Lancelot's Prams' Radio Programs: 'The Butterfly Ball'

Your Favourite Featured Album for Tuesday 7th June 2011, 1.30 - 3.30 pm (AEST) was :

"The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast", by Roger Glover and Friends (1974)

* Where were you when you first heard songs from this album?
* What does this album remind you of?
* Who were you with when you first heard music from this album?
* Why does this albums' music sound special to you?
* What were you doing when you first heard music from this album?
* How does hearing songs from this album make you feel?

The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast is a concept album and subsequent live rock opera appearing in 1974 and 1975 respectively, based on the children's book of the same title (The album cover design is from Alan Aldridge's design for the book).
It was originally conceived as a solo vehicle for Jon Lord and to be produced by Roger Glover who had recently left Deep Purple, but Lord proved too busy with Deep Purple and Glover took up the reins on his own.
Using his connections, Glover recruited a large cast of noted rock musicians to perform on it, with a different vocalist for each track including David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes.
The single "Love Is All", with vocals from Ronnie James Dio, made a minor impression in the UK but reached number one in The Netherlands.
Its accompanying animated short movie also gained unexpected success in France, where the newly launched second TV channel Antenne 2 used it as a fill-in every time it experienced "technical difficulties". These random airings, together with the psychedelic tone of the clip and the lack of subtitles, made it very popular amongst young viewers. (Source)