You (As The Attack) 2:35
  14. Strange House (As The Attack)
  15. Feel Like Flying (As The Attack) 2:37
  16. Too Old (As The Attack)
  17. Go Your Way (As The Attack)
  18. Now The Sun Shines (As The Attack)
  19. Sleep Like A Child (As The Attack) 3:28

Notes

The Five Day Week Straw People were a one-off, studio-only British psychedelic band that did one rare album in late 1967 (actually released in 1968) for the budget Saga label. The project arose when John Du Cann, singer/guitarist with the obscure psychedelic pop group the Attack (who did four singles for Decca), was approached by Saga to write and perform a psychedelic album. Within a week, Du Cann wrote ten songs loosely centered around the concept of a typical weekend in the life of typical working British people. For a fee of 25 pounds per musician, the Five Day Week Straw People -- comprised of Du Cann, bassist Mick Hawksworth, and drummer Jack Collins -- was assembled. The album was recorded in about four hours in a London school room, a remarkable achievement given that Collins had not heard any of the songs prior to the session.

While the album (simply titled Five Day Week Straw People) has attracted some fanatical praise among collectors, it's average-period British psychedelia. It leans a little more toward heavy rock than toward mod, although there are some strong pop elements in the vocal harmonies and the British storytelling lyricism. At times, it's reminiscent of the most pop-oriented material that Cream recorded. The same could be said of some of the stuff done by Andromeda, the group that Du Cann, Hawksworth, and Collins decided to found after cutting the Five Day Week Straw People LP, although Andromeda was definitely in a heavier, hard rock vein.