The Wurzels Archives

The Wurzels

"Greatest Hits" Cassette


This was the second compilation album to be released by The Wurzels. Its main release was in November 1979 as a 12" vinyl stereo LP - this simultaneous cassette release was also on the EMI NOTES record label with catalogue number TC-NTS190.

Track Listing:

  • Side 1
  • 1. I Am A Cider Drinker (Paloma Blanca)
       (J.Bowens;new lyrics by. The Wurzels) 1976 
    2. Morning Glory (Guy Fletcher-Doug Flett) 1976
    3. Rock Around The A38 (T.Banner-P.Budd- 
        T.Baylis)1976 
    4. School Days, Young Days (Sammy King) 1977
    5. Speedy Gonzales (Kaye-Hill-Lee)(New lyric by 
        The Wurzels) 1977
    6. Give Me England! (Bob Barratt-Ed Welch) 1977 
    7. One For The Bristol City (Guy Fletcher-Doug 
        Flett. New lyrics by The Wurzels) 1977
    8. Farmer Bill's Cowman (I Was Kaiser Bill's 
        Batman) (R. Greenaway-R.Cook-special lyrics 
        by Banner-Baylis-Budd-Barratt) 1977 
    9. Drink up Thy Cider (Adge Cutler) 1979
  • Side 2
  • 1. Don't Tell I, Tell 'Ee(T.Crozier-K.Sheldon) 1975
    2. Funky Farmyard (Tony Baylis) 1978 
    3. The Tractor Song (The Pushbike Song) (Idris 
        Jones-Evan Jones) 1978 
    4. Our Village Band (Tony Baylis) 1978 
    5. I Got My  Beady Little Eye On Thee (Pete Budd-Rod 
       Owen)1978 
    6. The Blackbird (New lyric and adaptation: 
         P.Budd-T.Banner-T.Baylis 1976 
    7. I'll Never Get A Scrumpy Here (Ed Welch) 1978
    8. The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key) (Melanie   
        Safka) 1976

The Cassette :

This design of cassette shell was introduced in early 1977 and was produced in both grey and cream coloured plastic. The text was normally printed directly onto the cassette body in blue, red or black ink. In some cases, as shown in the second example below, the text was printed on white paper that was then affixed to the shell. As can be seen on the images the tape was produced with the Dolby noise reduction system to improve the quality of the sound when played on suitable players (noticeably to reduce the hiss associated with tape playback). Cassette cases were had  clear fronts and black bodies with a lightly mottled effect on the back face.

The Wurzels Archives
The Wurzels Archives
The Wurzels Archives

Cassette Case Insert:

This style of cassette case insert was introduced by EMI in early 1977. It was printed by Garrod & Lofthouse (who also produced the vinyl album sleeve) in November 1979 as indicated by the line 7911 G&L.

Unlike the LP sleeve for this album there were no sleeve notes on this cassette insert and song credits were abbreviated to surnames only.

The Wurzels Archives
The Wurzels Archives

Beneath the catalogue number TC-NTS 190 appears another code number OC 258-07 154. Between 1969 and 1982 EMI had an international coding system which they hoped would get adopted industry wide, and they used it worldwide for their own releases. In fact, the numbers used formed the basis of the 7-digit numbers adopted in 1983 and inserted into EAN/UPC barcode-based cataloguing, used to this day.


The back of the card sleeve had a few explanatory notes about cassette tapes in general, the track listing for side 2 and a list of the publishers of the music tracks.

The information within this page is intended to be used only for purposes of private study, scholarship or research, in accordance with the legal principle of fair use.