The stylistic origins of bouncy, merry-happy sixties tunes about cobblers, market stall owners, watch makers and eccentric tramps were obviously in The Beatles and The Kinks more music-hall orientated work, and the former group had such a colossal influence on pop music that simply stamping it out was going to be impossible.
Certainly, the Dayton, Ohio group Sunny Goodge Street - named after the superb Donovan song - seemed in thrall to that side of the Fabs, as the A-side to this single proves. It's rude and lazy to describe the work of others by referring to their obvious influences, but in this case I almost have no choice. "If My Name Was Oscar" is almost exactly what you'd get if "When I'm 64" and "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" bred and had a baby song of their own. It's a jaunty, japey minute and forty seconds of music hall styled self-doubt, only delivered with an American accent. "If I had a beard/ would you think that I was weird/ would you tell me I had to shave?" they ask. Yes we would. Get busy with the blades and foam, hairies.
Somewhat more oddly, they also sing "If my name was Oscar/ would you love me just the same/ would I have to change my name/ who would be to blame?" which doesn't make an awful lot of sense to me - was the name Oscar spectacularly unhip and undesirable by 1974, to the extent that men were adopting pseudonyms to avoid romantic embarrassment? It all seems a bit much to me.
Side B of this single is an entirely different proposition, though, as Sunny Goodge Street rock out in a much more seventies-friendly fashion, sounding almost like a completely different band. People who feel uncomfortable around twee sixties styled pop may therefore find more to enjoy away from the plug side.
