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Wurzelmania!
News 2009
Older
news items which have appeared in the Wurzelmania! website have
now been archived by year. Feel free to browse...

The
Wurzels Release Tribute To Adge Cutler! [posted 2 December
2009]
Things are fairly buzzing down on Wurzel farm. We have received
the news that The Wurzels are poised to release a single just in
time for Christmas. Thisisbristol.co.uk
broke the story on Monday - but as it doesn't appear to have made
the Wurzels' official website yet, let's call it a scoop.
The
five-minute song is a tribute to the band's founding father, and
is called, quite suitably, Ode To Adge.
This
is the band's first single release for over two years, and the first
new Wurzels song to be released since Come On Santa! came
out in 2001! As a result it will be eagerly anticipated by Wurzels
fans across the globe.
The
single is due for release on Sunday 13th December 2009 and is currently
an outsider for the coveted Christmas no 1 slot. But
you don't have to wait that long - the song is currently available
to buy on Download at iTunes,
Play.com
and LastFM.
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Adge
Cutler Albums Finally Reissued on CD! [posted 27 November
2009]
After over a decade of campaigning, Wurzelmania! can finally announce
that it has won the war of words with the record moguls, and common
sense has prevailed. On Friday 27th November 2009, Creative International
Artists (otherwise known as Sil Wilcox, The Wurzels manager) announced
the release of the three 'lost' Adge Cutler albums - Adge
Cutler & The Wurzels, Adge Cutler's
Family Album and Carry On Cutler!
remastered
on CD for the first time ever. In addition, also making their debut
on CD is a remastered 'Best Of' compilation Don't Tell
I, Tell 'Ee from 1974 and The Wurzels 1975 debut album
The
Wurzels Are Scrumptious. One hopes that the
rest of The Wurzels back catalogue might follow soon...
This
is great news for Adge Cutler fans, as these albums have been out
of print for decades; and contain songs which many younger Wurzels
fans may have never heard before. The albums are on sale now, strangely
only through eBay, priced at £8.99 (postage free) at the Wurzels
Ebay Store. Gentle reader, beware because the wording on the
page does suggest that this is "Adge Cutler's original four
albums" - but we all know that Adge's third album Cutler
Of The West was released on 2003 after strong petitions
to EMI from former Wurzelmania! editor Paul Gunningham.
The
following albums have been re-issued:
- Adge
Cutler & The Wurzels - the band's debut album recorded
live at the Royal Oak in Nailsea in 1966. It includes the tracks:
Twice Daily, Tanglefoot Twitch, When The Common Market Comes To
Stanton Drew, Thee Cassent Kill Cooch, Champion Dung Spreader,
Drink Up Thy Zider, Pill Pill, Mabel Mabel, The Chew Magna Cha-Cha,
Hark At 'Ee Jacko, The Mixer Man's Lament and Virtute
Et Industrial
- Adge
Cutler's Family Album - the band's follow up album, also
recorded at the Royal Oak, and originally released in 1967. It
includes the tracks: Easton-In-Gordano, Sweet Violets, The Wild
West Show, Barcelona Blues, The Somerset Space Race, Freak-Out
In Somerset, Moonlight On The Malago, Sniff Up Thy Snuff, Drunk
Again, Sheriff Of Midsomer Norton, Avonmouth Mary and The Shepton
Mallet Matador.
- Carry
On Cutler! - Adge's fourth (and final) album recorded
live at the Webbington Country Club. It includes the tracks: All
Over Mendip, Down
On The Farm, Folk
Song, Aloha
Severn Beach, Oom
Pah Pah, The
Harvest Of Love, I
Couldn't Spell !!**&@&**!!, The
Chewton Mendip Love-In, Saturday
Night At The Crown, Riley's
Cow-Shed, Ferry
To Glastonbury, and Willie
The Shake.
- Don't
Tell I, Tell 'Ee - the 1974 best of compilation album
containing tracks from all four albums as well as a few previously
just released on singles. It includes the tracks: Don't Tell I
Tell 'Ee, Oom Pah Pah, Poor Poor Farmer, Chitterling, My Threshing
Machine, I Wish I was Back On The Farm, The Wild West Show, I'd
Love To Swim In The Zuider Zee, Faggots Is The Stuff, Virtute
Et Industrial and The Wurple-Diddle-I-Doo Song.
- The
Wurzels Are Scrumptious
- The Wurzels' first album following Adge Cutler's death, released
in 1975. It
includes the tracks: Don't
Tell I, Tell 'Ee, Look At 'Ee Looking At I, Who Needs Summer?,
The Verger, Speedy Gonzales, Twice Daily, The Shepton Mallet Matador,
A Drinking Man's Life, I'm The Captain Of A Dredger, Cheddar Cheese,
Gotta Have Tenderness and The Market Gardener.
