Occasional supergroup The Rutles – led by ex-Bonzo NEIL INNES
And drummer JOHN HALSEY – return in May 2019 for a short series
of UK dates: THE GET UP AND GO AGAIN TOUR – 2019
Widely known as the “ Pre – Fab Four “, The Rutles first arrived on our
screens in 1975 via a sketch on Eric Idle’s BBC television series
‘RUTLAND WEEKEND TELEVISION’. It featured Neil Innes
(Monty Python songwriter and ex-Bonzo Dog Band founding member )
fronting the band singing “ I Must Be In Love”.
Three years later, the ground breaking movie, All You Need Is Cash,
Expanded the satire and featured guest appearances by
George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Bill Murray, Michael Palin,
John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, and many more.
As a peer of The Beatles in the 1960s (The Bonzos appeared in the
Magical Mystery Tour film and Paul McCartney produced a single for them ),
Neil Innes is well qualified to satirise the Fab Four. With the exception of
Eric Idle, each of the four Rutles ( including drummer John Halsey – AKA – Barry WOM ) played
their own instruments as well as acting in the film.
In fact few people realise that Halsey is a Rock icon in his own right,
having drummed on many classic albums, including the Lou Reed album Transformer,
and toured with many other including, Joe Cocker, The Scaffold, Grimms, Timebox , Patto,
Expect a full evenings entertainment, featuring all the classic songs including
I Must Be In Love / Cheese And Onions / Piggy in the Middle / With a Girl Like You /
And of course Get Up and Go.
In 2019 – The Rutles are;
John Halsey { aka Barry Wom } ———— Vocals / Drums
Jay Goodrich ———————————– Vocals / Bass
“Rutling” Ken Thornton ———————- Vocals / Guitar
Phil Jackson ————————————– Vocals / Keyboards
Neil Innes { aka Ron Nasty } —————- Vocals / Guitar / Banjo / Ukulele / Keyboards
In these TRULY troubling “Post-Reality” times, those FABULOUS “Fake Dudes” – the “legendary” RUTLES – are all set to once again get back in the van and beetle about the UK for the whole of May. [There’s a pun if you want…]
They will be bringing their own unique brand of musical “Pork Pies” to the beleaguered and bewildered British Isles. No other “Tribute” band distributes joy or writes their own songs or tops the charts of “Make Believe” quite like these jolly foot-tapping Economists of Truth.
By “Popular Demand”, these Grandees of Delusion will be Taking Back Control of Bare-Faced Fibbing, saluting the Sovereignty of Silliness and ceremoniously reinstating the Obvious.
Indeed, such is the Will of the People that [do re mi] so far – more or less than 50% of them are already buying tickets in advance! WOW!
WHY? Because they don’t want to miss the chance to:
DANCE about to the Beat of Bogus Celebrity
SINGALONG to the Melodies of Monstrous Mendacity
INAPPROPRIATELY FEEL the Harassment of Happy People
SEE “Barry Wom” take his kit off at the end of the show!
So HURRY – and bring your own toys – if you want to join in all the “Fun of the Fairytale” – coming to a Sand Pit near YOU!
The Rutles are:
NEIL INNES [AKA “RON NASTY’] – VOCALS, GUITAR, KEYBOARDS
JOHN HALSEY [AKA “BARRY WOM”] – VOCALS, DRUMS
“RUTLING” KEN THORNTON – VOCALS, LEAD GUITAR
PHIL JACKSON – VOCALS, KEYBOARDS
JAY GOODRICH – VOCALS, BASS GUITAR
AN “INCREDIBLE” TIME IS GUARANTEED FOR ALL!
The Rutles: “Major Happy” Tour
May / June 2018
A Brief History
It all began 40 years ago when Eric Idle (Monty Python) persuaded Neil Innes (Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) to join him in a TV comedy series for BBC 2 called Rutland Weekend Television. The concept was satirical – a spoof low-budget TV station, (the smallest in Britain) that could only churn out ludicrously cheap “programmes”.
