My Amazon Reviews: The Rutles "The Rutles"

Maybe the best Musical Satire in History?
4 Out Of 5 Stars

In 1978, NBC foisted this special television event on America when they debuted "The Rutles' All You Need Is Cash" mockumentary. Parody documentaries were still in their infancy at the time, and The Rutles were the brainchild of one Python (Eric Idle) a Bonzo Dog (Neil Innes) and others not only spoofed the legacy of Beatles performances, they made impeccable variants on the Fab Four's music. There were inside jokes everywhere in the TV show, down to George Harrison playing a reporter, Mick Jagger and Paul Simon giving mock interviews, and assorted takes on the foibles the Beatles themsleves faced through their career.

But it's the music that matters on this CD. An expansion of the original LP (time constraints left some of the songs of the original album), every song here directly references multiple Beatles songs and the entire beat period (some of these could be lost Merseybeat singles from unknown bands, the quality is that high.) Some, like "Ouch's" take on "Help" or "Piggy In The Middle" copping "I Am The Walrus" are obvious, while others are just brilliant songs on their own, like the "Twist and Shout" contortion that becomes "Number One."

More to the point, Innes is a perfect Lennon imitator, while Rikki Fatar does Harrison's bits staggeringly well. Sometimes the bite is too deep ("Cheese and Onions" takes a poke at Yoko, while "Piggy In The Middle" has a potty joke that loses it's impact after repeated listenings), but all can be forgiving by the humor of "Ouch" or the impeccable takes on "Doubleback Alley" ("Penny lane/Strawberry Fields") and "Get Up And Go" ("Get Back"). Lorne Michaels oversaw the whole deal, and 30 plus years on, it can still elicit a smile. Bear in mind that it took another six years before anything even comparable entered the musical spoof world - aka Spinal Tap - and you get the idea just how effective Innes and Idle's Rutles work here was and remains.



    

My Amazon Reviews: The Tubes "The Completion Backwards Principle"

"We're Here Because You're There"
4 Out Of 5 Stars

That quote was part of the original album's liner notes, and it pretty much sums up The Tubes' general attitude. They were irreverent and shocking, with enough playing chops to keep those in the know interested in the music. Put that with the live show that get them banned from numerous venues (in their early days), and you had a band that seemed to be perennially on the brink of making it big. But The Tubes also spent just a little too much time being weird to climb all the way to chartland. "The Completion Backward Principle" saw them almost making it yet again, as David Foster did his best to smooth out the jarring edges and polish the band even more than Todd Rundgren did on "Remote Control." The Tubes did their part by writing some tunes that sounded absolutely Toto-ish, if Toto ever contemplated amnesia, schizophrenia and late night B-Movies as song fodder.

The buff job paid off, with The Tubes' first across the board Album Radio hit, the tough strutting but uncharacteristic "Talk To You Later." The band then hit late night TV and began showing up in swim flippers performing "Sushi Girl" in a wading pool from the stage of the Tonight Show. Radio took notice and the ballad "Don't Want To Wait Anymore" snuck into the lower reaches of the Top 40. Fortunately, Foster wasn't completely able to tame these yahoos. "Attack Of The Fifty Foot Woman" was sci-fi silly in a manner that only The Tubes could make credible, and the punchy "Mr. Hate" was the confrontation of a shattering personality that the band executed perfectly on stage. "TCBWP" is likely The Tubes' most consistent album musically, but misses five stars because it was too slickly over produced, and the band never regained their experimental edge after this (unless you count the second half of "Love Bomb").

   

I'm Officially Cracked

I got mentioned on Cracked.com! (Or at least my book does.)

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-hardest-people-to-shop-for-holiday-gift-guide_p2/

My Amazon Reviews: Weird Al Yankovic "Alpocalypse"

Pa-Pa-Polkaface  
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Whenever Weird Al manages to capture the current pop zeitgeist, he can be counted on to make a brilliant song or two per album. When he tackled Michael Jackson at his best, he created two of the most incredible parodies of the 80's with "Eat It" and "Fat." Then there was "White and Nerdy." And now, thanks to Lady Gaga, he's back in a big way. From the goof on gath of the cover to the ever-present pop-polka medley, "Alpocalypse" shows once more why Weird Al Yankovic has remained the the eminent musical comedian/parodist of the last three decades.

The hits to duds ratio is about equal, and the standouts are gutbusters. Most importantly is the tackling of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" into "Perform This Way," which not only parodies the song but the artist (something Al rarely does). The video also neatly ties Al's timelines together, skewering Madonna (another frequent Al target) and Gaga at the same time. At the same time, Al reimagines Jim Morrison as an upset user of "Craigslist" and Charles Nelson Reilly as the topic of a Racountours/Jack White guitar crusher. Technology also takes it on the chin, as "Ringtone" evokes "my wife to smash my I-Phone with a brick...but I hate to waste a $1.99" over his obnoxious cell tones.

