Entertainment scene And now for something ...

Press, 15 June 1978, Page 15

Entertainment scene And now for something ...

RECORD REVIEWS

by

Nevin Topp

MONTY PYTHONS FLYING CIRCUS ‘The Monty Python Instant Record Collection” (Charisma 9124 018): Announcer one: "Good evening. We apologise most sincerely to those of you who have bought this record under the impression that it is in anyway connected with the television programme, Monty* Python’s Flying "This was due to an error in the printing stage of the album cover. This album is in fact called •P'easures of the Dance,’ a collection of Norwegian carpenters’ songs compiled by Oscar Tritt.” Announcer two: ’ Good evening. We apoligise for the previous apology. This apology was unnecessary and appeared on the record owing to an administrative error. "This album is not as stated in the previous apology ‘Pleasures of the Dance,' a selection of Norwegian carpenters’ songs, but a new album from the humourous television comedy show ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’.” In fact the album is not quite a new one. In the words on the album cover it is “the pick of the best of some of the recently repeated Python hits again. Vol. II.” For the discerning Monty Python fan. the album is a must, especially when you get the effects of Alistair Cooke being attack by a duck, a commentary oh Australian table wines, and the extremely funny “constitutional peasants” in which a radicalised peasant argues with fervour about basing a system of government purely on someone who has thrown a sword from the lake at King Arthur. It would be difficult to judge whether the album was as good as “Monty .Python Live At Drury Lane.” Certainly the “Instant Collection” has two sketches taken from the Drury Lane album — “Nudge, Nudge” and “Parrot.” The weakness in the “Instant Collection” is that it lacks another two good Drury Lane sketches, "Albatross” and “Four Yorkshiremen.” But, the strength of the “Instant Collection” is that it is generally speaking a straight record, where-as on the live album sometimes one had to guess what the actors were doing to make the audience laugh.

The album cover is up to the usual Python standard, particularly, the record collection which is “stacked” on the inside cover. Well, worth reading if you get the chance. SPIKE JONES AND HIS CITY SLICKERS “The Best of Spike Jones, Volume II” (RCA ANL 1 2312): If Monty Python are the zany crew of the 1970 s then, alongside the Goons, the American, Spike Jones and his City Slickers, were the comedy musicians of the 19505. “Volume II” of Spike Jones is weaker than the first volume, which contianed such classics as “Beedlebomb” and excerpts from the opera "Carmen.” However, the idiotic quality of the City Slickers remains, especially on “Riders In The Sky.” Other classic songs, such as “That Old Black

Magic,” “The Tennessee Waltz” and “I Dream of Brownie With the Light Blue Jeans,” the latter being the Slicker’s version all get heat treatment. Any fan of Spike Jones would be glad to add it to his collection. KERMIT THE FROG “The Frog Prince” (EMI CTW 22072): This is more of a froggy tale than a fairy tale, but in simple terms the story remains the same. Wicked Witch turns a Prince Robin into a frog, and the froggy prince must be befriended by a princess and taken into her castle and kissed. The twist is that this particular princess is also under a spell and says words wackbirds, I mean backwards. The most interesting aspects of the album are not so much the froggy tale, because you know that the characters are going to end happily ever after, but the sociological aspects of froggy living. The song “Frogs” sorts it all out, in which frogs turn up their noses at hings like indoors, beds, and other comforts of home. Oh, no its mud, mud, glorious mud. Not to mention swamps, bogs,

and quagmires. The whole production Is slick, right down to the crowd effects for the King and Princess Melora, when a crowd prompt can call forth responses of “spontaneous clapping” or expressions of sympathy. “The Frog Prince” is obviously aimed at the children’s market, but adults can also make the occasional froggy noise too. BILL COSBY “Bill’s Best Friend” (Capitol ST 11731): The fault with live comedy albums is that occasionally you can hear the audience laugh, but have no idea what it is laughing at because the comedian is making an action. Fortunately this does not apply to Cosby, who has learned when putting down a record to rely on sound effects for his actions. An excellent example is "Cars” which puts Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Take Me For A Ride In Your CarCar” to shame. Cosby also delights in telling long tales of his childhood friends. “Fat Albert” drew a lot of laughs, but on “Bill’s Best Friend” it is Roland who wins the prize, by putting all his clothes on back to front

and taking a rollercoaster ride. “Illegal Drugs” is also extremely funny, for those interested to hear the sound effects of a cocaine and marijuana party. PAM AYERS “Will Anybody Marry Me?” (EMI EMC 3216): Pam Ayers has attracted a lot of attention recently with her quaint English accent and poems, which while dealing with ordinary things, have a strange and humorous twist in them. An example of the ordinary is a day-dreaming worker in “The Stanford Mafia.” Not a dangerous gangster really, but someone looking for a bit of excitement out of life. “After the Jubilee” is a great success, and so is “News from the Villages,” a kind of rural Reporter’s Diary. Pam Ayers also has a fine folk voice and the two traditional songs chosen, “The White Cockade” and “Brimbledon Fair,” are both beautiful. My only criticism is that Ayers occasionally over-extends her lines of verse, so that the effect seems strained. On the other hand, this gives the poems a nice homely quality.