Keith West
Excerpt from a Teenage Opera
1967
So, there was this teenage opera, whatever that means. This single was an excerpt from it.
It was the brainchild of the singer Keith West and producer Mark Wirtz, and is often just called Grocer Jack.
It features clear sections, shrill and rather cheesy kiddies vocals, big orchestrations and is about a dead shop keeper.
There was a follow up. If that had also been a big hit, the opera would have actually been written, but it wasn’t, so it wasn’t.