Another eason why Al is a genius is how the man can write a parody of almost any genre. He ricochets from Bruno Mars to Miley Cyrus to The Doors to Queen. Often the originals take on all at once. Of the originals, my favorite is the finale, "Stop Forwarding That Crap to Me," a tirade against stupid emails set to a gorgeous melody. Like one of those massively building Jim Steinman songs, Al begs and pleads...

I just can't believe you believe those urban legends.
But I have high hopes that someone will point you toward Snopes
And debunk that crazy junk you're spewing constantly.

On the smiley meter, 4 and a half teeth. This man deserves to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.

 

Illustration from the new Texas history class textbooks.

How Deadly Funny: How To Create a Newsclip

My Amazon Movie Reviews: "The Men Who Stare at Goats"

Baa bah, Said the Goat,

3 out of 5 Stars

An uneven buddy caper that rides mainly on the abilities of its impeccable casting, "The Men Who Stare At Goats" takes a seriously weird moment in military stupidity and pokes gentle fun at it. There was once a New Earth Army (called The First Earth Battalion) that the CIA experimented with as a Psychic Warfare Operation. What should have you irritated about a waste of your tax dollars gets spoofed into a Hollywood movie. So much for the "liberal media," right?

As such, it's still a good time waster. Milquetoast journalist Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) wants to prove to his ex-wife that he's an exciting man, so he talks his way into an Iraqi reporter position. It is there where he bumbles into the Special Forces Operator, Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), whom Bob once referenced in a story about psychic warfare. Soon Bob convinces Lyn to take him along on his mission, and Lyn's intermittent explanations about the New Earth Army appears in anecdotal bits, often very humorously.

The supporting cast makes up for the slowness of the overall film, with Jeff Bridges leading the pack as Bill Django, the best of the psychic warriors. Stephen Lang steals the show in just a few scenes as somewhat loopy Brigadier General Dean Hopgood. Kevin Spacey is fine as the creepy trouble maker Larry Hooper, but you've seen him do this a million times and his character here has nothing new to offer. And finally, Robert Patrick is a hoot as contractor at large Todd Nixon, appearing for no apparent reason but still amusing. "The Men Who Stare At Goats" is episodic, and that's its main drag. It never seems to find its footing, and the ending is contrived.

The original non-fiction book detailed disturbing and often hilarious interviews with men who would tell journalist Jon Ronson about the real attempts Presidents Reagen and Bush 2 put into creating these regiments. But as the movie sputters into its final act and all Jon/Bob gets out of his reports is either ignored or mocked, its a bit frustrating to watch the movie of his work walk the wire between reality and the farcical so unevenly.

I'm rooting for the Phillies...

But this cracks me up.

RIP Soupy Sales: In Honor of Saturday Morning Funnies

Do the Mouse!

The "Billionaires for Wealth Care" Punk/Protest an Insurance Lobbyist's Gathering

The Seven Year Itch

Last night, Joel and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. It hardly seems that long, but so much has happened that it also seems like a lifetime. We celebrated by hitting Outback for steaks and a Blooming Onion. I surprised him with flowers, and we shared the fruits of his favorite new toy, a home-made ice cream machine. First successful flavor; Rum Raisin. Yum. The picture was us when we were just getting to know each other in 2002.

Then we took in Saturday Night Live. I was a bit brought down to see that President Obama's lack of activity has reached SNL, with the opening sketch being a biting rundown of the first year campaign promises not yet achieved. Hell, Fred Armistead barely even bothered with his dead-on campaign impersonation of Obama. He just looked like Fred with a short wig. The skit would have been funnier had it not been so sadly on target.

Sunday was a day for both of us to catch up on projects. We are both taking classes and each have homework. This is something I am not used to! I also needed to do an update to my website (http://www.timbrough.com/) to add David Stein's two new books for sale. (There will be a fresh post on that soon.) Joel and I took a break to watch a low-key gay thriller, "The Night Listener." Robin Williams can still give good creepy, but the movie was a bit too drawn out for my tastes.

Tomorrow, back to work and class.

Sociafascianazilisticmarxpialidocious!

Seems a comment I made on Laura Antoniou's blog has inspired this bit of satire on YouTube. To say I'm flattered in putting it mildly.



Thanks to Tim Brough, for the initial inspiration
Lyrics © 2009 Gray Miller