Neil Innes - Concrete Jungle Boy

[BrickLaneBetty]

KEN RUSSELL FOREVER!!!!

[steveasat2]

Nazi go-go usherette? A trope is born!

[azapro911]

Satirically sharp, suprisingly musically gifted, immensely talented and horrendously overlooked...I draw a lot of parallels between Neil Innes and Chris Morris some 20 years later.

[organaphus]

@azapro911 I strongly suspect Chris Morris took some of his style from the Bonzo song, "Shirt"...

[azapro911]

@organaphus I also think that Chris took a lot of inspiration for The Day Today and Brass Eye from the satirical sketches on RWT.

[seerauberjohnny]

Neil nails Townshend perfectly,just as as he did the Beatles!

[mshecket]

Who's the guy in the sun/moon/pinball near the end? With the white beard?

[seerauberjohnny]

@mshecket Dunno but clearly a piss take of Townshend's guru Meher Baba

[mshecket]

@seerauberjohnny Is there a Baba appearance in the Tommy movie?

[seerauberjohnny]

@mshecket I've never actually been able to sit through the entire torturous affair so I can't say if Baba appeared or not,although Tommy was certainly 'inspired' by the guru's life and teachings

[maettsook]

@mshecket

Looks to me like Oliver Reed, who played the evil step dad in 'Tommy'.

[mshecket]

@maettsook I don't think Oliver Reed was that old yet...this wasn't that long after the movie came out. Does look a bit like him, though.

[maettsook]

@mshecket

Yeah, I think you're right looking again.

[BrickLaneBetty]

@maettsook THAT IS KEN GOD RUSSELL!!!

[rollingstone80]

@mshecket

It´s Oliver Reed not meher baba, meher baba died in 69, much after that the movie of tommy or even this parody of niel innes

[BrickLaneBetty]

@rollingstone80 THAT IS KEN RUSSELL!!!!  KEN GOD RUSSELL!!!! ROAR IN PEACE KEN!!!

[anthonythirteen]

A great piss-take of a generation of musicians who although making some great music did get rather 'up themselves'. Ironically, the likes of Townsend & Waters grew up at the best time for young people - no World War (no draft in the UK either!), NHS that had Government support, greater social mobility than before or since, where a working class lad could go to Grammar School thence to one of the new universities, then complain how unfair society is. Pity they screwed it up for this generation.

[gothichyppie]

Ok, now I have to buy the 'Tommy' dvd!

[WILLIAMPATRICKHITLER]

apparently Melvyn Bragg rated it highly said it was the quintessential rock opera,bob harris wanted him on whistle test as well

[DerekBayRoberts1]

Are they spoofing The Who?

[benchleyparker]

Neil once said that the starting premise was that Pommie was struck deaf, dumb and blind by watching a Ken Russell movie . . .

[Kitsuneranger]

@benchleyparker are they trying to say the film adaptation of "Tommy" is crap?

I saw the film on TV and i thought it was Marvelous

and personaly, It's way better then the dark mess that was Pink Floyd's The Wall

[benchleyparker]

@Kitsuneranger My guess is not that they'd say the film was total crap - they were just satirizing Ken Russell's excesses: gratuitous macabre images, melodramatic tone, etc. Certainly "Tommy" is a lively interpretation of the LP and Russell has a lot of imagination, but no one could claim he's subtle! Anyway, Rutland Weekend Television was a comedy show, so naturally they made fun of things. Plus Neil's music, whether comic or poignant, original or parody, is always wonderfully creative.

[BlackMonk66]

@benchleyparker They were also satirizing The Who. The lyrics are a pretty funny parody of Townshend's. "If I were a sinner, I would confess, but I'm just a beginner. I couldn't care less."

[homemoviescolorado]

GEIL!!

[boffo1962]

I love this song-- and this video features some of Eric Idle's finest acting!

[agnY]

Hilarious >.< LOL

[Spoothead12]

0:53 Authur Sulton of The Rutles on the left?

[monkynmee57]

Who is the amazing AM impersonator at the end...does this bit keep going longer? More please! Thanks for posting! F'ing brilliant!!

[purplegrant]

It's Gwen Taylor, a staple of 70s/80s British TV comedy.

The sketch is done as a movie review so there's a synopsis at the start and some interviews at the end. I'd like someone to post the full version. It's even funnier with the set up.

