"And there is an example of the kind of songs we write and sing. And if two grown men can make a modest living by such means, you may find it an apt reflection of the decadence of the times in which we live." Flanders' eloquence was always the icing on the cake.
I just spent some time with my parents listening to Flanders and Swann after dinner. A joy to come across this. I will be sure to show them, they'll absolutely love it. Tonight we learned that my grandma didn't come up with 'pe po belly bum drawers!' by herself and that it is actually a song!
All three of us kiddies listened to the records over and over. Years later at a Thanksgiving gathering, we astonished our grown kids by singing several of the songs in unison without missing a word. I had tapes, now have cds, and some of the phrases are private jokes with me and my husband, who loves them too. May their songs endure forever!
I first heard them on my Mum & Dad's old wooden-housed radiogram. What a great culture we have lost, when humour was subtle, flyying on wit and nuance, not scraping along on infantile obscenity as so much of it does today. My England is no more. The time of victory over evil and celebration of freedom and peace; and, above all, of the sanctity of human kindness have gone. Now, the ugly stench of fanatical ideologies, is not so much with enemy countries, as in our own world. How weak we have become.
I was fortunate to have met Donald Swann at a show he gave which was a musical reminiscence of his career. This must have been late late 70's/early 80s. I got to tell him how much I had enjoyed his work with Michael Flanders, and that I continued to play a few of their songs to audiences (when I was more active as a performer). I'm sure I was star struck and a bit nervous. He was very gracious.
What a marvellous musical memory Michael Flanders must have had to sing the whole movement of that horn concerto. Such complicated modulations. Fantastic! Wonderful commentary by John Amis.
Such lovely memories. I was introduced to them in my refund when they had stopped performing together. I'm so grateful to live in a time when recordings such as this are available. One of my favorite duos of all time.
Thank you so much for putting this on YT. I was lucky enough to meet both of them (Swann introducing me to Flanders, how brilliant was that) and and they are still among my 'heroes'. My school choir sang with Swann a few times, at his solo shows; this was how I got to meet them.
Thank you for this upload ! Watching these two Masters perform their wonderful songs was a great find (thank you YT). As a child of the fifties it brought back memories of listening to the radio and put a smile to my face.
I have the 'At the drop of a hat' and 'at the drop of another hat' on lps from the 1960's. I introduced a now professional horn player to the Mozart item. I still find myself going: 'Ole! 'E 'as made a hole!' after 50 years! They were geniuses. All you have to do is look at their other work. Frank Muir said that Michael Flanders was the best lyricist since W S Gilbert. I met John Amis a couple of times at recording sessions of 'My Music' in the late 70s and early 80s. Another talent now gone. Who are the contemporary people of such talents?🐷
Yes me too...I think it's because it very much takes you vividly back to childhood..or times when all our loved ones were still with us..and a more innocent time..at least that's what it does to me
Have to admit it had me choking as well. I think the rousing chorus where everyone joined in was an echo of a time lost and gone forever. Just like the England of those days. It makes you happy and sad at the same time. Wonderful.
Yes, me too. So that's what nostalgia means.....songs I first heard at the age of 8 or 9.....my young family laughed at these songs also ... or were they laughing at me singing them? Haha hehe ....
Thank you! This is really uplifting. Memories of a time when folks did their thing, but trod gently to avoid stepping on anyone else's toes ... and we loved to laugh at life, and at ourselves. I've listened to their old LPs regularly, but had not seen them in decades. It was lovely to discover this sample of them performing, The expressions and movements add a lot more to their masterful lyrics and music. Thank you very much, thedjrasteri, for recovering this from the old VHS tape - the quality is perfect for the time and content!
Thanks for uploading this! I grew up in the UK, born in 1950 and moved to this side of ThePond in 1983, and this brings back many memories of hearing and seeing F & S when I lived in the UK. Thanks again for the treat!
I've got this on video [somewhere!] but I'm delighted to find it here. Thank you so much. Style, wit, elegance, charm - and no need for bad language or vulgarity. They were able to make political and social comments, sometimes quite pointed, but never in any offensive way. Two gentlemen from a bygone age. Thank goodness for recordings.
Glorious! Thank you so much for uploading this - I remember watching it when it first aired, and wishing even back then that I'd been able to see them live. Unfortunately, I was born quite a bit too late -- but I grew up listening to the LPs until I was almost word-perfect.
