Subtitled "an Alexei Sayle mystery", the album comprises an episodic detective serial plus occasional musical interludes.

The album is based on Alexei Sayle and the Fish People, an award-winning radio series originally broadcast by 95.8 Capital FM in 1981.

[2] Although the radio series was originally broadcast in the London area, the album includes faked DJ links that suggest the show is being broadcast in the fictitious new town of Milton Springsteen, the name being an amalgamation of Milton Keynes and Bruce Springsteen.

The corresponding album track "That's Milton Springsteen" is a parody of the Jam song "That's Entertainment".

", which was a hit single for Sayle in February 1984, is unrelated to the rest of the album and was included with the sleeve notation "just squeezed in!".