[obakegadeso]

But I think he did more than mimic the elements, he adopted the style of various people associated with certain songs e.g. Sinatra(spontaneous) & actually wrote better songs than that person. Better in the sense of being contemporary with a humorous edge. But in my opinion these songs always leave you slightly confused & thinking you have heard them before. Is this Tommy, or something else? Where does the Nazi-ette with suspenders and a penchant for gore come into it? Whatever, it's compelling

[KRAZYCorps]

1:14

Chased by a Nazi chick, epic

[drunkenstooge]

There is a video with Idle and another video with Innes. Why are there two?

[stacksovids12]

Innes genius is he could recognise the relevant elements in a song or situation, mimick them to a point of virtually bettering them, but...and here is the real genius....still make them DIFFERENT, not plagarist.

[HonkyCat90]

Exactly. I was trying to putting in words, and then I read your comment and it was exactly what I was trying to say.

[apeman371]

the thing with neil innes is that he would songs that wre both funny and musically good which makes him awsome

[leela145]

@apeman371 I whole heartily agree, His City of the Angels song is fab!

[BigAlDavies]

Fantastic, saves having to watch Tommy again, and all in 3.27.

[pockypurse]

I just noticed that the letters on that mound of sand spell "tit". xD

[wailin1967]

Great song ! .....I'm gonna have to sort a cover version out !!

[tomthefunky]

Actually the joke is on Ken Russell. He directed Tommy .

[Thejbirdy]

The joke's on Roger Daltrey....hahahaha.

[cecilyalgernon]

Idle looks a bit, a lot, like Daltrey in that video doesnt he?

[Thejbirdy]

Cecilyagenon, indeed so. I think the whole video is a joke on Tommy and Ken Burns who directed that stink bomb. Even though Townshend deserved the Oscar he won for it, great soundtrack, lovely.

[bo0kw05m]

I didn't know it was possible to stab somebody with a video camera.....

[BrianDamage666]

Neil Innes is a genius

[tinkerdilll]

Pommie Rools!!!!

[MANTLEBERG]

does anyone know what make of cinema projector in the clip? i thought it was a fedi..what cinema?

[magickcatmojo]

oi Ivorykisses do you have the rest of this?

[cms12344]

where niel innes is singing the estate he is on is surrey lane in battersea as i live there and its so weired to see how it looked then to how it s now jus thought id share hahaha

[TomRaymondUK]

This is so well done, I thought it was amazing first time I saw it and I still feel the same way. Neil Innes looks a bit like Adam Buxton from the Adam and Joe Show as 'Ken Korda' in this sketch!

[Angelas1964]

Wow!Where is this from?This is Great

[graytart]

It is from Rutland Weekend Television (see "About this Video"); Eric Idle's tv series after Monty Python went off the air.

[mandykitson]

is this where Bay City Rollers got the idea then?

[Rawego]

looks like a takeoff on Tommy with Eric playing the blind deaf and dumb boy...

[ivorykisses]

That's because it is.

[notsh]

I got time to kill, and money to make I'm a concrete jungle boy I don't do for real what I can fake I'm a concrete jungle boy I looked at the world and I want my share But though I keep moving I'm going nowhere If I were a sinner, I would confess But I'm just a sinner, so I couldn't care less All that I am is standing right here between my legs and between my ears Concrete jungle boy 3x You're nobody's mother pride and joy

[notsh]

In my high rise shoes, I can walk tall I'm a concrete jungle boy I can write my name all over a wall I'm a concrete jungle boy The teacher's a fool so I don' go to school I just hang around playing it cool Snipping my fingers, looking for fun I'm a concrete jungle boy Wearing my shirt with my buttons undone I'm a concrete jungle boy The music is loud and I like it a lot I got what it takes, so I take what it's got Concrete jungle boy 3x You're nobody's mother pride and joy

[monkee426]

hehehe

[barkboingfloom]

Between Neil's singing style, his wig, and the nonsensical dramatic imaging this somehow reminds me of The Who's Tommy movie. :))

[ivorykisses]

It's supposed to, as it's a spoof of it :)

[novadrian]

@barkboingfloom HA HA Ha Ha!!! AS ivorykisses explains it's a PARODY of rock operas...The Who in particular.

Check out Neill Innes. He was such a clever guy.

[PalinFan]

This is great! I love Neil. Thanks for sharing!