Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father

Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father is a 1988 multi-artist compilation of 1980s artists recording new versions of the songs on The Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was produced by the now-defunct BBC TV consumer programme That's Life!, presented by Esther Rantzen. That TV programme championed all kinds of causes and also provided some humour to Sunday, and later Saturday, nights.

The album came about during a time when the programme was getting letters from people who had been abused by adults when they were children. In response to this, presenter Esther Rantzen set up the charity Childline. How the idea of the album was mooted is uncertain. The album is a new version of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A single was released to help promote the album, a double-A side with "With A Little Help From My Friends" by Wet Wet Wet and "She's Leaving Home", by Billy Bragg with Cara Tivey.

Track listing

The track listing of the album was identical to that of the Beatles' original release, though the gibberish known as the "Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove" appears as part of Frank Sidebottom's appearance at the end of side one, not at the end of side two as on the original release. All songs are written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted otherwise.

Side one

1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – The Three Wize Men - 3:22
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" – Wet Wet Wet - 2:38
3. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – The Christians - 5:26
4. "Getting Better" – The Wedding Present with Amelia Fletcher - 1:58
5. "Fixing a Hole" – Hue & Cry - 4:06
6. "She's Leaving Home" – Billy Bragg with Cara Tivey - 2:51
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" – Frank Sidebottom - 3:07

Side two

1. "Within You Without You" (George Harrison) – Sonic Youth - 5:03
2. "When I'm Sixty-Four" – Courtney Pine Quartet - 4:10
3. "Lovely Rita" – Michelle Shocked - 2:25
4. "Good Morning Good Morning" – The Triffids - 2:46
5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" – The Three Wize Men - 2:40
6. "A Day in the Life" – The Fall - 3:56