History Music / TheWurzels

* AffectionateParody: Many of their songs, including "The Combine Harvester", are pastiches of songs from various genres.

** In 2014, "The Mendip Windfarm Song" was inspired by complaints from the inhabitants of Laverton about proposals to construct a 66-metre wind turbine near the village.

** "The Combine Harvester" was re-released as double A-side single with "I Am a Cider Drinker" (their ''other'' top ten hit) in 1980.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their biggest hits (which respectively got to #1 and #3 in the British charts, both in 1976), were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980.

* GenreShift: Done out of necessity after Adge Cutler died in a car crash in 1974. Prior to that, Adge had been the band's frontman (reflected in the original name, Adge Cutler & The Wurzels) and had written most of their songs. Subsequently, the band -- now simply called The Wurzels -- concentrated more on parodies of pre-existing hit songs, resulting in their only two top ten hits.

The Wurzels are an English "Scrumpy & Western" band [[note]] the genre is actually named after their 1967 EP of that name[[/note]], hailing from Somerset in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry. Originally known as Adge Cutler & The Wurzels, they are are best known for their two hit singles in 1976, "The Combine Harvester" (which got to #1 in the British charts) and "I Am a Cider Drinker" (#3). Their songs, often pastiches of songs from the folk, pop and rock genres, are characterised by many references to farming and cider, sung with a strong West Country accent while playing up to various regional stereotypes. To this day they retain a strong following in the south-west of England and do regular live performances in the region, with people from other parts of the country tending to regard them as something of a novelty act that was briefly big in TheSeventies.

* DrinkBasedCharacterization: Being from the West Country, they really play up to that region's love of cider. Which is often pronounced 'zyder', in keeping with the accent. Many of their songs reference it (most obviously, "Drink Up Thy Zyder" and "I Am a Cider Drinker"). Mention will often be made of scrumpy, which is a cloudy, strong variant. During live performances, the band often drink cider, traditionally from a stone 'zyder jar' or a tankard but more recently from a plastic pint glass or a can.

* DrinkBasedCharacterization: Being from the West Country, they really play up to that region's love of cider. Which is often pronounced 'zyder', in keeping with the accent. Many of their songs reference it (most obviously, "Drink Up Thy Zyder" and "I Am a Cider Drinker"). Mention will often be made of scrumpy, which is a cloudy, strong variant. During live performances, the band often drink cider, traditionally from a stone 'zyder jar' but more recently from a tankard or a can.

-->''You'll be alright if you get inside, I'll give you an economy ride,\\
Everybody's been satisfied, in the back of my old car.''

** A new version of "I Am a Cider Drinker" was released in 2007, with guest vocals by Radio/TonyBlackburn of all people. A year previously, The Wurzels had released a double A-side single with Music/BritishSeaPower in which The Wurzels covered BSP's "Remember Me", while BSP covered "I Am a Cider Drinker".

** In 2014, "The Mendip Windfarm Song" was inspired by complaints from the inhabitants of Laverton about a proposals to construct a 66 metre wind turbine near the village.

** "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", their biggest hits (which respectively got to #1 and #3 in the British charts, both in 1976), were re-released together as a double A-side in 1980. In 2001, a remixed version of "The Combine Harvester" got to #39 in the charts. That song was subsequently re-recorded again for the band's 2006 album ''Top of the Crops''.
** A new version of "I Am a Cider Drinker" was released in 2007, with vocals by Radio/TonyBlackburn of all people. A year previously, The Wurzels had released a double A-side single with Music/BritishSeaPower in which The Wurzels covered BSP's "Remember Me", while BSP covered "I Am a Cider Drinker".

!!I am a cider troper...

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Something of an aversion, as the band achieved mainstream success in 1976, two years after the untimely death of founder and singer-songwriter Adge Cutler.

The Wurzels are an English "Scrumpy & Western" band [[note]] the genre is actually named after their 1967 EP of that name[[/note]], hailing from Somerset in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry. Originally known as Adge Cutler & The Wurzels, they are are best known for their two hit singles in 1976, "The Combine Harvester" (which got to #1 in the British charts) and "I Am a Cider Drinker" (#3). Their songs, often pastiches of songs from the folk, pop and rock genres, are characterised by many references to farming and cider (especially scrumpy, the strong and cloudy variant), sung with a strong West Country accent while playing up to various regional stereotypes. To this day they retain a strong following in the south-west of England and do regular live performances in the region, with people from other parts of the country tending to regard them as something of a novelty act that was briefly big in TheSeventies.

