Robyn Hitchcock 8: Globe Of Frogs

His buzz was growing, so when Robyn Hitchcock signed with A&M Records, he was able to capitalize on their college marketing approach. Globe Of Frogs is where a lot of fans came in, thanks to the radio exposure of “Balloon Man”—possibly his greatest hit, if he had one.

“Tropical Flesh Mandala” stumbles in, with a loopy riff, nearly spoken vocals and a decent chorus, going out on a chaotic piano solo. It’s immediately improved upon by “Vibrating”, proof that sometimes three chords are all you need. To this day “Balloon Man” is still lots of fun, a trippy walk around New York City encountering not just hummus but whole chickpeas as well. “Luminous Rose” inspires more Syd Barrett comparisons, built around what seems to be a harmonium and a story of dead sailors, flesh, and fish. (The latter two topics would become common touchstones, so if you’re going to keep going, get used to it.) “Sleeping With Your Devil Mask” is another three-chord wonder, and a good stomping singalong.

Aptly titled, “Unsettled” starts side two, a litany of seemingly random words that gets pretty annoying after a while, but you can just hear a snippet of “Ghost Ship” at the end of it. The first of many catalog appearances by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, “Chinese Bones” is slathered in his 12-string guitar. The specter of Syd returns on the title track, with the parlor piano and whispered double vocals. “The Shapes Between Us Turn Into Animals” is about as grating as the opening tracks on both sides, if a little more musical despite the menace, but all is redeemed by “Flesh Number One”. Subtitled “Beatle Dennis”, and for good reason, it’s such a happy tune about burning houses and crashing planes, framed by 12-strings and harmonies by Glenn Tilbrook. (Andy Metcalfe was moonlighting in Squeeze around this time, and as they were labelmates, the connection made sense.)

Globe Of Frogs is a very good effort, and gave him a sound he could settle into. Unfortunately, like the rest of the A&M catalog, it fell out of print for a while, but could be found on the streaming services from time to time.

Suddenly, nearly four decades later, Robyn magically reacquired all his old masters, and set about the task of remastering the album for modern ears. He also remixed it, removing some of the vintage sheen, echo, and clutter. The most noticeable differences can be heard right away on “Tropical Flesh Mandala”, and later on “Unsettled” and “The Shapes Between Us”. The title track has a little more of his personality and less of Syd’s, but “Luminous Rose” is completely transformed, with the keyboard all but gone, a gentle arpeggiated guitar as the main driver, and even an acoustic guitar solo. (They couldn’t find a tape with Glenn’s vocal on “Flesh Number One”, so that stayed mostly the same as before, gratefully.) In all, the songwriting and performances have more space to breathe, making it a nice companion to the original, and not a replacement for those of us who liked it just fine in the first place.

Robyn Hitchcock And The Egyptians Globe Of Frogs (1988)—4