Another of the singles my eldest brother bought was this novelty record by the Mastersingers, setting the first part of the Highway Code in the form of an Anglican chant.

And why would he buy such a thing?

Well, my family is steeped in the Anglican tradition and my brother would later, as he would put it, “take Holy Orders” – the latest in a line from my grandfather (the original Jack Deighton,) his brother Frank, and son Ian, though none of the children of my generation follow on in what might have been called the family business – so we found the conceit amusing. All the more so since everyone in my immediate family – mother, father, two brothers, myself – were in the church choir and were used to singing Psalms and Canticles as Anglican Chant. I remember spending several years looking forward to following my brothers in singing as leading choirboy the part of the page in Good King Wenceslas at Christmas only to be disappointed when in my year the choirmaster decided to change the format to having the congregation sing it instead. That’s life, though.

The Mastersingers (of whom a history is on this website) actually reached the top thirty with The Highway Code, though their subsequent release, The Weather Forecast, did not fare quite so well.

The Mastersingers: The Highway Code