Written and sung by the late great Neil Innes, who unfortunately left the building for the last time in 2019.
As today's post's title suggests, I hadn't thought of this song in ages, but the previous two days examinations of an older ersatz Beatles record (The Beetlettes Outside Carnegie Hall) apparently stimulated my memory. In any event, it's so good it transcends the fact it was conceived as a parody.
I should add that the entirety of the Archaeology album is on balance every bit as memorable as the original Rutles movie soundtrack that everybody's familiar with.
I should also add that after pulling this off YouTube yesterday, I was surprised to realize -- for the first time -- that the cover graphic is NOT, in fact, based on the artwork for the Fab Four's Anthology, which occasioned it, but rather on the much earlier (1988) Beatles Past Masters Volume I album.
Trivia is so cool, isn't it?
7 comments:
Wikipedia tells us
" His Scottish father was a warrant officer in the British Army, and Innes spent his childhood in West Germany where his father was deployed with the British Army of the Rhine."
Long ago I saw the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, and I assume Innes was among them then.
This is a poignant song.
Still, "Deface the Music" remains my favourite quasiBeatles record, and "I just want to touch you" is my favourite first-phase "Beatles" song.
“British Army of the Rhine” - I just love how that phrase would have stuck in the craw of any unrepentant Nazis.
But back to the song: it is an absolutely fabulous piece of work!! An earworm, if ever there was one. As you said, it transcends parody.
What does the title translate to in English?
Neil Innes was the Rich Little of song
interpreters
rob
Innes was great, but by this time his ace-in-the-hole wingman Ollie Halsall was dead. As drummer John Halsey said, "He may not have been the world's best guitarist, but he was certainly in the Top One."
Also — I am SOOOOOOO stealing that line.😎
My favorite Neil Innes line (whether it originated with him or not): "I've suffered for my art, now it's your turn."
contents of Rutles Anthology
Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band (2:21)
Rendezvous (2:06)
Questionnaire (2:45)
We've Arrived! (And To Prove It We're Here) (2:09)
Lonely-Phobia (2:35)
Unfinished Words (2:08)
Hey Mister! (3:18)
Easy Listening (2:09)
Now She's Left You (1:41)
The Knicker Elastic King (3:01)
I Love You (2:18)
Eine Kleine Middle Klasse Musik (4:24)
Joe Public (4:01)
Shangri-La (7:44)
Don't Know Why (3:44)
Back In '64 (3:14)
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