The Best of Sellers - Revision history

Kurt: /* Side one */

2024-07-19T03:27:22Z

Side one

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:27, 18 July 2024
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	"The Trumpet Volunteer" consists of an interview between a reporter and a young [[Cockney]] pop star named Mr. Iron, a parody of [[Bermondsey]]-born [[teen idol]] [[Tommy Steele]].<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book \|last1=Mitchell \|first1=Gillian \|title=Adult Responses to Popular Music and Intergenerational Relations in Britain, C. 19551975 \|date=2019 \|publisher=Anthem Press \|isbn=9781783089017 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Adult_Responses_to_Popular_Music_and_Int/nB2KDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 June 2022 }}</ref> Iron is depicted as ill-informed and naive and discusses his new [[rock and roll]] version of [[Jeremiah Clarke]]'s ''[[Prince of Denmark's March\|Trumpet voluntary]]'' (incorrectly identified as a [[Henry Purcell\|Purcell]] work).<ref name="Mitchell"/><ref name="allmusic"/> Pop music spoofs became a hallmark of Sellers' records; his second album ''[[Songs for Swingin' Sellers]]'' features mock interviews that parody the [[Larry Parnes]] stable and [[Lonnie Donegan]], respectively.<ref name="Mitchell"/> In "Auntie Rotter", written by the comedian [[Bob Monkhouse]] with Ron Goodwin, Sellers plays a sadistic children's presenter who issues homicidal instructions for children in what [[Roger Lewis]] calls "a send-up of the patronising [[Enid Blyton]] way of talking to tiny tots".<ref name="lewis">{{cite book \|last1=Lewis \|first1=Roger \|title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers \|date=1995 \|publisher=Arrow \|isbn=9780099747000 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Life_and_Death_of_Peter_Sellers/biKazcH-dXoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="sillygrin">{{cite book \|last1=Carpenter \|first1=Humphrey \|title=A Great, Silly Grin: The British Satire Boom Of The 1960s \|date=2002 \|publisher=PublicAffairs \|isbn=9781586480813 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Great_Silly_Grin/UCdaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter%20sellers%20auntie%20rotter \|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref> With accompanying [[piano]] backing, Sellers' Auntie Rotter guides the listener in murdering their mother ("Out with your [[Robin Hood]] sword and plunge it into mummy's back with a one, two, three"), father and grandparents before the children are advised to bring "daddy's silly old cash and stocks and shares" to "Auntie Rotter's Home for Orphans, Balls Pond Road, London".<ref name="suburbs">{{cite book \|title=The Suburbs: New Literary Perspectives \|date=2022 \|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press \|isbn=9781683933038 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Suburbs/O5hREAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="sikov"/> The piece has been described as a parody of the [[BBC]] radio programme ''[[Listen with Mother]]''.<ref name="nevard"/><ref name="sillygrin"/>		"The Trumpet Volunteer" consists of an interview between a reporter and a young [[Cockney]] pop star named Mr. Iron, a parody of [[Bermondsey]]-born [[teen idol]] [[Tommy Steele]].<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book \|last1=Mitchell \|first1=Gillian \|title=Adult Responses to Popular Music and Intergenerational Relations in Britain, C. 19551975 \|date=2019 \|publisher=Anthem Press \|isbn=9781783089017 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Adult_Responses_to_Popular_Music_and_Int/nB2KDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 June 2022 }}</ref> Iron is depicted as ill-informed and naive and discusses his new [[rock and roll]] version of [[Jeremiah Clarke]]'s ''[[Prince of Denmark's March\|Trumpet voluntary]]'' (incorrectly identified as a [[Henry Purcell\|Purcell]] work).<ref name="Mitchell"/><ref name="allmusic"/> Pop music spoofs became a hallmark of Sellers' records; his second album ''[[Songs for Swingin' Sellers]]'' features mock interviews that parody the [[Larry Parnes]] stable and [[Lonnie Donegan]], respectively.<ref name="Mitchell"/> In "Auntie Rotter", written by the comedian [[Bob Monkhouse]] with Ron Goodwin, Sellers plays a sadistic children's presenter who issues homicidal instructions for children in what [[Roger Lewis]] calls "a send-up of the patronising [[Enid Blyton]] way of talking to tiny tots".<ref name="lewis">{{cite book \|last1=Lewis \|first1=Roger \|title=The Life and Death of Peter Sellers \|date=1995 \|publisher=Arrow \|isbn=9780099747000 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Life_and_Death_of_Peter_Sellers/biKazcH-dXoC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="sillygrin">{{cite book \|last1=Carpenter \|first1=Humphrey \|title=A Great, Silly Grin: The British Satire Boom Of The 1960s \|date=2002 \|publisher=PublicAffairs \|isbn=9781586480813 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Great_Silly_Grin/UCdaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=peter%20sellers%20auntie%20rotter \|access-date=3 July 2022}}</ref> With accompanying [[piano]] backing, Sellers' Auntie Rotter guides the listener in murdering their mother ("Out with your [[Robin Hood]] sword and plunge it into mummy's back with a one, two, three"), father and grandparents before the children are advised to bring "daddy's silly old cash and stocks and shares" to "Auntie Rotter's Home for Orphans, Balls Pond Road, London".<ref name="suburbs">{{cite book \|title=The Suburbs: New Literary Perspectives \|date=2022 \|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press \|isbn=9781683933038 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Suburbs/O5hREAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="sikov"/> The piece has been described as a parody of the [[BBC]] radio programme ''[[Listen with Mother]]''.<ref name="nevard"/><ref name="sillygrin"/>

	"[[All the Things You Are]]" is a version of the [[jazz standard]] composed by [[~~erome~~ Kern]] with lyrics written by [[Oscar Hammerstein II]] for the musical ''[[Very Warm for May]]'' (1939).<ref name=shof>[http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C67 "Jerome Kern"] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225184924/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C67 \|date=2016-12-25 }}. Songwriters Hall of Fame</ref><ref name="standards">{{cite book \|last1=Gioia \|first1=Ted \|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire \|date=2012 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|location=New York City \|isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 \|pages=15–17}}</ref> Sellers performs the song as the ''[[the Goon Show\|Goon Show]]'' character [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters#Willium "Mate" Cobblers\|Willium "Mate" Cobblers]] singing in his [[bathtub]].<ref name="booklet"/> "We Need the Money" parodies [[Aristocracy (class)\|artistocracy]], with Sellers portraying a British [[earl]] who demonstrates various money-making gimmicks to an American broadcaster, including a rock and roll record he has made ("They call me Earl [[King Creole\|Creole]], that's me!").<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="nevard"/>		"[[All the Things You Are]]" is a version of the [[jazz standard]] composed by [[Jerome Kern]] with lyrics written by [[Oscar Hammerstein II]] for the musical ''[[Very Warm for May]]'' (1939).<ref name=shof>[http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C67 "Jerome Kern"] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225184924/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibits/C67 \|date=2016-12-25 }}. Songwriters Hall of Fame</ref><ref name="standards">{{cite book \|last1=Gioia \|first1=Ted \|title=The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire \|date=2012 \|publisher=Oxford University Press \|location=New York City \|isbn=978-0-19-993739-4 \|pages=15–17}}</ref> Sellers performs the song as the ''[[the Goon Show\|Goon Show]]'' character [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters#Willium "Mate" Cobblers\|Willium "Mate" Cobblers]] singing in his [[bathtub]].<ref name="booklet"/> "We Need the Money" parodies [[Aristocracy (class)\|artistocracy]], with Sellers portraying a British [[earl]] who demonstrates various money-making gimmicks to an American broadcaster, including a rock and roll record he has made ("They call me Earl [[King Creole\|Creole]], that's me!").<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="nevard"/>