Favorite? All of them! A most talented duo. Am I imagining things, or do some of these include more elaborate piano contribution to the partnership than is heard on the LP's?
JRR Tolkien was a great admirer of Their work, and enjoyed Swann's settings of several of his (Tolkien's) poems to music. Listen to "THE ROAD GOES EVER ON" and Swann's setting of "BILBO'S LAST SONG". Swann's setting of this last poem is sometimes criticized as being too sentimental, but it captures Tolkien's sense of optimism concerning the transition from mortal life to immortal. I Played a recording of that song at my Mother's memorial gathering.
As a child of the sixties, brought up with F and S this is just fab to find. My reel to reel tapes of Drop of a hat etc have degraded and it is joy to find this.
TheMimifur. Glad to have helped another fan. One of my friends introduced me to them by playing their CDs in his car in the 90's. I've been a fan ever since. Hence buying this same box set as he had.
Thank you so much for posting this. These two gentlemen will outlast the years as a reminder that you didn't need to be crude to be funny. On the whole, perhaps, the finest legacy any comedy team could bequeath.
I have enjoyed them first at summer camp where the Hippopotamus Song was a favorite (and we did sing the refrain properly) then my parents bought a couple of their albums. We still have them -- one of course is their animal song collection. A couple of their songs would not play well today with new perspectives on relationships: 1)The one about the bindweed and the honeysuckle--the concept that people from divergent 'cultures' can't have successful partnerships in marriage. 2) "Have some Madeira m'dear" sounds like a date rape scenario in our "Me Too" generation concerned with non-consent under the influence of too much alcohol
I love the brilliantly witty, sardonic introductions from Michael Flanders, not to mention of course the quirky catchy songs with the brilliant Donald Swann.
How sweet! My husband and I were learning Greek in Thessaloniki in the mid 80s and stumbled upon Flanders and Swann recordings at the British Library. Those cassettes were so nice to listen to before cell phones and internet. Το κοκοράκι (The cockeral) made us laugh, and we learned the Greek animal sounds from two Brits! 😅
I have everything they have everr published on CD - including the special CD of "home" recordings recorded by people in the audience of a live concert. ALthough I never saw them live, I did meet Donald Swann in London once, just in time to catch the last performance of "Swann with Topping" which was also superb. I will never, ever, get tired of their music.
It's difficult not to see a parallel with Gilbert & Sullivan -- especially as Swan gradually became dismayed at being known primarily as Flanders' "accompanist". He sure could write beautiful melodies, though.
Wonderful stuff and all still relevant. I love, 'Misalliance', precisely because I had a long and happy partnership that many viewed as unconventional. And isn't, 'The English Are Best", the ultimate, ironic comment on Brexit?
I have the CD's of Hat & Another Hat, they are the complete stage performances which were missing due to restrictions on the original vinyl recordings.
I find it so interesting that there are photographs of smiling airline staff beside Michael Flanders and his wheelchair, with Donald Swann, on the tarmac at London Airport, clearly happy to fly both of them to America. All these years later wheelchair - bound passengers, no matter how well known, are dumped on the tarmac, have their wheelchairs wrecked, and are treated appallingly despite all legislation supposed to ensure they are treated as well as passengers without physical disabilities. What a world we have today.
John Preston Amis 17 June 1922 - 1 August 2013 Michael Henry Flanders 1 March 1922 - 14 April 1975 Donald Ibrahim Swann 30 September 1923 - 23 March 1994
Delighted to tell you my daughter and her friends (now c. 30) have loved F & S since childhood. Listening to "At the drop of hat" kept me sane when working down south in the '70s :-)
Same here, my parents introduced me to F&S in the early 60s (I was born in 56) and have recently rediscovered how much I still love them. Thanks very much for the upload.
I concur..was born in early 60s and they were staple diet in my family through late 60s and early 70s..it makes me slightly sad though because it reminds me of family who are no longer here
Notice the way the British tend to add "r" to words ending in vowel sounds -- "tuba" becomes "tuber".The version of "Madeira" heard here is crudely censored to avoid "offending" American audiences (ie, the network's department of "Standards & Practices".By the way, there is such a thing as madeira cake -- it's a kind of pound cake served with madeira. So Swan is not altogether wrong in thinking madeira to be "cake".
