An obscure label from London. Happy Hippy appears to have issued just the one record, but as can be seen from the scans it came in two different versions. One was credited to Glooscap and according to the labels was supposed to feature two renditions of 'Like Gloo' plus 'Meanwhile Back In Reality'; the other was credited to Gloo's Cap and correctly gave 'Gloo's Lullaby' on the 'A' side, with the same tracks on the 'B' as the other version. In actuality both 'A' sides play the same track. The catalogue number of both types was the same, GL-001; 'Music Master' gives a release date of February 1977 for the record which has 'Like Gloo' as the 'A' side. All three tracks feature one man singing and playing an acoustic guitar. Surprisingly the single was reviewed in 'Record Mirror' of the 26th of February:
"Strangest single of the week. Apparently part of a limited edition of 10,000 put out by a guy what’s saved up the money through busking. Doesn't sound like much compared with professional recordings so it's not really fair to give it a star rating. Full marks for initiative, though. If you'd like to get the single and a free 'Like Gloo' badge, it costs 50p from Happy Hippy Records, 97 Goldbourne Road, London W10. Oh. and in case you were wondering, Gloo is 'the magical mystical miraculous substance that's found in all of us'. So now you know!"
The figure of 10,000 copies sounds a little on the high side, given that there don't seem to be many copies around nowadays, but be that as it may. Thanks to James Denholm for pointing me in the direction of that review. Googling has failed to reveal the existence of any other Happy Hippy records. Manufacture was by Phonodisc.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.