Bagels In The Morning, NewsRevue Lyric, 29 May 1993

This was a rewrite of one of my earliest comedy lyrics.

The original was generic, but the rewrite was intended for NewsRevue – in honour of Barbra Streisand’s much publicised affair with Andre Agassi, which Agassi at one time described as “like wearing hot lava”.

I don’t think this lyric was ever used in the show.

                                   BAGELS IN THE MORNING – VERSION TWO
(To the Tune of “Angel of the Morning”)
 
VERSE 1 – BARBARA STREISAND
 
You tell me I am your princess,
And Barbara Streisand’s all the rage;
You, Andre, fell for my caress,
Despite the fact I’m twice your age.
 
Our love affair is so audacious,
That when I wake up I’m voracious.
 
CHORUS 1 – BARBARA STREISAND
 
Go fetch me bagels in the morning,
Go fetch me lox with smooth cream cheese,
Go fetch me bagels in the morning,
I’ve conquered Andre Agassi.
 
VERSE 2 – ANDRE AGASSI AND BARBARA STREISAND
 
ANDRE:You were a less assertive catch,
When we met at the Open;
I courted you game set and match,
 
BARBARA:With fumbling and gropin’.
 
In your virility I trusted,
But you didn’t cut the mustard.
 
 
CHORUS 2 – ANDRE AGASSI
 
ANDRE:I’ll need some new balls in the morning,
I need to work on my forehand;
My only service ace this morning,
Is bringing bagels for Streisand.
 
BARBARA:Some with seeds and onions,

CHORUS 3 – BARBARA STREISAND {AND ANDRE AGASSI IN HARMONY}
 
Go fetch me bagels in the morning, {I’ll fetch her bagels in the morning}
Go fetch me lox with smooth cream cheese, {I’ll fetch her….}
Go fetch me bagels in the morning, {I’ll fetch her bagels in the morning}
 
ANDRE:This cow’s impossible to please.

I demonstrated a suitable tune on the 1991 version with PP Arnold’s rendition of Angel Of The Morning. Here is Juice Newton’s rendition of the same song:

Car Maker Burana, NewsRevue Lyric, 24 May 1993

I watched very little television in those days – I had no TV at the flat from the summer of 1990 until towards the end of that decade. I did see some TV at Janie’s place and at the gym, though – clearly the amount of advertising dedicated to selling cars made an impression on me.

This lyric did well in NewsRevue – I especially remember Jonathan Linsley liking it – perhaps for its lung-busting quality – perhaps for the out of context thought of chicken korma.

                                             CAR MAKER BURANA

(To the Tune of “O Fortuna” from “Carmina Burana”)

(OPTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT:And now we proudly present Car Maker Burana by Carl Ott)

INTRO

A fortuna, we’ll spend sooner,

Car makers advertising.

VERSE 1

Ford Mondeo, Renault Clio,

The advert’s saying sod all;

Vauxhall Corsa ads are coarser,

A topless supermodel.

VERSE 2

Fiat Strada, Skoda, Lada,

Don’t advertise on tele;

Ford Fiesta on the tester,

Unleaded is less smelly.

VERSE 3

Austin Metro, Audi Quatro,

Are advertised on posters;

Fiat Tippo, Ford Scorpio,

Both run like roller coasters.

VERSE 4

Swift Suzuki, Honda Pukey,

These rhymes have got remoter;

Nissan Dorma, Chicken Korma,

And that is all for now as we have got to motor.

Technically, the above lyric is version two which was published a couple of months later. The only line that seems to have changed between the two versions is line two of verse one, which started its life as:

The adverts are such twaddle;

A little note for the completists, there.

Postscript: 25+ years after writing Car Maker Burana, I have become more ensconced in the world of early music, both reading about it, playing it and playing about with it. I stumbled across the following essay by my early music teacher, Ian Pittaway, which made me realise that, far from being a modern parodist, I have long been a contrafactist in a tradition dating back hundreds of years.

