PRE-ORDER: This item will be shipped with the aim to deliver on release day.
Format Details: 2CD set
Release Date: 10 July 2026
Label: Think Like A Key Music (Code 7
Packaging Type: Brilliant Case (Jewel Case size, Holds 2 CDs)
No of Units: 2
Barcode: 601570655845
Description
First-ever reissue of both 1973 Capitol albums by Mark Wirtz -- the producer, arranger, and Ivor Novello winner behind A Teenage Opera -- restored to their original US LP configurations and paired together for the first time. Balloon (February 1973), recorded at Apple Studios with engineer Geoff Emerick, introduced Wirtz as a singer, with lush orchestration and theatrical pop craft. Hothouse Smiles (August 1973), written after his move to Silver Lake, California, turns the same lavish production toward sharp, satirical vignettes of American life -- hailed at the time as an attempt at an American Sgt. Pepper. Session players include Chris Spedding, Clem Cattini, Ray Cooper, Albert Lee, Jim Gordon, Larry Knechtel, Jim Horn, and Max Bennett.
Tracklisting
The Action
Mark Wirtz
Jimmy Campbell
Skooshny
Ed Welch
The Shirts
The Gatekeepers
Maxwell Hutchinson & Judge Smith
Mark Wirtz
Mark Wirtz
Mark Wirtz
