Ouch! (The Rutles) (LP 708)

The Rutles  The Rutles (Vinyl, WEA Records, 1978) **** 

Genre: Beatles pop

Places I remember: Slow Boat Records (my original copy was lost in a house move a few years ago. This copy is more worn than my mint/pristine original but it's good to have it back in my collection)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Cheese And Onions

Gear costume: Number One 

Active compensatory factors: This is a kind of soundtrack album for The Rutles' film - All You Need Is Cash, and a pretty perfect parody album.

The film is the brainchild of Python's Eric Idle, but he doesn't perform on the Rutles' albums.

Neil Innes, the writer and arranger, knows Beatles' songs inside out and so his affectionate piss takes of all stages of the Fabs career is bang on target. And hilariously funny!

The packaging of the album is a thing of beauty in itself.  

Where do they all belong? Another Rutles album - Anthology, is waiting in the CD wings.

Nudge nudge (Monty Python) (LP 48)

Monty Python Live at Drury Lane (Vinyl - Charisma, 1974) ****

Genre: Comedy

Places I remember: Marbecks Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Election Special segues into Lumberjack Song stand out (but plenty to choose from here).






Gear costume: So many wonderful routines here - Bruces, Secret Service, Four Yorkshiremen, Parrot Sketch.

Active compensatory factors: Comedy records are usually fraught with problems. Familiarity breeds contempt...usually.

And there are, of course, no visuals with a sound recording. 

Monty Python inhabit a different universe, however. I can listen to these sketches over and over again, even though I know them off by heart (as my generation all have done).

Listening to this again in 2016 still made me laugh, a lot. The Election Special skit has not aged at all!!

Where do they all belong? The Goons, Robin Williams, The Marx Brothers - they all mine a surreal brand of humour that I love!