One song to the tune of another: early music common practice, 800 years before Humph

Not only that, but the specific work I chose to parody…I mean, as my contrafactum…for the Car Maker lyric, is from a 12th/13th century goliardic tradition of just such contrafacta. Go figure.

Anyway, here is a video of O Fortuna from Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with translation on the screen…

…and here is Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic delivering the piece more recently:

While here is a third and slightly weirder version.

President Al, NewsRevue Lyric, 23 May 1993

I rather liked this lyric, but I don’t think it was ever used.

                                                              PRESIDENT AL

                                           (To the Tune of “You Can Call Me Al”)
 
VERSE 1 – CLINTONS
 
A man in Washington he says,
Why am I soft in the noddle now?
Why am I soft in the noddle when the rest of my team is so bright?
I need a photo opportunity,
I need a lot of attention,
Don’t want to end up a has been in a tax and spend fight.
 
Bill Clinton, Bill Clinton, ponders there all night,
Far away in the Oval Room,
Hilary Clinton, Hil Clinton has much more ability,
But for now the USA it just won’t boom.
 
CHORUS 1- CLINTONS
 
“If you are a feminist,
I can give you jobs” said Bill;
“Wife in charge of health care,
And medical appointments are now made with Hil”.
 
VERSE 2 – GORES
 
A man in Washington he says,
“Why am I short of attention?
Get so damned little media attention and my job’s such a bore.
Got my wife beside me,
We stand behind Clinton,
He needs a role model and we are clothes models”,
 
Gore, Gore, we should be in Hollywood unlike,
Bill’s roly poly little bat faced girl;
And the poor, poor, say we are all star struck,
Can’t decide if we’re decisive enough.
 
CHORUS 2 – GORES
 
I look like a bodyguard,
And Tipper is the Clinton’s pal;
And although I’m steady,
I’m ready if I’m called in as President Al,
White House Al.

This lyric works ever so well with the tune of You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon. Dig this vid:

Portillo, NewsRevue Lyric, 23 May 1993

Another lyric that went begging, as far as I can recall.


                                                                 PORTILLO

                                                   (To the Tune of “Tit Willow”)
 
VERSE 1
 
In the house at Westminster an abrasive git,
Known as Brillo Portillo Portillo;
Had his hands on the purse strings and talked heaps of shit,
That fellow Portillo Portillo.
Is it weakness of intellect in Michael’s ken,
Or a rather tough line from those Thatcherite men?
 
PORTILLO:It’s my mindless ambition to reach number ten.
 
But will-oh Portillo Portillo?
 
 
VERSE 2
 
He planned lots of cuts and he made Tories row,
That is still-oh Portillo Portillo;
 
PORTILLO:The young and the poor never vote anyhow,
 
Thus billowed Portillo Portillo.
He sounded like Thatcher, young Mike must’ve seen her,
But from his mouth the policies sounded obscener,
 
PORTILLO:If they can’t afford pills let the plebs drink Ribena.
 
That’s shrill-oh Portillo Portillo.
 
VERSE 3
 
Now I feel just as sure as I’m sure Gordon Brown,
Tried to grill-oh Portillo Portillo;
That his own over zeal will bring young Michael down,
Sounds brill-oh Portillo Portillo.
He would charge for the pill but we can’t understand,
Why he’d dish out free condoms with the other hand,
 
PORTILLO:My Mates shares have just gone up eighty-five grand.
 
Cheap thrill-oh Portillo Portillo.

The above lyric works well to the Tit Willow song from the Mikado:

Better The Leader You Know, NewsRevue Lyric, 16 May 1993

This is not one of my better lyrics and I’m pretty sure it never made the show.

                                           BETTER THE LEADER YOU KNOW

                                    (To the Tune of “Better The Devil You Know”)
 
WOGANESQUE VOICE:Good evening and welcome to the Eurotory leadership contest.  The UK jury is definitely out tonight as we go over now to hear this year’s losing entry by the UK Tory Party.
 
