Peter Howell & John Ferdinando "Tomorrow Come Someday"
"Alice Through the Looking Glass"

 

The second release (1969) from the home studio of future BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer Peter Howell and his musical partner John Ferdinando, makers of legendary albums under the names Alice Through the Looking Glass, Ithaca, Agincourt, and Friends. This private press album was recorded as the soundtrack for an underground film production by (later to be) renowned television director Ian Hamilton: "Tomorrow Come Someday." The soundtrack album, now presented from the master tapes, was originally pressed up in a tiny quantity for friends and people involved in the production; certainly no more than 70-80 copies were made. So what do we find here? A concept piece revolving around a village threatened by motorway expansion, and the efforts of short-skirted guitar-slinging young painter Emma Stacey and a local boy to save the day, and perhaps preserve their growing love. The film is described on the album jacket as "a musical comedy, shot on location in the Sussex village of Lurgashall, during August 1969," which of course, doesn’t begin to tell the tale. Think perhaps of the Kinks’ "Village Green Preservation Society" characters come to life. See for yourself! For this is both the compact disc and DVD debut of "Tomorrow Come Someday," film and soundtrack, together at last in a double-disc set. Chunky booklet with plentiful photos gives the full story of what we like to call The Wonderful Musical World of Peter Howell & John Ferdinando.

*Note: The Tomorrow Come Someday DVD is available with your choice of format. Please specify when ordering whether you need the PAL (all-region) version or the NTSC (all region) format.*

Track List:
Disc One—the soundtrack:
1. Title Theme 2:38
2. Someone Like You 3:52
3. March of the Civil Servants 1:37
4. Bluebottle Stripe 1:52
5. Setting Sun* 2:18
6. On Location* 2:26
7. Everything Has Its Place 2:20
8. Fishing 1:48
9. Tomorrow Come Someday 2:29
10. Love Theme 2:33
11. Honesty* 3:32
12. Windfall Wood 2:30.
Disc Two—Bonus DVD: the film (with thanks to Fishbourne Films)

Catalogue number: Acme/Lion ACLN 1016CD + DVD
UPC: 778578101626

 

The first release (1969) from the home studio of future BBC Radiophonic Workshop composer Peter Howell (he wrote the second version of the Doctor Who theme tune for BBC-TV) and his musical partner John Ferdinando, makers of legendary albums under the names Ithaca, Agincourt, Friends, and Tomorrow Come Someday. This private press record was recorded as a musical backdrop for a stage version of "Alice through the Looking Glass" by local amateur dramatics group the Ditchling Players. The musical templates are inspired, Lewis Carroll's surreal poetry is as attractive as ever, and the project is colored by other English psychedelic acts of the era such as the Pink Floyd: indeed, it has been compared elsewhere to a pastoral equivalent of "Piper At The Gates of Dawn". There are numerous highlights scattered throughout the album, but pride of place must go to ‘Jabberwocky,’ an impressive mélange of treated vocals and backward tapes that is worth the price of admission alone. With its drowsy atmosphere, myriad sound effects and languid organ-based sound, "Alice" certainly invokes the spirit of the psychedelic age, albeit from the perspective of photogenic Middle England rather than hallucinogenic Middle Earth. Rarely can an album or book have ended with a more apposite line: "Life—what is it but a dream?" We are pleased as punch to be able to present the compact disc debut of "Alice"—and with extra material, too!

Track List: 1. The Alice Theme (2:49)
2. The March of the Chessmen (2:23)
3. Jabberwocky (3:43)
4. Dance of the Talking Flowers (4:10)
5. Alice's Train Journey (1:36)
6. Through Looking Glass Wood (3:32)
7. Dum & Dee (1:26)
8. The Walrus and the Carpenter (3:18)
9. Alice Meets the Knights (1:45)
10. A-Sitting on a Gate (4:00)
11. Her Majesty Queen Alice (2:55)
12. Whose Dream? (3:35)

Bonus Tracks:
13. March of the Chessmen, part 1 (0:19)
14. Alice Incidental Effects (0:38)
15. Whose Dream? section (0:37)
16. Whose Dream? section, part 2 (0:25)
17. Alice’s Train (0:13)
18. Alice’s Train, part 2 (0:41)
19. Alice Incidental Effects, part 2 (1:05)
20. Jabberwocky part (1:02)
21. A-sitting On the Gate, section (0:55)
22. Dance of the Talking Flowers Instrumental (2:20)
23. Alice Incidental Music (0:30)
24. Jabberwocky, acoustic section (0:58)
25. Whose Dream? try-out (1:10)

Catalogue number: Acme/Lion ACLN 1015CD
UPC: 778578101527