Oh, thank you. Don't know why I couldn't find it.

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the Gasman Cometh, but Flanders and Swann. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOA_SUKEZRE

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Aha - I thought you or hafren might mention them. I quite like Armstrong and Miller's rude parodies of F&S.

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My first thought was of them, too, though I think I'd have a hard time picking a favourite.

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Madeira, M'Dear? and Design For Living would be well up my list.

I see some dislike down-thread for Tom Lehrer, but I must respectfully disagree. Perhaps I like him because he's a fellow-cynic :)

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Yes, I saw that, too, and was disappointed that others don't like him. However awful the taste, I can't help loving something like 'Poisoning pigeons in the park'.

And now I've had to dig out my Flanders and Swann, too. Hee!

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I really used to like Tom Lehrer when I was a teenager. He was a lot better than the Baron Knights - you won't know them but they were a dire British comic singing band of the seventies. I mean dire. Lehrer was quite brilliant in comparison.

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Dr Hook, 'On the Cover of the Rolling Stone'

Meat Loaf, 'Paradise by the Dashboard Light' (tragicomic, I suppose)

Several by The Beautiful South

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Which ones by the Beautiful South? I'd definitely have 'Song for Whoever'.

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I had trouble thinking of specific song titles. 'Song for Whoever', though, and probably 'You Keep it All In'.

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I am very fond of Joyce Grenfell's Stately as a Galleon, about ladies having to dance together at dance class because of a shortage of gentlemen, but alas, I have no link :-(

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Joyce Grenfell used to be on the radio all the time when I was a kid.

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'Let's Do It' would be my number one too.

It's one of the very few funny songs that actually makes me laugh. I had a friend staying with me for a fortnight who brought her own music (none of ours was good enough) and she insisted on playing some stuff by Len someone-or-other that she thought hilarious. It wasn't and even less so after a fortnight of it.

I'd also have this version of Natalie Imnbruglia's 'Torn' from the Secret Policeman's Ball 2006.

And 'The Philosopher's Drinking Song'

And S's version of Robbie Williams 'Angels' as sung by fifitrix also makes my top five.

And I'd add several from Smack the Pony. There's a collection and I like their version of 'Torn' at around the 4:20 mark, and 'It's Cold Outside' at 6:30. And from 3:50 onwards on this one these ones but especially the one at the end taking the piss out of B'witched.

I think this boils down to me preferring comedians who do funny songs as part of a sketch show to singers whose entire schtick is funny songs. The hit rate of the humour is higher for me.

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Thanks for all those links, I have been dipping out of writign corporate stuff to laugh at these

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I think I messed up the links for the Smack The Pony vids. The second one, which is a compilation of the songs from their first series, should be this, in which I think the songs are at their best from 3:50 ones. They're just rather good at taking the piss out of nineties pop.

Glad you've been having fun with the links and thanks for yours too. Fucking Ben Affleck was great, despite the beeping, and that led to a link to fucking Matt Damon.

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I've read the article now and I'm bit bemused that they seem to think that comedians doing music stopped for a bit and now it's being resurrected. I've already mentioned Smack the Pony, but there were also the Doug Anthony All Stars and the Kids in Hall whose shows always involved music and who hit British TV at least long before Flight of the Conchords. They seem to think that Mitch Benn is the first person to rap Shakespeare but certainly the Reduced Shakespeare Company have been doing an Othello rap as part of the Complete Works of W. S. for years, and the one of them also did the Bombitty of Errors at the Fringe several years ago. So is this yet another case where the journalists are only just catching up with something that never went away but presenting it like its some stunning new discovery?

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Yeah, and I think art and culture journalists are the laziest

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I'm amusing myself trying to decide which funny songs I enjoy really count as "musical comedy".

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Yes, something can be musical and comedy without really being 'Musical Comedy' which I associate more with Gilbert and Sullivan or some film from 1948

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In any case our household here has after some heated debate chosen "The Bad Touch" by Bloodhound Gang as Funniest Song Of All Time.

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They lost me the moment they sneered at music-hall innuendo (wonderful stuff} and Ronnie Barker's lyrics - I'm only surprised they didn't have a go at Rambling Syd Rumpo but the writer is probably too ignorant to have heard of him. Oh, and Flanders & Swann were "too genteel" for him/her? Too intelligent, more bloody like.

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Never mind, they are probably about 18 years old

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Adam and Joe had some funny songs in their TV show (the Robert de Niro calypso is great) and now they do song wars on the radio which has some gems. Their fake Bond themes for Quantum of Solace are great, as is the modern update to the Antiques Roadshow theme. No YouTube here, but I'll look up some links later.

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I didn't know that. I will look out for those. I used to like Adam and Joe, and they have sort of disappeared now.

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I return with links:
Quantum of Solace: Joe, Adam.

Joe's Antiques Roadshow, Adam's Nutty Room, the Bobby de Niro song.

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