After the
introspection of fatherhood and family life contained in the songs of HMS
Donovan, Donovan turned his attention to popular music again in
1972. It had been three years since "Atlantis" entered the top 10. Since
that time, Donovan had released a mildly successful album with band Open Road
and a solo children's album that failed to make the charts in the UK and did
not even see a release in the US.
In hopes of
fomenting success, Donovan brought in Mickie Most to share the producer duties
on his next album. The Cosmic Wheels sessions were recorded in Morgan
Studios in London, England. In the UK at that time, glam rock ruled the top of
the charts, defined by bands and artists such as T. Rex, Alice Cooper, and David
Bowie among others. Several of these bands and artists claimed Donovan as a key
influence in their music. This praise coupled with the chart success of the
genre likely had great influence on the musical direction Cosmic Wheels
would take.
While Donovan
was recording Cosmic Wheels, Alice Cooper was recording their 1973 album
Billion Dollar Babies in the same studio. Alice Cooper guitarist Michael Bruce suggested asking Donovan to
sing co-lead on the title track with Alice Cooper
himself. Donovan agreed, and the resulting song helped propel Billion Dollar
Babies to No. 1 in the US.
Cosmic
Wheels
reached the top 20 in both the US and UK, enjoying the same chart success as
many of Donovan's previous albums. By 1973 the music business had shifted to
promoting album-oriented rock, relegating singles to less promotion and fewer
sales. An edited form of "I Like You" reached No. 66 in the U.S. and
became the last charting single Donovan has had to date.
Track listing
Donovan was inspired
by the Flammarion engraving (Paris 1888)
All tracks by Donovan Leitch.
Side one
Side two
Personnel