Illustrated by various (International Music Publications Limited)
ISBN: 978-1-85909-439-6
I’m stretching my brief again here (and isn’t that a grisly image to conjure with?) to review this superb slice of comedy nostalgia that’s still readily available. Michael Flanders and Donald Swann were songwriters who made a big success of performing their own material on stage in a vibrant, satirical manner that captivated audiences both in the theatres but also on the increasingly important television variety circuit.
Their brand of gently jibing whimsy and mordant sarcasm delighted the folk of many nations, and songs such as ‘The Hippopotamus’ (you probably know it as “Mud, Mud, Glorious Mudâ€) or ‘The Reluctant Cannibal’ are still liable to break out whenever people of a certain age congregate near a piano. They were brilliantly funny on stage (the live albums At the Drop of a Hat and At the Drop of Another Hat are classic examples of comedy stand-up that still leave contemporary “improv†performers agog and breathless) and both of them died much too soon.
This book collects 41 of their funniest, most sarcastic, most touching and best songs, with both sheet music and separate lyrics augmented by cartoons and illustrations from some of Britain’s greatest humorous illustrators. H. M. Bateman, Hoffnung, Osbert Lancaster, David Low, Gerald Scarfe, Willy Fawkes (Trog), Edward Burra, Ionicus, Hewison, ffolkes, Ronald Searle and many others make this grand book a delight to look at as well read. If you ever needed a reason to dust off the old piano lessons…
© 1977, 1996 International Music Publications Limited. Illustrations © 1977 their respective copyright holders.