According to the liner notes, Mike Sammes and his
Mike Sammes Singers not only recorded hundreds of advertisements heard over British radio, but collaborated with most of the 20th century's greatest performers, including
Frank Sinatra,
the Beatles,
Barbra Streisand,
Burt Bacharach,
Judy Garland, and
Sammy Davis, Jr. Unfortunately, the groups were rarely credited (which would serve nicely as corroboration), so they have to be judged by the evidence on
Music for Biscuits. Over the course of three dozen tracks (most of them around 30 seconds), Sammes reveals himself as a master of his craft, which may not be worthy of the same adulation as full-flight vocal pop or psychedelia but the far more mundane world of shilling products with names like Luxol, Loxene, and Sunblest. The vocalists, usually a sextet, are smoother than silk, and Sammes was capable of twisting their harmonies into truly fetching patterns. The arrangements are nearly all from the pre-rock era, despite a slinky electric bass cropping up in some tracks. Modest highlights come with the adverts for Fairy washing powder (whose pitchman has a certain gee-whiz-bang appeal), a product called Toast Toppers (with a takeoff on "You're the Top"), and, surprisingly, International Harvester (which gets the catchiest and hippest numbers heard here). ~ John Bush