A truly excellent, Beatles/ Kinks like act from Birmingham, England that existed from 1966-1972. Featured Jeff Lynne, later of The Move, ELO, Traveling Wilburys, record production etc. Never had any commercial success on either shore with their offbeat, bizarre, occasionally humorous songs, which often dealt with subjects like insanity, childish behavior, and eccentricity -though they were highly regarded by Marc Bolan, British dj's like John Peel, and even The Beatles themselves. They are often described as "toytown psych" a British version of psych that dealt with fairytales and the lives of "little people in the suburbs," some of the material of early Pink Floyd, Sgt. Pepper's/ Magical Mystery Tour era Beatles, or The Small Faces is also often considered to be in this style.They put out quite a few singles and 2 fine late 60's albums( The Birthday Party in '68 and the eponymous late '69 2nd disc) before Lynne left in 1970 to join The Move after his patience with their lack of commercial success ran out. Without him, they surprisingly became succesful in countries like Germany and Argentina with covers of hits of the era, and also put out one so-so album, "Time Is" in '71 that was predominantly in a folk or folk-rock style, akin to Fairport Convention or some of Jethro Tull's mid to late 70's stuff. A fine group at their peak who deserved more than the obscurity that awaited them, definitely recommended to fans of 60's music who dig a little deeper than the obvious music of the era.