“Groovy Train” by The Farm

"Groovy Train" pulled into the station in 1990 as the first single from Spartacus, the debut album the Liverpool band the Farm would release the following year, with Suggs of Madness producing and Mark Saunders mixing. Steve Grimes wrote the music and Peter Hooton the words, but the thing everybody remembers is Keith Mullin's guitar intro, a bright, chiming hook riding a loose-limbed baggy shuffle.

It landed on the 1990 Madchester compilation Happy Daze and climbed to 6 on the UK Singles Chart, while American ears sent it to 41 on the Hot 100 and 15 on Modern Rock Tracks. The video, shot at Pleasureland Southport, got a sly cameo from Bill Dean, whose Brookside character Harry Cross was a retired train driver: there he is at the controls, with the Farm along for the ride.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.