What a great find, this is the version I first heard in the sixties I think it was. I hate the sanitised Cilla Black version which substituted 'you'll get a belt from your dad' with 'you'll get told off by your dad'. No, I'm not condoning child beating, but the gritty original version was evocative of a mothers love in extremely difficult times, told with comic overtones. I think the Spinners had their own tv show back then, I remember them singing a great version of the 12 days of Christmas.
It's a sad story told with humour. A bit like the lives of Steptoe and Son, sad cases if ever there was yet throughout the series we laughed, we cried and we pitied young Harold, trapped in a life he hated. I tuned in every week for a laugh.
Meir Wise i tend to agree - certainly about your first comment - but the spinners were an all-male group (and a wonderful one, at that). at least we also have cilla's version!
