The Special Garage Concerts Vol I is a Cardiacs live album recorded over three nights at the Garage in London and released exclusively on CD.
At these concerts Cardiacs only played songs that predated 1984, some of which had not been heard for many years. The track "Gloomy News" had never previously been released and was available for purchase for the first time on The Special Garage Concerts Vol I compact disc. The album was also alternatively packaged and released with The Special Garage Concerts Vol II as part of a two-disc digipak.
The length of the sets and complexity of the material demanded intensive rehearsal. In an interview, Kavus Torabi compared learning the 35 song set with revising for an exam.[1] The album was generally well-received by progressive rock fans. Louder Sound's Prog Magazine featured the Vol I rendition of Let Alone My Plastic Doll in its publication as part of its list of Cardiacs’ best songs.[2]
Track listing
All songs written by Tim Smith unless otherwise indicated.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Jibber and Twitch" | 4:13 | |
| 2. | "Scratching Crawling Scrawling" | Smith, Cawthra | 1:03 |
| 3. | "As Cold as Can Be in an English Sea" | 7:03 | |
| 4. | "It’s a Lovely Day" | Smith, Colvin Mayers, Mark Cawthra | 3:17 |
| 5. | "A Wooden Fish on Wheels" | 3:09 | |
| 6. | "Ice a Spot and a Dot on the Dog" | 3:37 | |
| 7. | "Aukamacic" | 1:24 | |
| 8. | "Gloomy News" | 2:01 | |
| 9. | "Gina Lollobrigida" | 3:34 | |
| 10. | "Leaf Scrapings" | 1:22 | |
| 11. | "Rock Around the Clock" | Mayers, Smith | 2:04 |
| 12. | "Pip as Uncle Dick but Peter Spoilt It" | 4:21 | |
| 13. | "Let Alone My Plastic Doll" | 4:23 | |
| 14. | "Hope Day" | 6:30 | |
| 15. | "A Balloon for Bertie’s Party" | 8:56 | |
| 16. | "My Trademark" | 4:33 | |
| Total length: | 61:30 | ||
References
- ^ Lawson, Dom (11 August 2014). "Kavus Torabi's Guide To Cardiacs". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
- ^ Vennart, Mike (18 July 2015). "The 10 best Cardiacs songs as chosen by Mike Vennart". Prog Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2020.