* ExplicitContent: A downplayed example; although it contains no overt sexual references or bad language, "Twice Daily" (the B-side of the band's 1967 single "Drink Up Thy Zyder") was deemed too raunchy to be played on Creator/TheBBC (which may well have actually ''helped'' the song in terms of publicity). It tells the story of a farm labourer who begins a sexual relationship with a female co-worker -- a literal RollInTheHay which leads to her getting pregnant, and her father arranging a ShotgunWedding.

* MyLocal: Quite a few songs mention going to the pub. Their version of "A Pub With No Beer" comes with an interesting twist, as the pub in question does at least still have cider. Also worth noting that a few real-life pubs in Somerset are name-checked in some of the songs that were written by Adge Cutler, and the Royal Oak in Nailsea is mentioned in the title of the band's first album, as that's where it was recorded.

* AdamWesting: They appeared [[AsHimself as themselves]] in the ''Series/CoogansRun'' episode "Thursday Night Fever", in which they have a new single -- "Brand New Brand New Combine Harvester", which is exactly like the original song, except they sing the line "brand new" twice.

* TheBandMinusTheFace: Following the death of founder and singer-songwriter Adge Cutler in 1974.

* GenreShift: Occurred after founder and lead singer Adge Cutler died in a car crash in 1974. Prior to that, Adge had been the band's frontman (reflected in the original name, Adge Cutler & The Wurzels) and had written most of their songs. Subsequently, the band -- now simply called The Wurzels -- concentrated more on parodies of pre-existing hit songs.

* RollInTheHay: Often invoked or at least mentioned.

* LongRunnerCastTurnover: They've been going since 1966, during which time there have been a lot of band members! The longest-serving ones, Tommy Banner and Pete Budd, have been members since (respectively) 1967 and 1972. The 'classic' chart-topping line-up of Banner, Budd and Tony Baylis lasted from 1974 (when founder Adge Cutler died) to 1981 (when they recruited John Morgan, the group's first permanent drummer).

* ExplicitContent: A downplayed example; although it contains no overt sexual references or bad language, "Twice Daily" (the B-side of the band's 1967 single "Drink Up Thy Zyder") was deemed too raunchy to be played on Creator/TheBBC (which may well have actually ''helped'' the song in terms of publicity). It tells the story of a farm labourer who begins a sexual relationship with a female co-worker, resulting in her getting pregnant and a ShotgunWedding being arranged by her father.

* FarmersDaughter: These do tend to [[IncrediblyLamePun crop]] up, notably Lucy Bailey in "Twice Daily" -- in which a RollInTheHay leads to a ShotgunWedding.

* DownOnTheFarm: Agriculture features ''a lot''. Most obviously, "The Combine Harvester" is about a farmer who has just bought a brand new one of these machines. Meanwhile, "Farmer Bill's Cowman" starts by mentioning this trope by name:

* ExplicitContent: A downplayed example; although it contains no overt sexual references or bad language, "Twice Daily" (the B-side of the band's 1967 song "Drink Up Thy Zyder") was deemed too raunchy to be played on Creator/TheBBC. It tells the story of a farm labourer who begins a sexual relationship with a female co-worker, resulting in her getting pregnant and a ShotgunWedding being arranged by her father.

* AHeroToHisHometown: Several decades on from their chart-topping days, The Wurzels are still popular in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry and their live performances at events there are well-attended. People from the rest of Britain tend to act with surprise upon learning that they still exist.

The Wurzels are an English "Scrumpy & Western" band [[note]] the genre is actually named after their 1967 EP of that name[[/note]], hailing from Somerset in UsefulNotes/TheWestCountry. Originally known as Adge Cutler & The Wurzels, they are are best known for their two hit singles in 1976, "The Combine Harvester" (which got to #1 in the British charts) and "I Am a Cider Drinker" (#3). Their songs, often pastiches of songs from the folk, pop and rock genres, are characterised by many references to farming and cider (especially scrumpy, the strong and cloudy variant), sung with a strong West Country accent while playing up to various regional stereotypes. To this day they retain a strong following in the south-west of England, with people from other parts of the country tending to regard them as something of a novelty act that was briefly big in TheSeventies.

* MyLocal: Quite a few songs mention going to the pub. Their version of "A Pub With No Beer" comes with an interesting twist, as the pub in question does at least still have cider. Also worth noting that a few real-life pubs in Somerset are name-checked in some of the songs that were written by Adge Cutler.

** A new version of "I Am a Cider Drinker" was released in 2007, with vocals by Radio/TonyBlackburn of all people. A year previously, the Wurzels had released a double A-side single with Music/BritishSeaPower in which the Wurzels had covered BSP's "Remember Me", while BSP had covered "I Am a Cider Drinker".