A Hard Day's Spoof

August 6, 2007 3:45 PM

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash may be the most elaborate parody of the Beatles ever constructed, including satirical tributes to the appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, Yellow Submarine, and the rooftop concert at Apple Records. Check out some other fine parodies who picked up where the Rutles left off: The Mosquitoes on Gilligan's Island, Chris and the Alphabeats on Sesame Street, Letter B and Hey Food by the Beetles, the Be Sharps on the Simpsons, A Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead by the Zombeatles, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore's L.S. Bumble Bee, the Powerpuff Girls Meet the Beat Alls (parts 1 and 2 with commentary by Mojo Jojo), Beatles spoofs in a Polish sitcom and a Bollywood musical, Beatallica sings A Garage Dayz Nite, the Chasers' I Am Thesaurus, and the Beatles go bar mitzvah.
posted by jonp72 (45 comments total)

I have always thought,
at the back of my mind,
cheese and onions.
posted by mds35 at 4:03 PM on August 6, 2007

Do I have to spell it out?
posted by mds35 at 4:04 PM on August 6, 2007

C-H-E-E-S-E-A-N-D-O-N-I-O-N-S, oh yeah.
posted by mds35 at 4:04 PM on August 6, 2007

Don't forget The Rutles' Piggy in the Middle.

I also recall seeing a sequel to "All You Need is Cash" which chronicled the impact of the Rutles, like how an entire generation experimented with tea and biscuits all because of The Rutles. Or maybe I dreamt it all up.

Either way, good post, though I wish "Meet the Beatalls" didn't have the commentary (though the commentary still manages to throw in some Beatles puns that get missed with Mojo talking over).
posted by champthom at 4:17 PM on August 6, 2007

Peter Sellers "A Hard Days Night". "Weird Al" Yankovic "Pac-Man". Sesame Street "With a little yelp from my friends". The Beatnix "Stairway to heaven".
posted by iviken at 4:20 PM on August 6, 2007

Lest we forget - Billy Bob the Bear plays "Free As a Bird." (If anyone can tell me what version he's playing with more lyrics and the bit of "Blackbird" mixed in, let me know.)

By the way, the best non-parody cover of the Beatles is Kansas bringing all the greatness of "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust In The Wind" to "Eleanor Rigby." It's on YouTube, but the sound quality is so bad I won't link to it & you'll just have to find the MP3.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 4:46 PM on August 6, 2007

The Beatnix play Stairway to Heaven.

Awesome post.
posted by LarryC at 4:50 PM on August 6, 2007

The Nick Jr. show Wonder Pets did an episode (as yet unaired) where the pets have to save a group of musical beetles.

How awesome is it that toddlers are going to be watching a parody of a band that broke up long before they were born--possibly before their parents were born?
posted by Jeanne at 4:52 PM on August 6, 2007

The Beatle Barkers. Warning: highly annoying.
posted by Tim McDonough at 4:59 PM on August 6, 2007

I am so taping that Wonder Pets. I hope the Backyardigans do a Beatle-themed one as well.
posted by Tim McDonough at 5:05 PM on August 6, 2007

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash may be the most elaborate parody of the Beatles ever constructed,

You mean including Oasis?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:09 PM on August 6, 2007 [3 favorites]

On Archaeology, The Rutles continue the parody. It's completely listenable even if you don't get the references.
posted by jet_silver at 5:24 PM on August 6, 2007

That's a really nicely put together post. Thanks. I searched around YouTube and its a shame that only the music is available. Magnificant though it is, I'd like to see more of Idle's commentary.
posted by MrMerlot at 5:51 PM on August 6, 2007

Huh, I just heard about the Rutles for the first time last week or so. Wasn't it mentioned somewhere on MeFi?

So, awesome post.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:52 PM on August 6, 2007

BTW, the sharp comment about the Beatles is unfair. Oasis are great because they borrow, or parody if you like, from two great UK bands: The Beatles and the Sex Pistols. They are the Sex Beatles and they used to be great at it.
posted by MrMerlot at 5:52 PM on August 6, 2007

Hah! The Mosquitoes! Bango (George Patterson) is now a therapist in the San Fernando Valley.
posted by retronic at 6:31 PM on August 6, 2007

Comment says that episode of Gilligan's Island" aired right after the very first airing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (12/9/65).
posted by wfc123 at 6:35 PM on August 6, 2007

Haven't watched this stuff in years. THANKS!
posted by McLir at 6:46 PM on August 6, 2007

Wasn't there some legal problem with the songs in the Rutles, resulting in the rights going to Northern Songs or Apple Records or something? I can't seem to find a cite at the moment, other than a brief mention in this interview with Innes.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 6:46 PM on August 6, 2007

What is Cheese and Onions supposed to be a parody of?

I mean, the song, not the video, which of course is in the style of the Yellow Submarine movie.
posted by Flunkie at 6:47 PM on August 6, 2007

Eric Idle in the Ed Sullivan bit as Paul - perfect facial behavior.
posted by Flunkie at 6:48 PM on August 6, 2007

Perhaps the only tribute band to get their own tribute band - I give you Ouch!
posted by meech at 6:55 PM on August 6, 2007

As has been said before, The Rutles is the best documentary about the Beatles yet made despite being a hilarious farce.

You know, I said Michael Caine was the most awesome man alive, but Eric Idle has to be close.
posted by maxwelton at 6:59 PM on August 6, 2007

What is Cheese and Onions supposed to be a parody of?

I always think of A Day in the Life and I am the Walrus when I hear it, but the genius of the Rutles is that they managed to parody the Beatles without a lot of really obviously direct rip-offs. They're like the parallel universe Beatles.

