Rutles Revisited: Ron Nasty Talks To MOG
-
Artist:
*The Rutles* (Rhino)Heralding the long overdue UK release of the prefab four's complete early works...The brainchild of Eric Idle and Neil Innes on the short-lived 70s UK sketch show Rutland Weekend Television, The Rutles took on a life of their own after the joke was expanded to a full-length TV film,entitled All You Need Is Cash. This 20-track compendium of Beatles parodies has long been available on import, but the only previous British release was a 14-song vinyl album back in 1978. Former Bonzos guitarist and regular Monty Python collaborator Innes (aka Rutle Ron Nasty) was responsible for all the music - although Idle (aka Rutle Dirk McQuigley) dreamed up the title of the Help! pastiche, Ouch!.Elsewhere, Innes effortlessly captured Macca's whimsy (Doubleback Alley), Harrison's mysticism (Nevertheless), Starr's droll vaudeville (Living In Hope) and Lennon's weirdness (Piggy In The Middle, Cheese & Onions). It's all done with huge affection, with most of the songs finding favour among dyed-in-the-wool Beatles devotess, and inspiring covers by the likes of Teenage Fanclub and Aimee Mann. Almost as fondly regarded as the records it set out to lampoon.Neil Innes talks to MOG's Terry Staunton:*At what point did The Rutles go from a short sketch on British televison to a 90-minute TV movie?*There were stories going round in the late 70s that The Beatles had been offered $20 million each to reform, so Saturday Night Live did a skit with George Harrison where he was offered $3,000 to reform, but he was reluctant to share it with the others. It became a running gag, the next week's show claimed Ringo had said 'yes' for $300! Then Eric Idle was the guest host one week, screened the little thing we'd done for Rutland Weekend Television, and all hell broke lose. The next thing I knew we were making a full-length film, and I had to write about 20 Beatles-type tunes for the soundtrack.*How did you set about parodying so many different styles of Beatle songs?*I studiously tried to avoid listening to any of their music, because it might have overwhelmed what I was trying to do. We wanted to parody specific songs a lot of the time, but if we'd heard the originals too recently there was a risk we'd end up with carbon copies. The early moptop songs were probably the most difficult to do. It's hard to pull off simplicity without sounding like a smart-arse.*Have you been surprised by the longevity of The Rutles, their enduring popularity?*I was surprised when it became a film, actually. I thought it only really had the legs to be a one-off skit on a comedy programme. But people seem to be extraordinarily fond of The Rutles, and I was completely taken aback by how many hardcore Beatles fans embraced it. I've been to a few Fabs fan club coventions, and I find myself signing records and posters for hours.*George Harrison was always a big fan, wasn't he?*He certainly was, and it probably wouldn't have gone as far as it did without him. We were putting it together at the same time Eric and the Pythons were making The Life Of Brian, which George's company financed when everyone else got cold feet over the blasphemy thing, and his enthusiasm for The Rutles concept opened a lot of doors. George does a lovely little cameo in the movie, and he also encouraged me to do the second Rutles album, Archeaology, in the 90s. I remember him telling me, "It's all part of the soup." Very philosophical, was our George.*A version of this article appears in the forthcoming issue of the UK music magazine Record Collector, on sale from August 2.*
Locating MOG account...
Comments (14)
I was smitten by their album and television show that to this day those songs mean as much to me as the songs that inspired those loving parodies which really stand as a great songs all on their own.