The Wrigleys - A Little Bit/ Come Down Little Bird

 

Mark Wirtz produced slice of whirligig bubblegum

Label: Page One
Year of Release: 1969

It's unusual for a song to feature more than once on "Left and to the Back", and even stranger to find two versions of a flop record - but this one was significant and strange enough for me to be bothered to make the effort.

Back in 1969, an artist known only as Richard recorded the Miki Anthony penned track "A Little Bit", with Wirtz producing. We covered it in some detail here. At that point, I don't think I was aware of this version which was also recorded and produced by Wirtz and released an entire month later, one of the quickest attempts at giving a flop song a second chance that I'm aware of. 

The Wrigleys version here amps the bubblegum factor up slightly more, creating a slightly chewier, fruitier tune, but in all honesty... in terms of the backing track it sounds more like a subtle remix than a full-blown reimagining. The lead singer here has a much less rounded, polite delivery than Richard's though, and it adds a certain grit and dynamism to the track it didn't have before. 

Meanwhile, the flip side "Come Down Little Bird" is a neat, pretty little track which won't disappoint readers feeling short-changed by the duplicated tune, with a sound sitting halfway between a Jeff Lynne ballad and The Tremeloes. 

The man who was behind 50% of the writing credit on that B-side was Chas Mills, and he recorded both sides at the Radio Luxembourg studios among a series of demos for German record producer Rudi Lind who then released them under a variety of group names such as Matchmakers, Father Brown and, of course, The Wrigleys. None of these records were hits and most have slipped to the back of the minds even of ardent Wirtz collectors, but "A Little Bit" is proof that they weren't all completely throwaway items. 

If the previews below aren't working, go right to the source.