Oh and: Yay! Thanks, jonp72. Lots of goodies in this post.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:03 PM on August 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't know, the others in this post are really obviously direct rip-offs.

I'm not familiar with their work, so I'm just going by what I've seen here, though.
posted by Flunkie at 7:09 PM on August 6, 2007

Jonp72: Thanks to that I'm a thesaurus song, I just spilt my morning cuppa all over my screen. :-D

A nice set of links, thanks!
posted by the cydonian at 7:29 PM on August 6, 2007

Yeah, flunkie, maybe more like obviously simple ripoffs, since even most of the really obvious ones have a bunch of different Beatle song bits in them. Ouch is of course completely obvious, but it's also not one of the best Rutles songs.
posted by oneirodynia at 7:40 PM on August 6, 2007

Great post, this reminded me of the Wayouts on a Flintstones episode that originally aired in 1965. Alas, I couldn't find any video of them.
posted by marxchivist at 7:46 PM on August 6, 2007

for geeks. Thing is Rutles are incredibly talented fellows, ex members of the Bonzo Dog Band and that Ricky Fataar was a member of the phenomenal south African Power Pop Soul outfit the Flame, signed to the Beach Boys Brother label, and Badfinger/Big Star/ Raspberries sound a alikes, but as good or better. talent talent talent.
fun
good post
posted by celerystick at 8:20 PM on August 6, 2007

Yes! Thank you, Marxchivist; the Wayouts is the group I kept thinking about all day after reading this post. A video would be great. They had extending bodies as I recall? And expanded in time to the music? Or are all my childhood memories trippy flashbacks?
posted by mmahaffie at 8:24 PM on August 6, 2007

I had Ringo's song Living in Hope stuck in my head the other day and couldn't figure which Beatles album it was on. It finally dawned on me that it was a Rutles tune. Honestly, I think some of the Rutles' tunes were better than the Beatles songs they were based on.

Oh, and Ouch! isn't the only Rutles tribute band. There's also the Yellow Submorons. I'm sorry to say I missed them at Pierogifest in Whiting, Ind.
posted by stargell at 8:30 PM on August 6, 2007

The Rutles: A legend that would last a lunchtime.
posted by spock at 8:31 PM on August 6, 2007

Aha! No video, but there's an image of the Wayouts on this "fakebands" site. I knew I wasn't tripping when I was 5.

I can go to bed now.
posted by mmahaffie at 8:37 PM on August 6, 2007

I love this movie; it manages that rare feat of both skewering and paying loving homage to its subject. And so many great cameos - Lorne Michaels executive-produced, so you have a bevy of SNL folks (Belushi, Aykroyd, Radner, Murray) a tremendously stoned Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Paul Simon, George Harrison, etc..

IMDB reveals that Jeannete Charles, who played the Queen, has (not unexpectedly) crafted a 30 year career out of playing... the Queen.
posted by jalexei at 9:06 PM on August 6, 2007

Great post, this reminded me of the Wayouts on a Flintstones episode that originally aired in 1965.

Hmm, are you sure you're not thinking of The Four Insects?
posted by oncogenesis at 10:49 PM on August 6, 2007

Beatallica's best is And For Justice For All My Loving. The amateur video sucks^u=, but the performance and the lyrics are brilliant:

Close your eyes and I’ll kiss you.
The hammer crushes you.
Justice is seeking no truth.
And then while I’m away
I can’t believe the price you pay
As I send justice for all my loving to you.

posted by team lowkey at 11:06 PM on August 6, 2007

Let's not forget the Beasties with their hit "My Broken Heart Will Never Mend (Unless You Come Back With The Glue)" and then their more famous successors, the Way Outs with their self-titled single on The Flintstones...
posted by fairmettle at 11:42 PM on August 6, 2007

And nobody can forget the groundbreaking Sgt. Rutters.

Although I do miss dear Leggy.
posted by Sphinx at 11:44 PM on August 6, 2007

And don't forget the fabulous Black Beatles!
posted by kram175 at 12:15 AM on August 7, 2007

I love the Rutles. oneirodynia is right about the parallel-universe thing-- the Rutles wrote the songs the Beatles would have written if they hadn't written the songs they did write.

How awesome is it that toddlers are going to be watching a parody of a band that broke up long before they were born--possibly before their parents were born?

Your mother won't know, after all.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:46 AM on August 7, 2007

I'd like to have been at the Rutles' last concert, held at New York's Che Stadium. Which was named after the famous Cuban revolutionary, Che Stadium.
posted by gimonca at 5:54 AM on August 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

Ooh I have the original vinyl of The Rutles album, completely unscratched. Who wants to offer me vast amounts of money?
posted by h00py at 6:39 AM on August 7, 2007

Sad story.

On Sunday I found myself on Albert Dock in Liverpool, site of 'The Beatles Story' - Liverpool's tribute museum to the city's most famous (by a long way) sons.

A young couple (maybe 16/17 yrs old) were walking behind me and I overheard their conversation with some sadness.

Girl: 'So what were they called the Beatles? What were their names?'

Pause.

Boy: 'Well one of them was Ringo Starr 'cos he did Thomas the Tank Engine.'

Oh my.
posted by surfdad at 7:35 AM on August 7, 2007

In case nobody is aware of it, there's actually a Rutles tribute album out there, Rutles Highway Revisited, including tracks by Bongwater, King Missile, and Penn Gillette's old band...
posted by Aversion Therapy at 8:20 AM on August 7, 2007

I'm The Decider (Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo)

Yeah, most people have already seen it, but it deserves to be included in a Beatles spoof thread. :)
posted by amyms at 11:17 AM on August 8, 2007