# Been listening to The Rutles... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785 "2012-01-26T23:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/1 "2012-01-26T23:26:39Z")
Is it just me, or was the whole thing actually a lot funnier back in 1978? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/2 "2012-01-26T23:36:03Z")
You had to be there. [sub]Ouch! Please don’t hurt me! [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/3 "2012-01-26T23:36:45Z")
I was there. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/4 "2012-01-27T00:00:39Z")
It’s not so much that it’s _funny_. To me, it’s the near-perfection of the song parodies that make them so awesome. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/5 "2012-01-27T00:03:46Z")
Narrator: Do you think they’ll ever get back together again? Mick Jagger: I hope not. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/6 "2012-01-27T00:16:12Z")
I believe that most people have misinterpreted The Rutles. They were not a parody of the Beatles; it was a parody of superficial documentaries about the Beatles. The songs themselves were not bad or funny. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/7 "2012-01-27T00:37:23Z")
Simply _listening_ to the Rutles will not give you a proper appreciation for the phenomenon. It was the _trousers._ ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/8 "2012-01-27T00:40:17Z")
I like Todd Rundgren’s Beatles parodies from “Deface the Music”. Here’s a bunch of them if you’re not familiar with the album: > **[rundgren deface the music - Bing](http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rundgren%2Bdeface%2Bthe%2Bmusic&qpvt=rundgren%2Bdeface%2Bthe%2Bmusic&FORM=VDRE)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. There’s a song for many of the Beatle’s periods. Try “Everybody Else is Wrong” if you only have time for one. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/9 "2012-01-27T02:22:27Z")
I completely forgot about “Deface the Music”! Another brilliant “style parody” that I used to love. Thanks for the reminder… ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/10 "2012-01-27T02:43:40Z")
“Cheese and Onions” is the best song John Lennon never recorded. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/11 "2012-01-27T02:55:47Z")
I miss Leggy Mountbatten. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/12 "2012-01-27T03:09:01Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > “Cheese and Onions” is the best song John Lennon never recorded. _Please, please, hold my hand. Hold my hand, yeah, yeah Hold my hand, yeah, yeah Hold my hand and I’ll see you home_ Right out of the Cavern, that one coulda been. (I know, it’s a different song than “Cheese and Onions,” but it’s the one I always remember from _All You Need Is Cash._) ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/13 "2012-01-27T07:23:04Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > “Cheese and Onions” is the best song John Lennon never recorded. Love that song! But I think it’s got some competition for “the best song John Lennon never recorded” from “Have you Heard the Word” by “The Fut” (Maurice Gibb, actually). https://www.youtube.com/embed/bj9Ns_mAyh8?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/14 "2012-01-27T08:26:50Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > “Cheese and Onions” is the best song John Lennon never recorded. I’ll see your “Cheese and Onions” and raise you [“Get Up and Go,”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dd_QXV41jQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player) the greatest song that McCartney never recorded. (I couldn’t find the album version, but this is a “rehearsal” take which sounds more raw and live and is probably closer to what it would have sounded like if they had actually played it on top of a building.) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/15 "2012-01-27T10:59:17Z")
I didn’t much care for portraying Yoko Ono as a Nazi and I like that even less now. I haven’t seen it in years but I think it was one of those “you had to be there” movies. I’ll stick with “This is Spinal Tap” and “A Mighty Wind” for parodies, ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/16 "2012-01-27T11:12:09Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > Love that song! But I think it’s got some competition for “the best song John Lennon never recorded” from “Have you Heard the Word” by “The Fut” (Maurice Gibb, actually). > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj9Ns\_mAyh8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj9Ns_mAyh8) RIP Maurice. Depending on what spurious internet news source you subscribe to, Robin is next on the chopping block. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/17 "2012-01-27T13:55:44Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > “Cheese and Onions” is the best song John Lennon never recorded. I prefer “[Piggy in the Middle](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1y9BIjTSVk).” Neil Innes (who wrote all the songs for the Rutles) is an underappreciated musical talent. The songs are perfect pastiches of Beatles songs, and can probably fool the unsuspecting into thinking they were real. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/18 "2012-01-27T14:26:55Z")
_Everything_ was funnier in '78. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/19 "2012-01-27T14:35:45Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > _Everything_ was funnier in '78. You might just be right about that. I’ve also been viewing old episodes of SNL. I remember laughing uproariously with my high school friends at the antics of Belushi, Radner, at.al. Very little in the typical original cast episode even makes me crack a smile now. The guest host monologues are particularly lame. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785/20 "2012-01-27T14:47:20Z")
I thought someone on this board shared that growing up, he had an older brother who constantly played the Rutles album and who had no idea they were a parody band of the Beatles. Such that, later down the road when he first heard Beatles music his impression was, “Who the hell are these guys, some Rutles wanna-be group?” He also said that he preferred some of their tracks over the Fab Four. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/been-listening-to-the-rutles/610785.md?page=2)