	===Side two===		===Side two===

Kurt at 01:18, 19 July 2024

2024-07-19T01:18:06Z

Show changes

Kurt: /* Background */

2024-07-19T01:05:39Z

Background

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:05, 18 July 2024
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	==Background==		==Background==
	Born in 1925 to a family of [[w:Variety show\|variety]] entertainers, [[Peter Sellers]] received attention as a member of the [[w:Entertainments National Service Association\|Entertainments National Service Association]] (ENSA) during the [[w:Second World War\|Second World War]].<ref name="sikov">{{cite book \|last1=Sikov \|first1=Ed \|title=Mr Strangelove A Biography of Peter Sellers \|date=2002 \|publisher=Pan Macmillan \|isbn=9781447207146 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Mr_Strangelove/PO-5-ttYn3UC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=31 May 2022 }}</ref> In 1948, he became a regular [[w:BBC]\|] [[w:radio comedy\|radio comedy]] performer, appearing with [[Ted Ray (comedian)\|Ted Ray]] in ''Ray's a Laugh'' and, from 1951, alongside [[Spike Milligan]], [[Harry Secombe]] and [[Michael Bentine]] in ''[[The Goon Show]]''.<ref name="sikov"/> Sellers found acclaim for his impersonations and [[w:Satire\|satirical humour]] and began appearing in film, sometimes in [[~~w:voice acting\|~~voice acting]] roles.<ref name="sikov"/>		Born in 1925 to a family of [[Variety show\|variety]] entertainers, [[Peter Sellers]] received attention as a member of the [[Entertainments National Service Association\|Entertainments National Service Association]] (ENSA) during the [[Second World War\|Second World War]].<ref name="sikov">{{cite book \|last1=Sikov \|first1=Ed \|title=Mr Strangelove A Biography of Peter Sellers \|date=2002 \|publisher=Pan Macmillan \|isbn=9781447207146 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Mr_Strangelove/PO-5-ttYn3UC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=31 May 2022 }}</ref> In 1948, he became a regular [[BBC]] [[radio comedy\|radio comedy]] performer, appearing with [[Ted Ray (comedian)\|Ted Ray]] in ''[[Ray's a Laugh]]'' and, from 1951, alongside [[Spike Milligan]], [[Harry Secombe]] and [[Michael Bentine]] in ''[[The Goon Show]]''.<ref name="sikov"/> Sellers found acclaim for his impersonations and [[Satire\|satirical humour]] and began appearing in film, sometimes in [[voice acting]] roles.<ref name="sikov"/>

	Sellers first appeared on record in 1953 when he lent his voice to Parlophone's ''Jakka and the Flying Saucers'', a [[w:science fiction\|science fiction]] play for children written by lyricist Ken Hare and composer [[~~w:Ron Goodwin\|~~Ron Goodwin]]. Though its producer [[George Martin]] ultimately considered the project a "complete disaster", he was impressed by Sellers' impersonations including [[w:Winston Churchill\|Winston Churchill]] as the [[w:voice of God\|voice of God]].<ref name="tunein"/> After Martin was appointed head of Parlophone, he recorded with Sellers again on a distorted Goons version of "[[w:Unchained Melody\|Unchained Melody]]".<ref>{{Cite news \|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2016/03/14/how-george-martin-changed-the-finances-of-the-record-business/ \|title=How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business \|last=Owsinski \|first=Bobby \|work=Forbes \|access-date=2 August 2018 \|date=25 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="bestofsellers">{{cite web \|title=George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers" \|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03m1syl \|website=BBC \|access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref> However, the cover was blocked from release by the song's [[w:music publishing\|publishers]], leading the Goons to leave Parlophone for [[w:Decca Records\|Decca]].<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="womack">{{cite book \|last1=Womack \|first1=Kenneth \|title=Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966 \|date=2017 \|publisher=Chicago Review Press \|isbn=9781613731925 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Maximum_Volume/Z6nGDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=2 June 2022 }}</ref>		Sellers first appeared on record in 1953 when he lent his voice to Parlophone's ''Jakka and the Flying Saucers'', a [[science fiction\|science fiction]] play for children written by lyricist Ken Hare and composer [[Ron Goodwin]]. Though its producer [[George Martin]] ultimately considered the project a "complete disaster", he was impressed by Sellers' impersonations including [[Winston Churchill\|Winston Churchill]] as the [[voice of God\|voice of God]].<ref name="tunein"/> After Martin was appointed head of Parlophone, he recorded with Sellers again on a distorted Goons version of "[[Unchained Melody\|Unchained Melody]]".<ref>{{Cite news \|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobbyowsinski/2016/03/14/how-george-martin-changed-the-finances-of-the-record-business/ \|title=How George Martin Changed The Finances Of The Record Business \|last=Owsinski \|first=Bobby \|work=Forbes \|access-date=2 August 2018 \|date=25 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="bestofsellers">{{cite web \|title=George Martin: "I arrogantly called it The Best of Sellers" \|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p03m1syl \|website=BBC \|access-date=25 May 2022}}</ref> However, the cover was blocked from release by the song's [[music publishing\|publishers]], leading the Goons to leave Parlophone for [[Decca Records\|Decca]].<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="womack">{{cite book \|last1=Womack \|first1=Kenneth \|title=Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Early Years, 1926–1966 \|date=2017 \|publisher=Chicago Review Press \|isbn=9781613731925 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Maximum_Volume/Z6nGDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=2 June 2022 }}</ref>

