The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The Rutles
Clarks on Lindsay Street, May 28
Music and mirth are set to collide when one of rock’s most celebrated japesters arrives in Dundee.
Nicknamed the Pre-Fab Four, Beatles pastiche the Rutles started out in a TV show sketch penned by ex-Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band satirist Neil Innes and Monty Python’s Eric Idle in 1975, before starring alongside George Harrison in the mockumentary film All You Need Is Cash – also featuring cameos from John Belushi, Mick Jagger and Bill Murray – which spawned a top-20 soundtrack album in 1978.
John Lennon’s murder in 1980 put paid to the affectionate Beatles spoof until the mid-1990s.
Despite touring regularly there were no more releases until last year, with a further LP now imminent.
Neil, who wrote for comedy legends Monty Python, fronts a five-piece Rutles including John Halsey, drummer on Lou Reed’s classic Transformer album. “We’re not a tribute band and it’s got a history. It’s a real fun thing to do,” he says.
“We don’t want to dress up and pretend to be the Beatles. After 40 years it’s no longer about the trousers, it’s about the songs. It isn’t a career move, it’s about having good time.”
Essex-born Neil, 74, appeared with the Bonzos in Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967 and counted George Harrison as a close friend, with Paul McCartney producing his 1968 Ivor Novello-winning single I’m The Urban Spaceman.
“The Bonzos had an immediate rapport when we met the Beatles,” he recalls.
“Paul was our spy, he got us footage to put in our first film. He turned up nearly every day when we were filming.
“George went off and formed his own Rutles, the Wilburys and we put a song by them in our set.
“John was very pro-Rutles. He listened to the album and sent a long letter back saying it was great but that we might have a bit of trouble with one song, the publishers might chase us. So we left that one off.”
Rutles’ new album Singularity features ex-Pretenders and Simple Minds bassist Malcolm Foster.
Its title has three meanings — but Neil insists it’s not a concept piece.
“Singularity is the state of being singular, or eccentric, the theoretical mathematical centre of a black hole in space and also the doomsday scenario of artificial intelligence — when the machines take over,” he explains. “I thought that covered most bases but it’s just songs, really.”
Neil says he’s looking forward to visiting Dundee for the first time after a string of successful recent shows. “I’d say that Dundee is ready for fun. We can call it Fun-Dee!”