The
only sad note is that Wurzelmania! founder Paul Gunningham isn't
alive to see it. Paul, who died after a road traffic accident in
2007, set up the Wurzelmania! website with the words: "We
won't be happy until all of The Wurzels' and Adge Cutler's back
catalogue has been reissued on CD, and The Wurzels have been returned
to their rightful place at the top of the charts!". Obviously
the latter remains unlikely if the albums are only sold through
eBay (who are not known as a contributor to the album charts!),
but I think Paul would be most pleased to see all Adge's work now
out there for everyone to listen to.
Adge
would probably be quite pleased too!
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The
Wurzels Team Up With Justin Lee Collins To Win World Cup!
I have seen official rumours (whatever that means) in the local
press that The Wurzels will be teaming up with Bristolian comic
(and huge Wurzels fan) Justin Lee Collins to re-record Combine
Harvester to help England's attempts at winning the World Cup
in South Africa next year.
Just
how official - and true - these rumours are remains to be seen;
as does the the morale boosting affect of this West Country supergroup
on the performance of 'our lads' out in South Africa - especially
given that the England players do seem to be more into urban rap
music than rural Scrumpy & Western classics. Still,
it will be worth it to see whether proud Scotsman Tommy Banner can
bring himself to wear an England scarf in the video!
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Radio
2 DJs Back Cutler International Airport Campaign!
Radio
DJs Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie have joined the campaign to
rename Bristol Airport Adge Cutler International Airport.
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Campaign
Started to Rename Bristol Airport Adge Cutler International
Airport!
He was the voice of the West Country, cruelly cut off in his prime,
but now there are growing calls for Bristol Airport to be renamed...
Adge Cutler International Airport!
Liverpool has John Lennon, Sheffield has Robin Hood and Belfast
has George Best. Even holidaymakers travelling to Malaga in southern
Spain land at Pablo Picasso Airport. So, with the kind of tongue-in-cheek
humour the founder of The Wurzels was so fond of, bosses at a firm
based at Bristol International have started an internet-based campaign
to get the airport renamed in his honour.
The numbers joining a Facebook
group is mushrooming daily – by 20 per cent in the past
three days alone – as Wurzels fans sign up to persuade the
airport to mark its expansion with a name change. It would, said
organiser Phil Brockwell, be exactly the kind of Bristol- and Somerset-humoured
way to respond to the ever-expanding list of pretentious airport
names.
Earlier
this month, the decision by the authorities in Oxford to rename
the city's airport London Oxford was met with widespread derision,
although it was another airport name change that sparked Mr Brockwell's
campaign. He said: "I heard that what used to be Lydd Airfield
was now called London Ashford International, which is just ridiculous,
as it is miles from London. So the conversation turned to all those
places that have named their airports after their famous sons, and
we were regretting that Bristol Airport isn't called Lulsgate Bottom
anymore. It came from thinking of who would best represent Bristol
and Somerset, typify this area and have the airport named after
them."
Phil runs a private jet hire firm from the Lulsgate site, and believes
Adge Cutler International would be a great name for the West's biggest
airport. "You think who else it could be, and you think perhaps
of Cary Grant, but he made his name away from Bristol," added
Phil. "Adge is Somerset's answer to Jimmy Dean, a legend cut
off in his prime. It would be brilliant – most people from
the rest of the country have no idea who Adge is, and just imagine
American tourists in the centre of Bristol asking for directions
to Adge Cutler International. We had a new girl here and she was
absolute Estuary English, and she'd never heard of Adge Cutler.
We got all the music for her to listen to, and then she knew. A
lot of the rest of our staff are from Clevedon and this area, and
he's close to our hearts. It started as a joke between friends and
it's just a bit of fun, but other airports take it all so seriously,
so it would send a message to the rest of the country, and typify
the sense of humour we're famous for."
Join
the Facebook campaign now!
from
ThisIsBristol.co.uk
Also
see the articles in The
Times, Metro.co.uk,
Nailsea
People,
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The
Wurzels to revel in village event
The Wurzels will be performing in Box later this month as part of
the village's annual Revels weekend. The
Somerset group, famous for hits such as Combine Harvester and Drink
Up Thy Zider, will be headlining a concert on the Recreation Ground
between noon and 5pm. There will also be stalls and other entertainment
on the day.
The weekend will begin with an evening of entertainment at the Bear
pub on the Friday night, followed on the Saturday night, May 23,
with a banquet in the Selwyn Hall, for which tickets are being sold
in the post office. On the Sunday afternoon, there will be a gig
on Monday, May 25 featuring Sgt Pepper's One and Only Dart-board
Band at the Queen's Head pub. A barbecue will be held at the Quarryman's
pub on Monday evening. Money raised goes to village good causes.