VERSE 1 – JOHN MAJOR
 
One thing about those Tory blues,
They rarely treat their leaders true;
When I do something not quite right,
They’re round with long knives in the night.
It is a chore to be PM,
But the job’s mine and not for them.
 
CHORUS 1 – STILL JOHN MAJOR
 
Better the leader you know than the leader you don’t,
Oh yes, oh yes,
I can buy a little time by sacking Lamont,
Oh yes oh yes;
Better the leader you know than the leader you don’t.
 
VERSE 2 – MAGGIE THATCHER
 
I tell him he’s a wally almost every day,
I’m out of my head or so the brain shrinks say;
He wont assert himself like the real Tory men,
He’s got the key to my place, meaning Number 10.
You know I’ve more spunk than those men,
We’ll junk John then I’ll run again.
 
CHORUS 2 – MAGGIE THATCHER
 
Better the leader you know than the leader you don’t,
Ah ha, ah ha,
I can cause a lot of fuss while these new Tories wont,
Ah ha, ah ha.
 
OUTRO
 
MAJOR:Don’t chose Portillo,
THATCHER:Or Hestletine;
BOTH:No peccadillos, that job is mine.
Better the leader,
Better the leader you know than the leader you don’t. 

The above lyrics work to the tune of Better The Devil You Know, which was the UK’s Eurovision entry in 1993. Decide for yourselves whether my lyric or the Eurovision song is more dreadful:

Domestic Fuel, NewsRevue Lyric, 12 May 1993

Warmwatergeiser.jpg via Wikimedia CC 1.o

I think this was one of the best lyrics I wrote for NewsRevue. It was almost certainly the quickest, in terms of creative process.

The idea for it – based on the government’s imposition of VAT on domestic fuel for the first time in the UK – popped into my head as a Circle Line train approached High Street Kensington. I grabbed a piece of paper from my attache case, boarded the train and started writing.

I was done by the time we arrived at Notting Hill Gate – perhaps 90 seconds later, I still have the piece of paper somewhere – I’ll scan it and add it once I go through that part of my physical archive.

There is also a story attached to my witnessing the song’s first ever performance – a couple of weeks or so later. Keith Wickham was directing the show and I was very keen to attend the opening night; 27 May 1993.

I was in Manchester on business and arranged to leave quite early on the Thursday afternoon to be sure to arrive back in London on time. But I hadn’t accounted for several junctions of the M6 motorway to be a blocked by an accident, which meant hours of traffic jams and diversions.

I remember clearly writing off the idea of going home first…then writing off the idea of eating a proper meal before the show and eventually even writing off the idea of getting a beer and a packet of crisps in before curtain up. I think I drove much too fast once I got past the hazard and was lucky to get to the Canal Cafe Theatre at 20:00 on the dot and in one piece, just in time for curtain up.

I’m pretty sure that the crowning glory of that dash was, for me, to see Domestic Fuel performed. Rosie Cavaliero delivered the “Old Biddy” role that night. She absolutely smashed it, with a stunningly good performance, enrapturing the audience.

Anyway, here’s the lyric:

DOMESTIC FUEL

(To the Tune of “Everything I Own”)

VERSE 1 – OLD BIDDY

Fuel sheltered me from harm,

Kept me warm, kept me warm;

Fuel gave my light to me,

‘lec-tric-ly, ‘lec-tric-ly;

But Tory ministers are cruel,

By taxing my domestic fuel.

CHORUS 1 – STILL WITH THE BIDDY

So I must give everything I own,

Give up my light, my hearth, my phone,

And cut my expenses to the bone;

Just to heat my flat again,

And to treat my sore chilblain.