	Sellers was signed to Parlophone as a solo act in 1957, reuniting him with Martin after the success of the producer's first comedy LP, a live recording of [[Flanders and Swann]]'s [[w:musical theatre\|musical]] [[~~w:revue\|~~revue]] ''[[w:At the Drop of a Hat\|At the Drop of a Hat]]''. For Sellers' first single, the two created a version of the [[w:music hall\|music hall]] number "[[w:Any Old Iron (song)\|Any Old Iron]]" employing a [[~~w:skiffle\|~~skiffle]] arrangement and the voice of ''[[The Goon Show]]'' character [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters#Willium "Mate" Cobblers\|Willium "Mate" Cobblers]]. It reached number 17 on the [[w:UK Singles Chart\|UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="tunein"/><ref>{{cite web \|title=Peter Sellers \|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ \|website=www.officialcharts.com \|accessdate=25 May 2022 }}</ref> Recognising Sellers' capacity for "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI.<ref name="hepworth">{{cite book \|last1=Hepworth \|first1=David \|title=A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives \|date=2019 \|publisher=Bantam \|isbn=978-1-7841-6208-5 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Fabulous_Creation/WH1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86&printsec=frontcover \|access-date=25 May 2022 }}</ref> The managing director and EMI record division were reluctant, believing no-one would be interested in "a whole half-hour" of studio comedy.<ref name="womack"/> A compromise was reached between Martin and the management; the album would be made at a reduced production budget and issued as a 10-inch LP rather than a standard 12-inch.<ref name="womack"/>		Sellers was signed to Parlophone as a solo act in 1957, reuniting him with Martin after the success of the producer's first comedy LP, a live recording of [[Flanders and Swann]]'s [[musical theatre\|musical]] [[revue]] ''[[At the Drop of a Hat\|At the Drop of a Hat]]''. For Sellers' first single, the two created a version of the [[music hall\|music hall]] number "[[Any Old Iron (song)\|Any Old Iron]]" employing a [[skiffle]] arrangement and the voice of ''[[The Goon Show]]'' character [[List of The Goon Show cast members and characters#Willium "Mate" Cobblers\|Willium "Mate" Cobblers]]. It reached number 17 on the [[UK Singles Chart\|UK Singles Chart]].<ref name="tunein"/><ref>{{cite web \|title=Peter Sellers \|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ \|website=www.officialcharts.com \|accessdate=25 May 2022 }}</ref> Recognising Sellers' capacity for "a daydreaming form of humour which could be amusing and seductive without requiring the trigger of a live audience", Martin pitched a full album to EMI.<ref name="hepworth">{{cite book \|last1=Hepworth \|first1=David \|title=A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives \|date=2019 \|publisher=Bantam \|isbn=978-1-7841-6208-5 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Fabulous_Creation/WH1lDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=songs+for+swingin+sellers&pg=PT86&printsec=frontcover \|access-date=25 May 2022 }}</ref> The managing director and EMI record division were reluctant, believing no-one would be interested in "a whole half-hour" of studio comedy.<ref name="womack"/> A compromise was reached between Martin and the management; the album would be made at a reduced production budget and issued as a 10-inch LP rather than a standard 12-inch.<ref name="womack"/>

	The album was recorded in three sessions in October 1958, each lasting three hours.<ref name="tunein"/> Musical direction was provided by Ron Goodwin who, with George Martin, "placed Sellers' inventions in a soundscape which meant that you kept playing the record long after any belly laughs had exhausted themselves" according to [[w:David Hepworth\|David Hepworth]].<ref name="hepworth"/> The album was a breakthrough for Martin, who had been inspired by [[~~w:Stan Freberg\|~~Stan Freberg]]'s work for [[w:Capitol Records\|Capitol]]; according to [[~~w:Mark Lewisohn\|~~Mark Lewisohn]], ''The Best of Sellers'' was the first British comedy LP created in a recording studio.<ref name="tunein"/> Ahead of the album's release, Sellers told the ''[[w:Daily Herald (United Kingdom)\|Daily Herald]]'' "I've never had the time to do a record like this before. Now I've had a chance to put down all the odd little things that have amused me over the years".<ref name="nevard"/> He considered the album largely uncommercial.<ref name="nevard"/>		The album was recorded in three sessions in October 1958, each lasting three hours.<ref name="tunein"/> Musical direction was provided by Ron Goodwin who, with George Martin, "placed Sellers' inventions in a soundscape which meant that you kept playing the record long after any belly laughs had exhausted themselves" according to [[David Hepworth\|David Hepworth]].<ref name="hepworth"/> The album was a breakthrough for Martin, who had been inspired by [[Stan Freberg]]'s work for [[Capitol Records\|Capitol]]; according to [[Mark Lewisohn]], ''The Best of Sellers'' was the first British comedy LP created in a recording studio.<ref name="tunein"/> Ahead of the album's release, Sellers told the ''[[Daily Herald (United Kingdom)\|Daily Herald]]'' "I've never had the time to do a record like this before. Now I've had a chance to put down all the odd little things that have amused me over the years".<ref name="nevard"/> He considered the album largely uncommercial.<ref name="nevard"/>