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Wurzels
Flying High at South West Birdman 2009
(posted 19th Feb 2009)
The
Wurzels will be the headlining act at
South West Birdman 2009 in Ilfracombe this August - although they
may be overshadowed
by the 'would-be aviators' flinging themselves off the end of the
pier!
On
Sunday 2nd August 2009 Ilfracombe Pier will host the annual South
West Birdman competition which involves lots of crazy people or
so called 'would-be aviators' flinging themselves over the pier
to see who can 'fly' the furthest or at least plummet hilariously
into the waiting sea. South
West Birdman 2009 - the biggest and best Birdman event in the UK
for 2009 - is not just about people flying from the pier. Organised
by Ilfracombe Round Table, it should also raises thousands of pounds
for local and national causes; and this year they have booked The
Wurzels to help swell the crowds and swell the coffers!
South West Birdman 2009 is an all-day event - starting at 11am and
running through to 8pm; at this moment we have no details as to
when The Wurzels will be playing, but my guess would be towards
the end of the day. But don't arrive late - this is an all-day event
you won't want to miss!
As
well as The Wurzels and the wannabe aviators, there will also be
a
Strongman Competition (to be confirmed), and other bands playing
on the Truck Stop Stage, as well as fairground attractions, stalls
and refreshments to ensure that you have a fun-packed and unique
day out in a stunning setting.
To
view more details about Birdman 2009, why not visit the event's
Myspace page
- and sign up as one of their Friends. And if you are mad enough
to want to have ago at flying - entry packs will be available to
download from the Ilfracombe
Round Table website shortly. Anyone planning to jump (sorry,
fly) dressed as a Wurzel will get a special mention on this website!
(Proof required - we want to see the pictures!). The event organisers
are also looking for sponsors and volunteers; so get in touch with
Ilfracombe Round
Table directly if you can help.
South
West Birdman 2009 takes place on Sunday 2nd August 2009 at Ilfracombe
Pier in North Devon. Ticketing prices and links will be added as
soon as we have them.
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Wurzels
To Headline Green Man Festival
(posted 11th Feb 2009)
The
Wurzels together with Irish folk punksters The Popes have been confirmed
as headliners for the Green Man Festival in rural Clun in Shropshire.
The Clun Green Man Festival is a traditional springtime festival,
held on the first May bank holiday weekend of the year. The Festival
takes place in the picturesque town of Clun in South Shropshire.
The programme
is full of live music, drama, colour and medieval malarkey and is
fun for all the family.
The
Popes headline the Saturday (2nd) evening's entertainment, with
The Wurzels plus local cajun favourites The Whiskey River Boys providing
the support on the evening of the Sunday (3rd) with the show starts
at 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale now through online ticketing company
Skiddle.
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Win
Wurzels Tickets!
(posted 5 Feb 2009; updated 10th Feb 2009)
The
Wurzelmania! website teamed up with Midnight Mango
to offer readers a chance to win a pair of tickets for a Love
A Wurzel On The Valentine's show of their choice.
We were given four pairs of tickets to win, courtesy of those nice
guys at Midnight Mango - one pair for
each of The Wurzels shows at Exeter (Wed 11th),
Bridgwater (Thur 12th), Frome
(Fri 13th) and Plymouth (Sat 14th). But we are
not going to make it easy for you - prizes mean competitions, so
we need to test your Wurzelknowledge to ensure that we are sending
true Wurzels fans off to the gigs!
We
devised a fiendishly complex competition in which you need to guess
the title of the Wurzel songs from the initials. So, for example:
DUTC would be Drink Up Thy Cider.
Easy! Here are the questions and the answers:
- WTCMCTSD
- When the Common Market comes to Stanton Drew
- MOTM
- Moonlight on the Malago
- TGWTCBH
- Thee's got'n where thee cassn't back'n, hassn't?
- ASB
- Aloha Severn beach
- CC
- Cheddar cheese
- SBAP
- Somerset born and proud
- IAACD
- I am a cider drinker
- GME
- Give me England
- INGASH
- I'll never get a scrumpy here
- DLBIA
- Don't look back in anger
We
had four winners: Chris Wilshire (Frome tickets tickets), Edd Rendell
(Bridgwater tickets), Steven Todd (Exeter tickets), and Chris Ingham
(Plymouth tickets). Hope you all enjoyed the shows - and maybe you
can send us a review of the gig!
Many
thanks to everyone else who entered the competition. That was fun!
As soon as I can get hold of some suitable prizes, we'll have another
competition...
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