Almost any British adult of that period would have known of both the alcohol and the cake; children would only know of the cake. That's what the joke was - that Donald was innocent.
Does anyone remember him going on about Casse Noisettes instead of Nutcracker and singing very florid words to the tune of Danny Boy.? He thought that Jeanette Macdonald needed a lot of air and so did he ...the hot variety.
All great stuff, but this is not really a documentary, just a collection of their greatest bits. I think, now that I've added the 500th "like" - I'll head over to Wiki for more info...
I am a great admirer of Flanders and Swann, but even the best people make mistakes. Beginning around 09:05, Flanders traces out the honeysuckle and bindweed growth habits with the index fingers of his left and right hand, respectively, but it looks to me as if he got confused (it would confuse me to do that, even if I wasn't trying to sing at the same time). In both cases the helix he traces out appears to be left-handed, which is like a honeysuckle, but opposite to a common corkscrew, bindweed, or the famous DNA double helix. Wrong-handed DNA representations are nearly as common in advertising copy as correct ones, indicating that few graphic artists understand the difference. To remedy this widespread and lamentable ignorance, Misalliance (the audio at least) should be made required listening for all graphic artists in training. Charles H. Bennett, chiral nitpicker.
I’ve always thought Swann was the real artist of the pair, and Flanders was great as his straight man. How difficult it must have been to play the part of the musically gifted idiot who created and flawlessly played a complicated animal song in Greek!
Swann wrote the music, Flanders the words (for most of the songs - I think one or two are solo compositions). As such, they're equally gifted, just different gifts. Rogers and Hammerstein, the Sherman brothers, the Gershwins, Gilbert and Sullivan, …
I loved Flanders' commentary about flying with a wheelchair, that once they raised him into the plane through the kitchen on a fork lift...."Why they need a great machine like that just to lift a fork...."
I don't think colonialism. If colonists enjoyed them, fine - but that doesn't mean they were colonial; the irony of "The English…" for example shows they were anything but. (It's like hating anything the Nazis liked.)
I adored them and their lyrics were so brilliant. Thank Heavens we can still see how wonderful they were.
never gets old! sheer unadulterated talent. Glorious legacy.
"And there is an example of the kind of songs we write and sing. And if two grown men can make a modest living by such means, you may find it an apt reflection of the decadence of the times in which we live."
Flanders' eloquence was always the icing on the cake.
I was raised on these songs as a teenager… The duo are absolutely magical
Oh glorious. A time when the English language was beautiful and humour was wonderfully without being at someone else's expense.
So good for the soul.
I just spent some time with my parents listening to Flanders and Swann after dinner. A joy to come across this. I will be sure to show them, they'll absolutely love it.
Tonight we learned that my grandma didn't come up with 'pe po belly bum drawers!' by herself and that it is actually a song!
UA-cam is a wonderful thing. That one can enjoy such shows for free...that one can enjoy such old material at all.. simply marvellous.
You can gain a great education by just troding this board judiciously
Listening to Flanders and Swann takes me right back to my childhood. I listened to ‘At the drop of hat’ endlessly while growing up.
Me too!
Same here, we shall not see their like again
All three of us kiddies listened to the records over and over. Years later at a Thanksgiving gathering, we astonished our grown kids by singing several of the songs in unison without missing a word. I had tapes, now have cds, and some of the phrases are private jokes with me and my husband, who loves them too. May their songs endure forever!
me too
Me, too! Plus playing their songbook endlessly on the piano. (Never rising to Swann's caliber, tho)
I first heard them on my Mum & Dad's old wooden-housed radiogram. What a great culture we have lost, when humour was subtle, flyying on wit and nuance, not scraping along on infantile obscenity as so much of it does today. My England is no more. The time of victory over evil and celebration of freedom and peace; and, above all, of the sanctity of human kindness have gone. Now, the ugly stench of fanatical ideologies, is not so much with enemy countries, as in our own world. How weak we have become.
I was fortunate to have met Donald Swann at a show he gave which was a musical reminiscence of his career. This must have been late late 70's/early 80s. I got to tell him how much I had enjoyed his work with Michael Flanders, and that I continued to play a few of their songs to audiences (when I was more active as a performer). I'm sure I was star struck and a bit nervous. He was very gracious.
