Are you all sitty comftybowl, two-square on your botty? Then I'll begin . . .
Once upon a time, a chap named Happiness Stan set out on a mission to find the missing half of the moon.
Along the way he met a hungry fly, which, in exchange for a share of Stan's shepherd's pie, pointed Stan to Mad John, a hermit.
Mad John would not only solve the moon mystery, he'd clue Stan in to the meaning of life.
And on it goes.
This unlikely tale, related in song and linked together by narrated passages in Stanley Unwin's "Unwinese" gobbledegook, took the Small Faces' Ogden's Nut Gone Flake to No 1 in the UK album charts for six consecutive weeks in 1968.
Its mix of soulful R&B, psychedelic rock and cockney knees-up numbers proved irresistible to fans of the band that had started life as an airbrushed mod-pop outfit but had grown more muscular and imaginative on signing with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label in 1967.
The Small Faces are now widely regarded as one of the strongest influences on Britpop, with Blur most directly referencing the Faces chirpy London-lad mannerisms.
Ogden's, which became the band's swansong when singer Steve Marriott quit to form Humble Pie, is much more than a vivid concept album.
Stan's story begins on side two, the first side comprising a mix of heavy rockers, soul ballads and aforementioned cockney sing-alongs.
Single Lazy Sunday preceded the album's release (against the band's wishes), reaching No 2 on the UK charts and bettering by one spot the previous year's hit Itchycoo Park.
Sadly, the Small Faces were never to perform their masterwork live, due to technical complexities that added to Marriott's frustration.
However, plans are afoot to stage the event with an all-star cast at London's indigO2 venue this October.
Let all joy of life and living emanate from the cocklode of your heartstrings!
