Comedy in music

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: deepdoc1
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 01:23 PM

Brobdingnagian Bards
Austin Lounge Lizards

Ditto Steve Goodman & John Prine
Gibson & Camp had their moments

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Ron Davies
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 01:18 PM

Fortunately, a huge array of this.

PDQ Bach is not to be missed.    One of my alltime favorites of his:    first movement of Beethoven's 5th broadcast as a baseball game.   Called "New Horizons In Music Appreciation".   Skewers sports announcers, among many other targets.

The whole album, "PDQ Bach On The Air" is an absolute delight. The more you know about music, especially classical music, the better-but a lot of it works without any knowledge of classical music.


In another field, lots of Steve Goodman's output:   "Door #3,", "Dying Cub Fan's Lament", "Vegematic", "Banana Republics". etc, etc..   Sometimes comedy and pathos in the same song.

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Long Firm Freddie
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 12:34 PM

I'm partial to Flight of the Conchords, John Shuttleworth and The Lancashire Hotpots.

The Bill Posters Will Be Banned (feat. many ex Bonzos and Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band) play at the Bull's Head in Barnes on the first Thursday of every month.

LFF

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 10:49 AM

if you want comical music I heartily recommend a ceilidh (that turns out to be a Playford dance) with Belshazzar's Feast.
They made po-faced ceilidhnauts, who wouldn't be seen dead at Playford, laugh. Strong medicine - I submit.

But then their concerts are punctuated with humour, most of it schpiel.

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 09:03 AM

videos of Australia's Martin Pearson in action.

something topical (tho written many years ago!) The Pope Song

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: GUEST,Eddie1 (sans cookie)
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 04:35 AM

For more info on the Bonzos have a look at this:
3 Bonzos and a Piano

I had Legs Larry Smith on my radio programme about a year ago and the rest on telephone. Unfortunately, due to a technical problem, although we, and the rest of the world, could hear them, I couldn't talk to them on air so they interviewed themselves - pure Bonzo chaos!
I saw them in Windsor and they were brilliant!

Eddie

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: andrew e
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 10:12 PM

Check out Dudley Moore playing piano on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l3hq4G1iHs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GazlqD4mLvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n7BCUVJkhU

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 07:14 PM

Will - Check out London Philharmonc Skiffle Orchestra - More Visual Lunacy than just comic songs , but some excellent musicians !

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 05:51 PM

There are people out there writing and singing funny stuff. Martin Pearson. Tim Minchin. Roy Zimmerman. Katie Goodman, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdn3O6aaMNc (NSFW).

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: TheSnail
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 03:10 PM

The New Rope String Band

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: pdq
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 03:00 PM

The Austin Lounge Lizards "Employee of the Month" is great fun. Almost all good songs and that is not easy with humorous material.

The send-up of Leonard Cohen is priceless.

Great playing too.

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Bert
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 02:46 PM

There's a few on my website, Here

British Workman's Grave
Country Vicar
Cuckoo's Nest
Espresso Machine
Plastic Flower Seeds
Seven Dear Old Ladies
Silicone Cindy
Size Doesn't Matter
Thrashing Machine
When your Pickle Glows at night

Subject: RE: Comedy in music
From: Steve Parkes
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 02:21 PM

You should also look up Gerard Hoffnung, Will. I won't say more for fear of spoiling the surprise!

Subject: Comedy in music
From: Will Fly
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 10:24 AM

Doing one of my regular trawls through the musical world and surfing around the ether, coffee by my side, I've been enjoying some wonderfully funny pieces of music. Most of them are many, many years old. But I wondered - where are the modern equivalents? Where are the anarchists? Is it my jaded and outmoded memory, or were there many more of them in my youth - Tom Lehrer, the Bonzo-Dog Doo-Dah Band, Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band?

Where are the Leslie Saroneys, the Rufe Davis's (both singers of "The Old Sow") of today, for example? The Spike Jones's? The Barron-Knights - formed around 1960 - are still doing stage shows today, but I'll bet very few here, including me, have heard of them over the last few years. Remember Dr. Crock & The Crackpots? Sid Millward & The Nitwits? In Sussex, until a few years ago, we had the Harry Strutters Orchestra, and some appearances by Bob Kerr. I've heard the Bonzos still get together occasionally.

I suppose the comedy song, at its height, flourished within the music-hall tradition and in children's entertainment. One of the reasons to be grateful for folk clubs, singarounds, etc., is that comedy in song is alive and flourishing. I was at Elsie's (the Queen's Head) in Kent last night, to see the Twagger Band in action, and we had a number of songs from the company that brought roars of laughter to the room. But outside that genre of musical entertainment...? Any offers?