Wow you met Donald Swann. Amazing.
What a marvellous musical memory Michael Flanders must have had to sing the whole movement of that horn concerto. Such complicated modulations. Fantastic! Wonderful commentary by John Amis.
Such lovely memories. I was introduced to them in my refund when they had stopped performing together. I'm so grateful to live in a time when recordings such as this are available. One of my favorite duos of all time.
Just an absolute gorguous memory, Like the most beatiful dream. Of another time. The world today is extremly different. Im amazed by this.
Thank you so much for putting this on YT. I was lucky enough to meet both of them (Swann introducing me to Flanders, how brilliant was that) and and they are still among my 'heroes'. My school choir sang with Swann a few times, at his solo shows; this was how I got to meet them.
Amazing. Im sure Flanders was a very funny guy. Amazing to read your comment.
Used to be on the radio a lot when I was a child, a great favourite, this has brought back fond memories of a more innocent and happy time thank you.
Thank you for this upload ! Watching these two Masters perform their wonderful songs was a great find (thank you YT). As a child of the fifties it brought back memories of listening to the radio and put a smile to my face.
I saw "At the Drop of a Hat' on Broadway in 1959 and what a joy to find it here! Thank you, UA-cam!
I have the 'At the drop of a hat' and 'at the drop of another hat' on lps from the 1960's. I introduced a now professional horn player to the Mozart item. I still find myself going: 'Ole! 'E 'as made a hole!' after 50 years! They were geniuses. All you have to do is look at their other work. Frank Muir said that Michael Flanders was the best lyricist since W S Gilbert. I met John Amis a couple of times at recording sessions of 'My Music' in the late 70s and early 80s. Another talent now gone. Who are the contemporary people of such talents?🐷
there are many alive, they are just not allowed to thrive.
I like how the original "at the drop of a hat" still had the "all perforated" whimsy in the madeira song
If anyone can explain why the audience singing the chorus of the Hippopotamus Song made me cry, they'll know more than I do.
Yes me too...I think it's because it very much takes you vividly back to childhood..or times when all our loved ones were still with us..and a more innocent time..at least that's what it does to me
Have to admit it had me choking as well. I think the rousing chorus where everyone joined in was an echo of a time lost and gone forever. Just like the England of those days. It makes you happy and sad at the same time. Wonderful.
Just an absolute gorguous memory, Like the most beatiful dream. Of another time. The world today is extremly different. Im amazed by this.
Yes, me too. So that's what nostalgia means.....songs I first heard at the age of 8 or 9.....my young family laughed at these songs also ... or were they laughing at me singing them? Haha hehe ....
Part nostalgia, part they are tears of joy, not sadness. I get the same from Victoria Wood singing the ballad of Barry and Freda.
Thank you! This is really uplifting. Memories of a time when folks did their thing, but trod gently to avoid stepping on anyone else's toes ... and we loved to laugh at life, and at ourselves. I've listened to their old LPs regularly, but had not seen them in decades. It was lovely to discover this sample of them performing, The expressions and movements add a lot more to their masterful lyrics and music. Thank you very much, thedjrasteri, for recovering this from the old VHS tape - the quality is perfect for the time and content!
Thanks for uploading this! I grew up in the UK, born in 1950 and moved to this side of ThePond in 1983, and this brings back many memories of hearing and seeing F & S when I lived in the UK. Thanks again for the treat!
wonderful to see this again - I remember we recorded it years ago on VHS. What a pair they were!
I saw them live on Broadway in "At the Drop of Another Hat" in the 1960s and still have both LPs. They were wonderful.
Wonderful memories, watching these two. Thanks for sharing.
Totally enjoyable! Wonderful lyrics & skilled musicianship! What a real treat! Thank you!
I've got this on video [somewhere!] but I'm delighted to find it here. Thank you so much. Style, wit, elegance, charm - and no need for bad language or vulgarity. They were able to make political and social comments, sometimes quite pointed, but never in any offensive way. Two gentlemen from a bygone age. Thank goodness for recordings.
My grateful thanks for this upload. F & S were a treasure.
Splendid. Thank you for posting this. Wonderful seeing these two after listening to the recordings for so long.
Thanks a million for this! You made an old English gentleman happy.
