Category: Music

Innes much as Ron’s Nasty

From Neil Innes last Saturday I got a typically nasty autograph from his Rutles alter ego, Ron Nasty.

After Innes and the Bonzo Dog Band were in Magical Mystery Tour with the Beatles, they were on a BBC TV show for kids called Do Not Adjust Your Set, where they met Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam.

http://youtu.be/AI4ekBi5Hhc

During A People’s Guide to World Domination last Saturday night, Innes sang the “Brave” Sir Robin song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail…

… but he didn’t do the famous Knights of the Round Table song, for which he wrote the tune but not the words, which were by Cleese and Chapman.

http://youtu.be/sGAYk5VWkTw

A People’s Guide to World Domination is a wonderfully funny and engaging show, mixing British music hall humor with social satire. When Innes was in town he did this interview, and on his way up to Boston he stopped at the NPR music studios in Washington, for a Tiny Desk Concert. When I saw Innes he didn’t play Urban Spaceman, a Bonzo-era favorite, but you’ll hear it here.

A tip o’ the virtual toupee to Samjay, for spotting a Rutles song in the credits when he saw The Robber last weekend. It’s I Love You, from the Rutles second album, Archaeology.

An Innes-cent man

You know about the Rutles, I’m sure. You must. The Rutles is a Beatles parody by Monty Python’s Eric Idle and a tremendously talented and funny musical chap named Neil Innes, whose Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (later just the Bonzo Dog Band) had a spot in Magical Mystery Tour, performing their legendary dirty ditty, Death Cab for Cutie.

http://youtu.be/jfHPs_1KUW4

Neil Innes appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, singing the ballad of Eric Idle’s “Brave” Sir Robin. Innes then did a BBC comedy sketch show with Idle called Rutland Weekend Television. RWT was most notable for introducing the Rutles, with Idle playing the George part (he switched to being Paul) and Innes as John.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/Beatles/Rutles.flv 400 300]

The Rutles film re-appeared on Saturday Night Live, and it was such a big hit that Lorne Michaels produced a TV movie with the faux four called All You Need is Cash. The parody adhered so closely to the Beatles story that it made the reality of it seem all the more unreal.

All of the Rutle songs are by Neil Innes, and they don’t just capture the sound and feeling of the Beatles. Innes managed to deconstruct the Lennon-McCartney magic and turn it inside out, while being both scathing and reverential. Lyrics like “nature’s calling and I must go there” are brilliant and hilarious.

I’ve been wanting to do a Neil Innes post for some months, but I have to do this one right now, because I will be seeing Innes perform tonight, at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts.

YouTube grab-bag

Do I know about Pomplamoose? Yes, for over a year.

Pomplamoose reminds me of what Les Paul and Mary Ford were doing 60 years ago.

Pomplamoose went viral on YouTube and got so big, so fast they did Hyundai commercials.

Asteroids Galaxy Tour did this…

… and it was turned into a Heineken commercial I’ve seen on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
http://youtu.be/TLgetLmlggA

Still on the fringes, with no TV commercial to call their own, is Project: Pimento, a group that features a theramin. Thanks for the tip, tastewar.

Barnes Newberry’s new show!

This just in from Boston-based DJ Barnes Newberry, whose radio show “Highway 61 Revisited” was part of my Saturday mornings for ten years:

RADIO NEWS! Thrilled to announce I will be on-air again very soon with my new show My Back Pages on mvyradio (mvyradio.com). Great station, fine music choices and terrific staff! Show will be Saturdays, 8 am -12 noon, available online only. All shows will be archived. Start date to be announced shortly. Please spread the word. If you were a fan of my old Highway 61 Revisited program, this will be right down your alley!

Thanks Barnes, this is great news! I’m looking forward to hearing you again. MVYradio.com is a great Internet radio station, and it has a high quality 96 Kbps audio stream. After you get started at the station I will become a member and send them some bucks in your name.

Milk spilled backwards

A week or so ago I added a link over on the right for singer-songwriter Kate Klim. As Kate pointed out last night at the Off the Common Coffeehouse in Bridgewater, MA, her name is, yes, milk spelled backwards. Now based in Nashville, Kate Klim is originally from Illinois, and she attended Berklee in Boston to study music. I sent some money to Kate about a year ago when she was working on her new CD, Kamikaze Love, and that’s why my name is printed on the case.

This is Kate performing the title track. (I need to get a more light-sensitive camera with a lens stronger than 3x zoom!)

[media id=236 width=512 height=404]

Appearing with Kate was Susan Levine, whose most recent CD is Atlas. (Her Atlas didn’t shrug.) 😉 After their solo sets, which were both great, Susan finished the evening with Kate singing harmony. Wonderful!

[media id=237 width=512 height=404]

I think Carol and I were strangers in an audience of old friends, but we were made to feel welcome and we enjoyed the concert very much. It was nice being able to chat with Kate and Susan, and Kate demonstrated something cool that I’d read about on the tech sites, but hadn’t seen before — an iPhone with a credit card swiper!