Egg Shaped Fred

"Egg Shaped Fred (One EP)"
Single by Mansun
from the album Attack of the Grey Lantern
Released 25 March 1996
Format 7" single, CD, Cassette
Genre Alternative rock, Britpop
Length 3:53
4:12 (Album Version)
Label Parlophone
Toshiba EMI (Japan)
Mansun singles chronology
Skin Up Pin Up
(1995)		 "Egg Shaped Fred"
(1996)		 Take It Easy Chicken
(1996)

"Egg Shaped Fred" is a song by Chester rock band Mansun released in 1996. It was the lead track of the One EP and was the group's third release overall and their major label début for Parlophone.

Contents

Overview

One EP was released on CD, Cassette and 7" Vinyl. CD versions included a short instrumental hidden bonus track. The EP peaked at #37[1] on the UK Singles Chart. The melody and lyrics of "Egg Shaped Fred" are based on a nursery rhyme. Paul Draper explained in the liner notes to Legacy: The Best Of Mansun: "This was a nursery rhyme that kids at school sand sneeringly at me because I had an egg shaped head apparently. So I purged my soul of those kids with this song! Everyone else thought it was mad for a rock band to release a nursery rhyme. Saved on the therapy though."[2] "Egg Shaped Fred" was remixed for inclusion on Mansun's debut album Attack of the Grey Lantern in 1997. A promotional music video for the song was directed by Lawrence Watson.

"Ski Jump Nose" was a band and fan favourite and was a mainstay in the groups live set. A medley version with "The Chad Who Loved Me" and "An Open Letter to a Lyrical Trainspotter" was often performed live and included as a B-Side to the "Taxloss" single in 1997. In 1998 an acoustic version was released as another b-side. "Lemonade Secret Drinker" is a reference to R. White's Lemonade, in particular the popular 1973 advertising campaign Secret Lemonade Drinker. An acoustic version was included as a b-side to "Wide Open Space". "Thief" is notable for being one of songwriter Paul Draper's most disliked songs. An alternative and more polished version was included as a hidden bonus track on the Kleptomania album in 2004.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paul Draper. 

7"/Cassette
No. Title Length
1. "Egg Shaped Fred"   3:53
2. "Ski Jump Nose"   3:42
3. "Lemonade Secret Drinker"   3:46
4. "Thief"   3:31
CD/Japanese CD
No. Title Length
1. "Egg Shaped Fred"   3:53
2. "Ski Jump Nose"   3:42
3. "Lemonade Secret Drinker"   3:46
4. "Thief"   3:31
5. "Hidden Bonus Track" (Included on the end of "Thief") 1:47

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (1996) Peak
position
UK Singles Chart[1] 37

References

  1. ^ a b "UK Chartlog". zobbel.de. http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_M.HTM. Retrieved 7 April 2010. 
  2. ^ Legacy: The Best Of Mansun liner notes
Mansun
Albums
Singles
"Take It Easy Chicken" · "Skin Up Pin Up" / "Flourella" · "Egg Shaped Fred" · "Stripper Vicar" · "Wide Open Space" · "She Makes My Nose Bleed" · "Taxloss" · "Closed for Business" · "Legacy" · "Being A Girl" · "Negative" · "Six" · "I Can Only Disappoint U" · "Electric Man" · "Fool" · "Slipping Away"
Related articles