	==Contents==		==Contents==

Kurt: /* Critical reception */

2022-12-22T17:34:07Z

Critical reception

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:34, 22 December 2022
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	==Critical reception==		==Critical reception==
	{{Album ratings		{{Album ratings
	\| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]		\| rev1 = [[w:AllMusic\|AllMusic]]
	\| rev1Score = {{Rating\|4.5\|5}}<ref name="allmusic"/>		\| rev1Score = {{Rating\|4.5\|5}}<ref name="allmusic"/>
	\| rev2 = ''[[Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''		\| rev2 = ''[[w:Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''
	\| rev2Score = {{Rating\|5\|5}}<ref name="discreview"/>		\| rev2Score = {{Rating\|5\|5}}<ref name="discreview"/>
	}}		}}
	''The Best of Sellers'' received critical acclaim upon release. Writing in ''[[Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]'', Ken Graham began his review "if you come across any typing errors in this review you'll have to forgive me as I have been rolling about the floor helpless with laughter". Graham described Sellers as "the end of entertainment" and praised his "first-rate parodies", commenting "the only pity is that [[Home video\|video-discs]] have not yet reached the market, and, therefore, we have to do without Mr. Sellers in person".<ref name="discreview"/> Mike Nevard of the ''[[Daily Herald (United Kingdom)\|Daily Herald]]'' praised Sellers' "vicious satire" and predicted that the record would be 1958's [[List of UK Albums Chart Christmas number ones\|Christmas number one album]].<ref name="nevard"/> Writing in the ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'', John Mitchell praised Sellers' "startlingly wide talents" and considered his impersonations "uncannily close to life", comparing them favourably against "the old, 'voice of 'em all' school, doing impressions of [[Charles Laughton]] and [[Gracie Fields]]".<ref name="mitchellreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Mitchell \|first1=John \|title=Peter Sellers turns on an L.P. \|journal=Leicester Mercury \|date=3 January 1959 \|page=10 \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/865171230/?terms=%22best%20of%20sellers%22 \|access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>		''The Best of Sellers'' received critical acclaim upon release. Writing in ''[[w:Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]'', Ken Graham began his review "if you come across any typing errors in this review you'll have to forgive me as I have been rolling about the floor helpless with laughter". Graham described Sellers as "the end of entertainment" and praised his "first-rate parodies", commenting "the only pity is that [[w:Home video\|video-discs]] have not yet reached the market, and, therefore, we have to do without Mr. Sellers in person".<ref name="discreview"/> Mike Nevard of the ''[[w:Daily Herald (United Kingdom)\|Daily Herald]]'' praised Sellers' "vicious satire" and predicted that the record would be 1958's [[w:List of UK Albums Chart Christmas number ones\|Christmas number one album]].<ref name="nevard"/> Writing in the ''[[w:Leicester Mercury\|Leicester Mercury]]'', John Mitchell praised Sellers' "startlingly wide talents" and considered his impersonations "uncannily close to life", comparing them favourably against "the old, 'voice of 'em all' school, doing impressions of [[w:Charles Laughton\|Charles Laughton]] and [[w:Gracie Fields\|Gracie Fields]]".<ref name="mitchellreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Mitchell \|first1=John \|title=Peter Sellers turns on an L.P. \|journal=Leicester Mercury \|date=3 January 1959 \|page=10 \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/865171230/?terms=%22best%20of%20sellers%22 \|access-date=4 November 2022}}</ref>

	In a retrospective review for [[AllMusic]], Richie Unterberger deemed Sellers' first album "probably his funniest" and praised "The Trumpet Volunteer" and "We Need the Money" as "two of the best rock & roll parodies ever made".<ref name="allmusic"/> Writing in ''[[The Beatles: All These Years\|The Beatles: All These Years: Volume One – Tune In]]'', [[Mark Lewisohn]] praised the album as "a five-star record", considering it "an early and robust example" of the productions George Martin referred to as 'sound pictures'.<ref name="tunein"/> In 2017, [[George Martin]] biographer [[Kenneth Womack]] wrote that album consists of "one sidesplitting comic confection after another".<ref name="womack"/>		In a retrospective review for [[w:AllMusic\|AllMusic]], Richie Unterberger deemed Sellers' first album "probably his funniest" and praised "The Trumpet Volunteer" and "We Need the Money" as "two of the best rock & roll parodies ever made".<ref name="allmusic"/> Writing in ''[[w:The Beatles: All These Years\|The Beatles: All These Years: Volume One – Tune In]]'', [[w:Mark Lewisohn\|Mark Lewisohn]] praised the album as "a five-star record", considering it "an early and robust example" of the productions George Martin referred to as 'sound pictures'.<ref name="tunein"/> In 2017, [[George Martin]] biographer [[w:Kenneth Womack\|Kenneth Womack]] wrote that album consists of "one sidesplitting comic confection after another".<ref name="womack"/>

	==Aftermath and legacy==		==Aftermath and legacy==

Kurt: /* Aftermath and legacy */

2022-12-22T17:31:38Z

Aftermath and legacy

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:31, 22 December 2022
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	==Aftermath and legacy==		==Aftermath and legacy==
	In the years following the album's release, "[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]" entered common usage as a phrase in the United Kingdom.<ref name="newpartridge">{{cite book \|last1=Victor \|first1=Terry \|last2=Dalzell \|first2=Tom \|title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English \|date=2015 \|publisher=Taylor & Francis \|isbn=9781317372523 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_New_Partridge_Dictionary_of_Slang_an/bbcBCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> It has been invoked in the [[House of Lords]]; by [[Susan Garden, Baroness Garden of Frognal\|Baroness Garden of Frognal]] in regards to tourism spending in 2011 and by [[Tony Greaves, Baron Greaves\|Baron Greaves]] in a [[Parliament of the United Kingdom\|parliamentary]] debate regarding [[High Speed 2\|HS2]] in 2020.<ref name="HS2">{{cite web \|title=HS2 \|url=https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2020-03-11/lords/lords-chamber/hs2 \|website=Parallel Parliament \|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> In 1979, [[Micky Dolenz]] of the [[Monkees]] directed a short film based on the sketch with [[Robbie Coltrane]] playing multiple roles. It was released for broadcast in 1981.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6f14cb15\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810120403/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6f14cb15\|url-status=dead\|archive-date=2012-08-10\|title=Balham: Gateway to the South (1979)\|work=BFI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=3764\|title=Balham - Gateway to the South\|date=6 May 2009\|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref> In 1990, the Triangle Action Group proposed the erection of a statue of Sellers in the centre of Balham due to the sketch's impact on its tourist trade. Upon hearing of this, the writers [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]] penned a letter published in the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', stating "for a trifling sum, we would be prepared to go along to the new shopping centre and stand there personally".<ref name="muir">{{cite book \|last1=Muir \|first1=Frank \|title=A Kentish Lad \|date=1997 \|publisher=Transworld \|isbn=9781448109104 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Kentish_Lad/y68fr7kEgtEC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref>		In the years following the album's release, "[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]" entered common usage as a phrase in the United Kingdom.<ref name="newpartridge">{{cite book \|last1=Victor \|first1=Terry \|last2=Dalzell \|first2=Tom \|title=The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English \|date=2015 \|publisher=Taylor & Francis \|isbn=9781317372523 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_New_Partridge_Dictionary_of_Slang_an/bbcBCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=1 July 2022}}</ref> It has been invoked in the [[w:House of Lords\|House of Lords]]; by [[w:Susan Garden, Baroness Garden of Frognal\|Baroness Garden of Frognal]] in regards to tourism spending in 2011 and by [[w:Tony Greaves, Baron Greaves\|Baron Greaves]] in a [[w:Parliament of the United Kingdom\|parliamentary]] debate regarding [[w:High Speed 2\|HS2]] in 2020.<ref name="HS2">{{cite web \|title=HS2 \|url=https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2020-03-11/lords/lords-chamber/hs2 \|website=Parallel Parliament \|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> In 1979, [[w:Micky Dolenz\|Micky Dolenz]] of the [[w:Monkees\|Monkees]] directed a short film based on the sketch with [[Robbie Coltrane]] playing multiple roles. It was released for broadcast in 1981.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?p=3764\|title=Balham - Gateway to the South\|date=6 May 2009\|access-date=9 June 2016}}</ref> In 1990, the Triangle Action Group proposed the erection of a statue of Sellers in the centre of Balham due to the sketch's impact on its tourist trade. Upon hearing of this, the writers [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]] penned a letter published in the ''[[w:Evening Standard\|Evening Standard]]'', stating "for a trifling sum, we would be prepared to go along to the new shopping centre and stand there personally".<ref name="muir">{{cite book \|last1=Muir \|first1=Frank \|title=A Kentish Lad \|date=1997 \|publisher=Transworld \|isbn=9781448109104 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_Kentish_Lad/y68fr7kEgtEC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref>