Idle would write sketches and Innes would put pictures to songs…
Innes suggested to Idle that they could do a send-up of A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles first movie. “It’s in Black and White, it’s speeded up, and we could wear wigs and tight trousers and run around a field somewhere…”
Idle agreed. “I’ve got a sketch about a man making a documentary who’s so boring, the camera runs away from him…”
And so the name “Rutles” was born. But no one could have foreseen what was around the corner. A year or so later, such was the enormous pressure on the Beatles to get back together again, the one-off Rutland Weekend clip was shown in the USA – as part of a “running gag” – on NBC’s hugely popular “Saturday Night Live”.
It was a sensation. Thousands of people wrote in. Mailbags were bulging – and so were the trousers. Everyone got the joke. Lorne Michaels, the producer, believed the entire Beatles story could now be re-told – as “The Rutles”. The people upstairs at NBC agreed and gave him the money.
Eric Idle quickly came up with the title: “All You Need Is Cash – the story of the Pre-Fab Four”. Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd soon got involved – as did George Harrison, who brought in Mick Jagger and Paul Simon.
The world’s first “Rockumentary” – or “Mockumentary” – was broadcast in the discontented summer of 1978. To this day it proudly holds the record for the lowest viewing figures – ever – on American Prime Time Television.
It all began 35 years ago when Eric Idle of Monty Python persuaded Neil Innes, of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, to join him in a comedy series for BBC 2 called Rutland Weekend Television – all about a spoof TV station, the smallest in Britain, churning out really cheap programmes on a shoestring. Low budget? More like No Budget!
Innes suggested to Idle that they could do a send-up of A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles first movie. “It’s in Black and White, it’s speeded up, and we could wear wigs and tight trousers and run around a field somewhere…” “Great!” Exclaimed Idle. “I’ve got a sketch about a man making a documentary who’s so boring, the camera runs away from him…”
And so the name “Rutles” was born. But no one could have expected what happened next. A year later, such was the enormous pressure on the Beatles to get back together again, the one-off clip was shown in the USA – on NBC’s flagship satire programme: “Saturday Night Live”.
It was a sensation. Thousands of people wrote in. Mailbags were bulging. So were the trousers! Everyone got the joke. Lorne Michaels, the producer, believed the whole Beatles story could now be told – as “The Rutles”. NBC agreed and gave him the money.
Eric Idle quickly came up with the title: “All You Need Is Cash – the story of the Pre-Fab Four”. Bill Murray, John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd got involved – so did George Harrison, who brought in Mick Jagger and Paul Simon.
“Last time was just the last time. This time it really is the last time.”
Innes recalls: “I can clearly remember it all. I was sitting to one side, on a window sill in an executive office, high up in the Rockefeller Centre in New York, listening to all this when suddenly everyone started looking at me. Lorne asked if I could write 20 more Rutles songs by next Thursday lunchtime. I said I would try!”
A second album, “Archaeology”, with Mickey Simmonds (Keyboards) and “Rutle” Ricky Fataar (Stig O Hara) on drums, was released in 1996 – to even greater acclaim. Planned to coincide with the Beatles “Anthology” – by public demand – new songs like “Questionnaire” and “Don’t Know Why” were more thoughtful and less of a parody – or as George Harrison sweetly put it – “all part of the soup”.
About 10 years ago, Neil, John and Mickey teamed up with Mark Griffiths on Bass and Ken Thornton on lead guitar, (Ken can almost replace the irreplaceable Ollie Halsall!) and played the Rutle songs live, on stage, in front of teabag throwing devotees, in village halls and at weddings, oh yes, and Glastonbury.
“It’s not a career move,” explains Innes, “but over the years we have become a “Brand” – and that makes some people very proprietorial.”
“Pro what?” demands the man who was Barry Wom.
“Proprietor. You know – Legal Owner?” says Nasty; the adjective.
“Oh. I’ll keep quiet then.”
“No, no – you can still hit the drums…”
© 2018 Rutles – Privacy Policy
