Ah! Beatnix’s what would the world have done without them? Well, as it turned out, pretty much anything, as both the language and attitude quickly passed into the obscurity of historical oddities. That, however, didn’t stop some good meaning people trying to pretend that it was some kind of viable youth movement and producing works to reflect this.

The Nervous Set (1959) was a jazz influenced, two act musical, which only ran for twenty-three shows - which pretty much tells you what you need to know about its quality. Striped of the pretty awful hipness, the story is a fairly straight forward one about relationships. Its only point of interest is that Larry Hagman played one of the central characters, Brad.

So, why did it die such a sudden death? Well the music isn’t too bad, from the distance of time the lyrics are risible and the overall plot isn’t that too engaging. The central characters display an distinct sense of superiority, which they shove down the audience’s necks; I can imagine that sitting in the audience was quite an unpleasant experience.

So, what has Sony been doing all these years? An obscure show which died a death still sounds like it was recorded yesterday and that’s just weird. Did they have scores of minions which recorded every show, regardless of its size or success? To collectors of obscure recordings Sony must have come as a godsend, just don’t play the 'Party Song', don't say I didn't warn you.

On the plus side 'The Ballad of the Sad Young Men' is a pretty good song, although it sounds a little too much like 'Lovely Lonely Man', from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, it’s not enough to save the whole enterprise.

So, the full track listing is as follows:

'Overture / Man', 'We’re Beat', 'New York', 'What’s To Lose? / Stars Have Blown My Way', 'Fun Life', 'How Do You Like Your Love?', 'Party Song' and 'Night People'.

'Overture - Act II' , 'Party Song (reprise)', 'I’ve Got a Lot To Learn about Life', 'The Ballad of the Sad Young Men', 'A Country Gentleman', 'Max the Millionaire', 'Travel the Road of Love', 'Laugh, I Thought I’d Die', 'Fun Life (reprise)', 'Fun Life (Jackie Cain & Roy Kral) (bonus track)'.

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Charles Packer