	In 2011, broadcaster and writer [[Danny Baker]] chose "I'm So Ashamed" as one of his [[Desert Island Discs]] on the BBC radio programme, describing its lyric as "an eternal truth in pop music".<ref name="baker">{{cite web \|title=Danny Baker \|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012wcl4 \|website=BBC \|access-date=8 July 2022 }}</ref>		In 2011, broadcaster and writer [[w:Danny Baker\|Danny Baker]] chose "I'm So Ashamed" as one of his [[w:Desert Island Discs\|Desert Island Discs]] on the BBC radio programme, describing its lyric as "an eternal truth in pop music".<ref name="baker">{{cite web \|title=Danny Baker \|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012wcl4 \|website=BBC \|access-date=8 July 2022 }}</ref>

	== Track listing ==		== Track listing ==

Kurt: /* Release */

2022-12-22T17:29:25Z

Release

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:29, 22 December 2022
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	==Release==		==Release==
	''The Best of Sellers'' was released as a 10-inch LP in December 1958.{{refn\|group=nb\|Martin went uncredited as producer on the album.<ref name="tunein"/>}} The album title, a [[tongue-in-cheek]] allusion to [[EMI]]'s scepticism, was devised by [[George Martin]]; it proved apt when the album became a number five hit on the [[UK Albums Chart]] in April 1959.<ref name="bestofsellers"/> The album later re-entered the chart, reaching a new peak at number three in September 1959.<ref name="womack"/><ref name="charts">{{cite web \|title=Peter Sellers \|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ \|website=www.officialcharts.com \|accessdate=28 June 2022 }}</ref> Sellers' follow-up, ''[[Songs for Swingin' Sellers]]'', was issued in December 1959; Martin considered the second album's commissioning "a kind of accolade, which recognised Parlophone as the label for humorous people".<ref name="womack"/>		''The Best of Sellers'' was released as a 10-inch LP in December 1958.{{refn\|group=nb\|Martin went uncredited as producer on the album.<ref name="tunein"/>}} The album title, a [[w:tongue-in-cheek\|tongue-in-cheek]] allusion to [[w:EMI\|EMI]]'s scepticism, was devised by [[George Martin]]; it proved apt when the album became a number five hit on the [[w:UK Albums Chart\|UK Albums Chart]] in April 1959.<ref name="bestofsellers"/> The album later re-entered the chart, reaching a new peak at number three in September 1959.<ref name="womack"/><ref name="charts">{{cite web \|title=Peter Sellers \|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4961/peter-sellers/ \|website=www.officialcharts.com \|accessdate=28 June 2022 }}</ref> Sellers' follow-up, ''[[Songs for Swingin' Sellers]]'', was issued in December 1959; Martin considered the second album's commissioning "a kind of accolade, which recognised Parlophone as the label for humorous people".<ref name="womack"/>

	The album followed the single release of "I'm So Ashamed" backed with "A Drop of the Hard Stuff", the [[Republic of Ireland\|Irish]] section from "Suddenly It's Folk Song".<ref name="womack"/><ref>{{cite magazine \|title=Pop Novelty \|magazine=Billboard \|date=9 March 1959 \|page=49 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ux4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=peter+sellers+a+drop+of+the+hard+stuff&pg=PA49 \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> Issued in November 1958, the single failed to chart.<ref name="charts"/>		The album followed the single release of "I'm So Ashamed" backed with "A Drop of the Hard Stuff", the [[w:Republic of Ireland\|Irish]] section from "Suddenly It's Folk Song".<ref name="womack"/><ref>{{cite magazine \|title=Pop Novelty \|magazine=Billboard \|date=9 March 1959 \|page=49 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ux4EAAAAMBAJ&dq=peter+sellers+a+drop+of+the+hard+stuff&pg=PA49 \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> Issued in November 1958, the single failed to chart.<ref name="charts"/>

	A 12-inch version of ''The Best of Sellers'' was issued on EMI's budget Starline label in 1973, with the cover stating "re-released by popular demand".<ref name="kaapse bibliotekaris">{{cite book \|title=Kaapse bibliotekaris - Volume 23 \|date=1979 \|publisher=Library Service \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Kaapse_bibliotekaris/ymToAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=best%20of%20sellers%20peter%20sellers%20starline\|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> It was issued on CD in 1993 as part of the ''Celebration of Sellers'' box set.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite journal \|last1=Unterberger \|first1=Richie \|title=The Best of Sellers \|journal=Allmusic \|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-sellers-mw0000969027?1656453945262 \|access-date=28 June 2022 }}</ref>		A 12-inch version of ''The Best of Sellers'' was issued on EMI's budget Starline label in 1973, with the cover stating "re-released by popular demand".<ref name="kaapse bibliotekaris">{{cite book \|title=Kaapse bibliotekaris - Volume 23 \|date=1979 \|publisher=Library Service \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Kaapse_bibliotekaris/ymToAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0&bsq=best%20of%20sellers%20peter%20sellers%20starline\|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref> It was issued on CD in 1993 as part of the ''Celebration of Sellers'' box set.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite journal \|last1=Unterberger \|first1=Richie \|title=The Best of Sellers \|journal=Allmusic \|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-sellers-mw0000969027?1656453945262 \|access-date=28 June 2022 }}</ref>