VERSE 2 – A CRUEL TORY

This is someone who’s old,

Decrepit and bold,

Who is taking hand outs for granted;

We shall lose her one day,

Hypothermia, say,

Then there’s one less pension we must pay.

CHORUS 2 – STILL THE CRUEL TORY

(To audience)Cos we have taxed everything you earn,

(To Biddy)Now it’s the old must take their turn,

{BIDDY:  eh}

We’ll ignore health and age concern;

{BIDDY:  mustn’t grumble}

Just to balance books again,

Lower interest rates again,

Then we’ll tax her once again.

{BIDDY:I don’t want to be any trouble.}

Ben Murphy made a good recording of this one – you can listen below:

Not quite the power of the original performance – superbly done by Rosie Cavaliero – but that original performance is sadly lost in the mists of time.

If you want to know what Everything I Own sounds like when sung by Ken Booth, click here (where you can also read the lyrics) or watch the embedded vid below:

A Submission Sheet To Keith Wickham, NewsRevue, 11 May 1993

This is a useful note, in that it confirms that Keith Wickham went straight from cast to director at that time. It also helps confirm which of my extant batch of songs had not been used yet, to me, still felt current/useful.

If I recall correctly, Keith used plenty of mine, but probably not these ones.



LIST OF SONGS SUBMITTED AND TAPE TRACK LISTING


                                       KEITH WICKHAM MAY-JUNE 1993 RUN
 
Dear Keith
 
There seems little point in my submitting the material that is currently being used, as I believe that you and Dan are to continue in the show.  I am therefore just submitting material that has been cruelly overlooked before, some of which may match the skills of your new troop and which is not too long in the tooth.  I shall obviously submit new material as and when it comes to me.
 
Please do call me and let me know what sort of things you are short of/need and I shall try to oblige.
 
See you soon.
 

Song Title Original Title/Artist on Tape New/Nil
jimmy knapp jimmy mack/martha and the vandellas y
bosnia-herzegovina copacabana/barry manilow y
grunge clobber wearer guantanamera/pete seger y
zaire of the brat year of the cat/al stewart y
if i had a ….. if i had a hammer/trini lopez y
my genitalia my generation/who y
don’t leave me this space dont leave me this way/harold melvin & bluenotes y
heatwave heatwave/martha and the vandellas y
mushrooms under my skin i’ve got you under my skin/frank sinatra y
fair weather friend you’ve got a friend/carole king y

I Was Asil Nadir’s Girlfriend, NewsRevue Lyric, 9 May 1993

Asil Nadir was a Turkish Cypriot businessman whose conglomerate, Polly Peck, which owned Del Monte amongst many other well-known brands, got into a spot of difficulty around this time. Asil did a runner and remained a fugitive for a very long time. More recently he faced justice did time.

This lyric was not used as far as I can recall. It doesn’t have a great deal going for it, in truth.

I WAS ASIL NADIR'S GIRLFRIEND (To the Tune of "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman")


(The girls each stand on opposite sides of the stage. The henchmen stand in between them. Ideally, the girls have blond wigs and the henchmen have dark glasses and jackets.)


VERSE 1 – GIRL NUMBER ONE

Asil Nadir made knickers here,
I was Asil Nadir’s girlfriend;
Now that Nadir’s in Nicosia,
I suppose I’m his ex girlfriend.
Gave me fresh tights three times a night,
All with a Polly Peck label;
I was the only girl made him feel right,
Till Asil bolted the stable.

VERSE 2 – GIRL NUMBER TWO

Asil Nadir was so sincere,
He was the man from Del Monte;
His fruit I guess made me say yes,
Like in a film by Visconti.
Went mad a bit, banana split,
He ran away from his court case;
He was so faithful and he left about,
Five hundred new shirts at my place.