Kurt: /* Side two */

2022-12-22T17:27:57Z

Side two

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:27, 22 December 2022
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	===Side two===		===Side two===
	[[File:Balham tube stn roundel.JPG\|thumb\|170px\|~~left~~\|"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]" has entered common lexicon.<ref name="barfe">{{cite book \|last1=Barfe \|first1=Louis \|title=Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment \|date=2008 \|publisher=Atlantic Books \|isbn=9781848877573 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Turned_Out_Nice_Again/XHbFLkrXezMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=balham+gateway+south&pg=PT49&printsec=frontcover}}</ref>]]		[[File:Balham tube stn roundel.JPG\|thumb\|170px\|right\|"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]" has entered common lexicon.<ref name="barfe">{{cite book \|last1=Barfe \|first1=Louis \|title=Turned Out Nice Again: The Story of British Light Entertainment \|date=2008 \|publisher=Atlantic Books \|isbn=9781848877573 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Turned_Out_Nice_Again/XHbFLkrXezMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=balham+gateway+south&pg=PT49&printsec=frontcover}}</ref>]]
	"I'm So Ashamed" has Sellers in the guise of an eight-year-old singing an inane pop [[ballad]] expressing his shame because - despite all the gimmicks he's tried - he hasn't had a top twenty hit in three weeks.<ref name="tunein"/> Described by [[Mark Lewisohn]] as the best example of Sellers' satires of the music business, "I'm So Ashamed" "cruelly but hilariously takes apart the present-day "[[child prodigy]]" craze" according to Ken Graham of ''[[w:Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="discreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Graham \|first1=Ken \|title=Rock fans will roar with rage but Sellers has me helpless on the floor \|journal=Disc \|date=31 January 1959 \|page=15 \|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1959/DISC-1959-01-31.pdf \|access-date=28 June 2022}}</ref> Graham wrote that rock enthuasists would be "up in arms" after hearing the piece.<ref name="discreview"/> In an interview ahead of its release, Sellers considered "I'm So Ashamed" the album's only "really commercial track".<ref name="nevard"/> "Party Political Speech" caricatures what biographer Andrew Norman calls "the typical politician, who is fond of the sound of his own voice, but whose utterances are, in fact, utterly vacuous".<ref name="norman">{{cite book \|last1=Norman \|first1=Andrew \|title=The Real Peter Sellers \|date=2021 \|publisher=Pen and Sword \|isbn=9781526786869 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Real_Peter_Sellers/JvNUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref> Sellers' politician speaks fluently and continuously without ever making a point.<ref name="speeches">{{cite book \|last1=Collins \|first1=Philip \|title=The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You Say \|date=2012 \|publisher=Wiley \|isbn=9780470711958 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Art_of_Speeches_and_Presentations/IyNxjNunIiUC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref> The sketch cuts out after the character finally says "in conclusion, let me say just this".<ref name="norman"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Richie Unterberger deemed "Party Political Speech" the best of the album's non-musical sketches, characterising it as "a typically stuffy and meaningless British harangue".<ref name="allmusic"/> In a 1962 lecture at [[Cambridge University]], [[Leonard Wilson Forster]] likened the sketch to the [[nonsense verse]] of German poet [[Christian Morgenstern]].<ref name="forster">{{cite book \|last1=Forster \|first1=Leonard \|title=Poetry of Significant Nonsense: An Inaugural Lecture [delivered in Cambridge on 9 May 1962] \|date=1962 \|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh07AAAAIAAJ&q=Peter+sellers+party+political \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref>		"I'm So Ashamed" has Sellers in the guise of an eight-year-old singing an inane pop [[w:ballad\|ballad]] expressing his shame because - despite all the gimmicks he's tried – he hasn't had a top twenty hit in three weeks.<ref name="tunein"/> Described by [[w:Mark Lewisohn\|Mark Lewisohn]] as the best example of Sellers' satires of the music business, "I'm So Ashamed" "cruelly but hilariously takes apart the present-day "[[w:child prodigy\|child prodigy]]" craze" according to Ken Graham of ''[[w:Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="discreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Graham \|first1=Ken \|title=Rock fans will roar with rage but Sellers has me helpless on the floor \|journal=Disc \|date=31 January 1959 \|page=15 \|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1959/DISC-1959-01-31.pdf \|access-date=28 June 2022}}</ref> Graham wrote that rock enthuasists would be "up in arms" after hearing the piece.<ref name="discreview"/> In an interview ahead of its release, Sellers considered "I'm So Ashamed" the album's only "really commercial track".<ref name="nevard"/> "Party Political Speech" caricatures what biographer Andrew Norman calls "the typical politician, who is fond of the sound of his own voice, but whose utterances are, in fact, utterly vacuous".<ref name="norman">{{cite book \|last1=Norman \|first1=Andrew \|title=The Real Peter Sellers \|date=2021 \|publisher=Pen and Sword \|isbn=9781526786869 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Real_Peter_Sellers/JvNUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref> Sellers' politician speaks fluently and continuously without ever making a point.<ref name="speeches">{{cite book \|last1=Collins \|first1=Philip \|title=The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You Say \|date=2012 \|publisher=Wiley \|isbn=9780470711958 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Art_of_Speeches_and_Presentations/IyNxjNunIiUC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref> The sketch cuts out after the character finally says "in conclusion, let me say just this".<ref name="norman"/> [[w:AllMusic\|AllMusic]]'s Richie Unterberger deemed "Party Political Speech" the best of the album's non-musical sketches, characterising it as "a typically stuffy and meaningless British harangue".<ref name="allmusic"/> In a 1962 lecture at [[w:Cambridge University\|Cambridge University]], [[w:Leonard Wilson Forster\|Leonard Wilson Forster]] likened the sketch to the [[w:nonsense verse\|nonsense verse]] of German poet [[w:Christian Morgenstern\|Christian Morgenstern]].<ref name="forster">{{cite book \|last1=Forster \|first1=Leonard \|title=Poetry of Significant Nonsense: An Inaugural Lecture [delivered in Cambridge on 9 May 1962] \|date=1962 \|publisher=[[w:Cambridge University Press\|Cambridge University Press]] \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh07AAAAIAAJ&q=Peter+sellers+party+political \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref>

	"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]", written by the comedy team [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]], lampoons cinema [[travelogue (films)\|travelogues]] by presenting the suburban [[w:South London\|South London]] area [[w:Balham\|Balham]] as an exotic locale.<ref name="suburbs"/>{{refn\|group=nb\|The title likely alludes to the 1928 [[w:Southern Railway (UK)\|Southern Railway]] poster "Gateway to the Continent" by T D Kerr.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.southernposters.co.uk/Continental/gateway-southern.html\|title=Gateway - Southern Posters\|work=southernposters.co.uk}}</ref>}} Sellers' enthuastic [[w:Midwestern United States\|Midwestern American]]-accented narrator persistently renders the area's name as "Bal-Ham". Sellers first performed "Balham - Gateway to the South" in a 1949 edition of the [[w:BBC Third Programme\|BBC Third Programme]] [[w:radio comedy\|radio comedy]] series ''Third Division''<ref name="barfe"/> and the sketch was "quickly a national favourite" after its inclusion on ''The Best of Sellers'', according to [[Mark Lewisohn]].<ref name="tunein"/> "Suddenly It's Folk Song" parodies [[folk music]] of the [[British Isles]], with three purported [[field recording]]s of [[w:English folk music\|English]], [[w:Scottish folk music\|Scottish]] and [[w:Irish folk music\|Irish folk music]].<ref name="allmusic"/> The first of these is a bawdy singalong in an English [[w:West country\|West country]] pub, the second an example of "the Scottish mouth music" performed on a busy street in [[w:Glasgow\|Glasgow]].<ref name="booklet"/> The third recording is of a performance in a pub by an [[w:Irish showband\|Irish showband]] that descends into a brawl.<ref name="booklet"/> To achieve an appropriate sound effect for this section, Sellers kicked a chair across the studio. The chair hit Martin in the shins and the resulting cry of pain can be heard on the track.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="abbeyroad">{{cite book \|last1=Lawrence \|first1=Alistair \|title=Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World \|date=2012 \|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing \|isbn=9781408884225 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Abbey_Road/lf6FDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>		"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]", written by the comedy team [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]], lampoons cinema [[w:travelogue (films)\|travelogues]] by presenting the suburban [[w:South London\|South London]] area [[w:Balham\|Balham]] as an exotic locale.<ref name="suburbs"/>{{refn\|group=nb\|The title likely alludes to the 1928 [[w:Southern Railway (UK)\|Southern Railway]] poster "Gateway to the Continent" by T D Kerr.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.southernposters.co.uk/Continental/gateway-southern.html\|title=Gateway - Southern Posters\|work=southernposters.co.uk}}</ref>}} Sellers' enthuastic [[w:Midwestern United States\|Midwestern American]]-accented narrator persistently renders the area's name as "Bal-Ham". Sellers first performed "Balham - Gateway to the South" in a 1949 edition of the [[w:BBC Third Programme\|BBC Third Programme]] [[w:radio comedy\|radio comedy]] series ''Third Division''<ref name="barfe"/> and the sketch was "quickly a national favourite" after its inclusion on ''The Best of Sellers'', according to [[w:Mark Lewisohn\|Mark Lewisohn]].<ref name="tunein"/> "Suddenly It's Folk Song" parodies [[w:folk music\|folk music]] of the [[w:British Isles\|British Isles]], with three purported [[w:field recording\|field recording]]s of [[w:English folk music\|English]], [[w:Scottish folk music\|Scottish]] and [[w:Irish folk music\|Irish folk music]].<ref name="allmusic"/> The first of these is a bawdy singalong in an English [[w:West country\|West country]] pub, the second an example of "the Scottish mouth music" performed on a busy street in [[w:Glasgow\|Glasgow]].<ref name="booklet"/> The third recording is of a performance in a pub by an [[w:Irish showband\|Irish showband]] that descends into a brawl.<ref name="booklet"/> To achieve an appropriate sound effect for this section, Sellers kicked a chair across the studio. The chair hit Martin in the shins and the resulting cry of pain can be heard on the track.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="abbeyroad">{{cite book \|last1=Lawrence \|first1=Alistair \|title=Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World \|date=2012 \|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing \|isbn=9781408884225 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Abbey_Road/lf6FDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>

	==Release==		==Release==

Kurt at 03:54, 7 November 2022

2022-11-07T03:54:17Z

Show changes

Kurt: /* Side two */

2022-11-07T00:43:56Z

Side two

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:43, 6 November 2022
Line 40:		Line 40:
	"I'm So Ashamed" has Sellers in the guise of an eight-year-old singing an inane pop [[ballad]] expressing his shame because - despite all the gimmicks he's tried - he hasn't had a top twenty hit in three weeks.<ref name="tunein"/> Described by [[Mark Lewisohn]] as the best example of Sellers' satires of the music business, "I'm So Ashamed" "cruelly but hilariously takes apart the present-day "[[child prodigy]]" craze" according to Ken Graham of ''[[Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="discreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Graham \|first1=Ken \|title=Rock fans will roar with rage but Sellers has me helpless on the floor \|journal=Disc \|date=31 January 1959 \|page=15 \|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1959/DISC-1959-01-31.pdf \|access-date=28 June 2022}}</ref> Graham wrote that rock enthuasists would be "up in arms" after hearing the piece.<ref name="discreview"/> In an interview ahead of its release, Sellers considered "I'm So Ashamed" the album's only "really commercial track".<ref name="nevard"/> "Party Political Speech" caricatures what biographer Andrew Norman calls "the typical politician, who is fond of the sound of his own voice, but whose utterances are, in fact, utterly vacuous".<ref name="norman">{{cite book \|last1=Norman \|first1=Andrew \|title=The Real Peter Sellers \|date=2021 \|publisher=Pen and Sword \|isbn=9781526786869 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Real_Peter_Sellers/JvNUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref> Sellers' politician speaks fluently and continuously without ever making a point.<ref name="speeches">{{cite book \|last1=Collins \|first1=Philip \|title=The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You Say \|date=2012 \|publisher=Wiley \|isbn=9780470711958 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Art_of_Speeches_and_Presentations/IyNxjNunIiUC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref> The sketch cuts out after the character finally says "in conclusion, let me say just this".<ref name="norman"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Richie Unterberger deemed "Party Political Speech" the best of the album's non-musical sketches, characterising it as "a typically stuffy and meaningless British harangue".<ref name="allmusic"/> In a 1962 lecture at [[Cambridge University]], [[Leonard Wilson Forster]] likened the sketch to the [[nonsense verse]] of German poet [[Christian Morgenstern]].<ref name="forster">{{cite book \|last1=Forster \|first1=Leonard \|title=Poetry of Significant Nonsense: An Inaugural Lecture [delivered in Cambridge on 9 May 1962] \|date=1962 \|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh07AAAAIAAJ&q=Peter+sellers+party+political \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref>		"I'm So Ashamed" has Sellers in the guise of an eight-year-old singing an inane pop [[ballad]] expressing his shame because - despite all the gimmicks he's tried - he hasn't had a top twenty hit in three weeks.<ref name="tunein"/> Described by [[Mark Lewisohn]] as the best example of Sellers' satires of the music business, "I'm So Ashamed" "cruelly but hilariously takes apart the present-day "[[child prodigy]]" craze" according to Ken Graham of ''[[Disc (magazine)\|Disc]]''.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="discreview">{{cite journal \|last1=Graham \|first1=Ken \|title=Rock fans will roar with rage but Sellers has me helpless on the floor \|journal=Disc \|date=31 January 1959 \|page=15 \|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1959/DISC-1959-01-31.pdf \|access-date=28 June 2022}}</ref> Graham wrote that rock enthuasists would be "up in arms" after hearing the piece.<ref name="discreview"/> In an interview ahead of its release, Sellers considered "I'm So Ashamed" the album's only "really commercial track".<ref name="nevard"/> "Party Political Speech" caricatures what biographer Andrew Norman calls "the typical politician, who is fond of the sound of his own voice, but whose utterances are, in fact, utterly vacuous".<ref name="norman">{{cite book \|last1=Norman \|first1=Andrew \|title=The Real Peter Sellers \|date=2021 \|publisher=Pen and Sword \|isbn=9781526786869 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Real_Peter_Sellers/JvNUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=29 May 2022}}</ref> Sellers' politician speaks fluently and continuously without ever making a point.<ref name="speeches">{{cite book \|last1=Collins \|first1=Philip \|title=The Art of Speeches and Presentations: The Secrets of Making People Remember What You Say \|date=2012 \|publisher=Wiley \|isbn=9780470711958 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Art_of_Speeches_and_Presentations/IyNxjNunIiUC?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref> The sketch cuts out after the character finally says "in conclusion, let me say just this".<ref name="norman"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Richie Unterberger deemed "Party Political Speech" the best of the album's non-musical sketches, characterising it as "a typically stuffy and meaningless British harangue".<ref name="allmusic"/> In a 1962 lecture at [[Cambridge University]], [[Leonard Wilson Forster]] likened the sketch to the [[nonsense verse]] of German poet [[Christian Morgenstern]].<ref name="forster">{{cite book \|last1=Forster \|first1=Leonard \|title=Poetry of Significant Nonsense: An Inaugural Lecture [delivered in Cambridge on 9 May 1962] \|date=1962 \|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kh07AAAAIAAJ&q=Peter+sellers+party+political \|access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref>