VERSE 3 – THE HENCHMEN
(While the henchmen are singing – one of the girls goes behind them and finds the other girl)

Asil Nadir, {GIRL ONE: Asil loves me}
Hassle and fear, {GIRL TWO: Asil loves me}
We are Asil Nadir’s henchmen; {BOTH GIRLS: Asil Nadir’s true love}
Each of his dames, {GIRL ONE: Asil loves me}
Believe his claims, {GIRL TWO: Asil loves me}
She is the one girl he’s wenching. {BOTH GIRLS: Asil Nadir’s true love}
Asil Nadir, {GIRL ONE: Asil loves me}
Made our career, {GIRL TWO: Asil loves me}
Keeping his skirt segregated; {BOTH GIRLS: Hey, who the hell are you?}
If we should let those birds catch Asil out,
{BOTH GIRLS: We’ll both make Asil sweat}
We’ll both be deconjugated.
If we should let those birds catch Asil out,
We’ll both be deconjugated.
(The henchmen, spotting the girls are now together, both point and yell:)
Oy.

The above lyric works well to the tune of I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman:

The One And Only Time My Parents Came To See NewsRevue, Canal Cafe Theatre, Guessing 6 May 1993

My parents only came to see NewsRevue once and it seems to have escaped my diary as an “event”.

In those days, I was regularly going on a Thursday evening as long as I didn’t have anything else on, so it could easily have been scheduled quite casually and I do not recall anything as event-like as having dinner with the folks before the show or anything like that.

Of course, we now (he says writing in 2019) know that NewsRevue is a Guiness World Record holding show which has been going for over 40 years:

…but I think to my folks, especially my mum, it was just some sophomoric thing I was doing as a vague hobby.

I remember dad liking the show.

I remember mum not liking it.

I remember the director, Michael Eriera, ever the professional, making a fuss over my parents for a while when they visited, which helped to make them feel special and was a nice touch.

The reason I think it was probably this particular Thursday (or the one after) is linked to my Michael Eriera-linked memory of that evening. I wasn’t around for all that many Thursdays of Michael’s runs.

I remember mum saying, I paraphrase only slightly:

I’d have thought you’d got all this sort of thing out of your system when you were at university, dear.

That was me told.

Still not totally out of my system – sorry mum.

A Letter To Michael Eriera Re NewsRevue, 5 May 1993

The lot of a NewsRevue writer – opinion polls don’t always help planning political comedy songs – especially when the polls move. Indeed the Liberals did pull off a surprise win in the Newbury by-election.

The Zany Tony Song is this one – here and below:

Beckett, Smith, Claire Short And Zany Tony Blair, NewsRevue Lyric, 23 April 1993

As for the Social Chapter opt out clause from the Maastricht treaty, it was something to do with labour laws and became obsolete even before the Brexity business…but in truth I’m none the wiser now…

                                                                 5 May 1993

 

Dear Michael

 

I have taken a look at the Zany Tony song and have concluded that you only need to change a couple of lines at the end for the song to work perfectly well in the event of a Liberal win.

 

Who needs alliance,

To gain triumphs?

The Liberals won it fair and square,

And the Labour chappie came nowhere,

We’re Beckett, Smith, Claire Short and zany Tony Blaire.

 

The Liberals seem to be doing so well that I suggest you swop in these lines for Thursday (and swop back to the original if the polls are wrong and the Tory limps home).

 

Consider also changing the spoken bit in the Maastricht song to cover the Social Chapter issue which seems to be so big this week.

 

MAJOR:This is a special bulletin.  Ma Stricht is the Tory Whip’s most considerably wanted treaty.  Oh yes.  If anyone can explain what the Social Chapter Opt Out clause means, please report immediately to Tory Central Office.

THATCHER:Don’t anybody move.  Hand over that treaty.

 

 

Please have a think about any new areas that you would like to me to cover over the next couple of weeks and we can chat about them on Thursday.  As you reckon that Keith is already warming up to take over, perhaps have a word with him about what he is looking for.  I am unlikely to get much chance to write again for a couple of weeks after the coming weekend.

 

See you tomorrow.