	"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]", written by the comedy team [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]], lampoons cinema [[travelogue (films)\|travelogues]] by presenting the suburban [[South London]] area [[Balham]] as an exotic locale.<ref name="suburbs"/>{{refn\|group=nb\|The title likely alludes to the 1928 [[Southern Railway (UK)\|Southern Railway]] poster "Gateway to the Continent" by T D Kerr.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.southernposters.co.uk/Continental/gateway-southern.html\|title=Gateway - Southern Posters\|work=southernposters.co.uk}}</ref>}} Sellers' enthuastic [[Midwestern United States\|Midwestern American]]-accented narrator persistently renders the area's name as "Bal-Ham". Sellers first performed "Balham - Gateway to the South" in a 1949 edition of the [[BBC Third Programme]] [[radio comedy]] series ''Third Division''<ref name="barfe"/> and the sketch was "quickly a national favourite" after its inclusion on ''The Best of Sellers'', according to [[Mark Lewisohn]].<ref name="tunein"/> "Suddenly It's Folk Song" parodies [[folk music]] of the [[British Isles]], with three purported [[field recording]]s of [[English folk music\|English]], [[Scottish folk music\|Scottish]] and [[Irish folk music]].<ref name="allmusic"/> The first of these is a bawdy singalong in an English [[West country]] pub, the second an example of "the Scottish mouth music" performed on a busy street in [[Glasgow]].<ref name="booklet"/> The third recording is of a performance in a pub by an [[Irish showband]] that descends into a brawl.<ref name="booklet"/> To achieve an appropriate sound effect for this section, Sellers kicked a chair across the studio. The chair hit Martin in the shins and the resulting cry of pain can be heard on the track.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="abbeyroad">{{cite book \|last1=Lawrence \|first1=Alistair \|title=Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World \|date=2012 \|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing \|isbn=9781408884225 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Abbey_Road/lf6FDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>		"[[Balham - Gateway to the South]]", written by the comedy team [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]], lampoons cinema [[travelogue (films)\|travelogues]] by presenting the suburban [[w:South London\|South London]] area [[w:Balham\|Balham]] as an exotic locale.<ref name="suburbs"/>{{refn\|group=nb\|The title likely alludes to the 1928 [[w:Southern Railway (UK)\|Southern Railway]] poster "Gateway to the Continent" by T D Kerr.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.southernposters.co.uk/Continental/gateway-southern.html\|title=Gateway - Southern Posters\|work=southernposters.co.uk}}</ref>}} Sellers' enthuastic [[w:Midwestern United States\|Midwestern American]]-accented narrator persistently renders the area's name as "Bal-Ham". Sellers first performed "Balham - Gateway to the South" in a 1949 edition of the [[w:BBC Third Programme\|BBC Third Programme]] [[w:radio comedy\|radio comedy]] series ''Third Division''<ref name="barfe"/> and the sketch was "quickly a national favourite" after its inclusion on ''The Best of Sellers'', according to [[Mark Lewisohn]].<ref name="tunein"/> "Suddenly It's Folk Song" parodies [[folk music]] of the [[British Isles]], with three purported [[field recording]]s of [[w:English folk music\|English]], [[w:Scottish folk music\|Scottish]] and [[w:Irish folk music\|Irish folk music]].<ref name="allmusic"/> The first of these is a bawdy singalong in an English [[w:West country\|West country]] pub, the second an example of "the Scottish mouth music" performed on a busy street in [[w:Glasgow\|Glasgow]].<ref name="booklet"/> The third recording is of a performance in a pub by an [[w:Irish showband\|Irish showband]] that descends into a brawl.<ref name="booklet"/> To achieve an appropriate sound effect for this section, Sellers kicked a chair across the studio. The chair hit Martin in the shins and the resulting cry of pain can be heard on the track.<ref name="tunein"/><ref name="abbeyroad">{{cite book \|last1=Lawrence \|first1=Alistair \|title=Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World \|date=2012 \|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing \|isbn=9781408884225 \|url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Abbey_Road/lf6FDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 \|access-date=7 July 2022}}</ref>

	==Release==		==Release==

Kurt: /* Track listing */

2022-11-07T00:40:46Z

Track listing

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:40, 6 November 2022
Line 73:		Line 73:
	\| length1 = 7:29		\| length1 = 7:29
	\| title2 = Auntie Rotter		\| title2 = Auntie Rotter
	\| writer2 = [[Bob Monkhouse]], [[Ron Goodwin]]		\| writer2 = [[Bob Monkhouse]], [[w:Ron Goodwin\|Ron Goodwin]]
	\| length2 = 3:09		\| length2 = 3:09
	\| title3 = [[All the Things You Are]]		\| title3 = [[w:All the Things You Are\|All the Things You Are]]
	\| writer3 = [[Jerome Kern]], [[Oscar Hammerstein II]]		\| writer3 = [[w:Jerome Kern\|Jerome Kern]], [[w:Oscar Hammerstein II\|Oscar Hammerstein II]]
	\| length3 = 2:13		\| length3 = 2:13
	\| title4 = We Need the Money		\| title4 = We Need the Money
Line 98:		Line 98:
	\| length4 = 5:21		\| length4 = 5:21
	}}		}}

	==Notes==		==Notes==
	{{reflist\|group=nb}}		{{reflist\|group=nb}}