Glorious! Thank you so much for uploading this - I remember watching it when it first aired, and wishing even back then that I'd been able to see them live. Unfortunately, I was born quite a bit too late -- but I grew up listening to the LPs until I was almost word-perfect.
I only just discovered these two, and you have got to admire Michael Flanders witty lyrics, and Donald Swan's piano-playing is absolutely brilliant!
What's your favourite Flanders & Swann song? Please can you give me a clue. I'd really like to guess what it is?
Favorite? All of them! A most talented duo. Am I imagining things, or do some of these include more elaborate piano contribution to the partnership than is heard on the LP's?
Do you know some of their songs?
JRR Tolkien was a great admirer of Their work, and enjoyed Swann's settings of several of his (Tolkien's) poems to music. Listen to "THE ROAD GOES EVER ON" and Swann's setting of "BILBO'S LAST SONG". Swann's setting of this last poem is sometimes criticized as being too sentimental, but it captures Tolkien's sense of optimism concerning the transition from mortal life to immortal. I Played a recording of that song at my Mother's memorial gathering.
Misalliance!
As a child of the sixties, brought up with F and S this is just fab to find. My reel to reel tapes of Drop of a hat etc have degraded and it is joy to find this.
TheMimifur. Have you bought the CD box set? 3 albums and booklet.
Thanks Fay. Will do so as didn't know it was available.
TheMimifur. Glad to have helped another fan. One of my friends introduced me to them by playing their CDs in his car in the 90's. I've been a fan ever since. Hence buying this same box set as he had.
This is great! Thanks for uploading it. I remember watching both of their TV performances 50 years ago.
Thank you so much for posting this.
These two gentlemen will outlast the years as a reminder that you didn't need to be crude to be funny.
On the whole, perhaps, the finest legacy any comedy team could bequeath.
Not crude? I'll guess you think 'Madeira M'Dear' is about cake.
I have enjoyed them first at summer camp where the Hippopotamus Song was a favorite (and we did sing the refrain properly) then my parents bought a couple of their albums. We still have them -- one of course is their animal song collection. A couple of their songs would not play well today with new perspectives on relationships: 1)The one about the bindweed and the honeysuckle--the concept that people from divergent 'cultures' can't have successful partnerships in marriage. 2) "Have some Madeira m'dear" sounds like a date rape scenario in our "Me Too" generation concerned with non-consent under the influence of too much alcohol
@@terrianntomlin3016 I think "Misalliance" was more about _political_ differences, rather than cultural, and as such remains very valid.
They are so amazing. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for helping revive the memories of this phenomenal pair.
Thank you for uploading this, I watched it at the time and long wanted to watch it again
I am a great fan of F&S.
What a beautiful speaking voice Michael Flanders had.
I read that as he was recovering from polio, his doctor recommended singing as therapy to maintain what was left of his lung function.
We are forever in debt to that doctor!
Oh, that horn song has cheered me up no end. First time I've laughed so much in a long time.
Another world: sadly, lost for ever...
Misalliance is my favorite of all their songs. So much innuendo. I was lucky to have a father to introduce me to them and also the goon show.
Absolutely love this duo. Humor and talent at its best!
I love the brilliantly witty, sardonic introductions from Michael Flanders, not to mention of course the quirky catchy songs with the brilliant Donald Swann.
Wow, this takes me back to my childhood! I only wish we had an equivalent today
How sweet! My husband and I were learning Greek in Thessaloniki in the mid 80s and stumbled upon Flanders and Swann recordings at the British Library. Those cassettes were so nice to listen to before cell phones and internet. Το κοκοράκι (The cockeral) made us laugh, and we learned the Greek animal sounds from two Brits! 😅
I have everything they have everr published on CD - including the special CD of "home" recordings recorded by people in the audience of a live concert. ALthough I never saw them live, I did meet Donald Swann in London once, just in time to catch the last performance of "Swann with Topping" which was also superb. I will never, ever, get tired of their music.
I wonder how much influence Flanders & Swann had on Eric Idle. I really detect a definite similarity.
Surely Flanders & Swann, and also the Goon Show had a lot of influence on the Python squad, they had the best material around.
Incrsdiably funny clever men. I used to sing some of these songs to my friends had them in stitches .
Thank you for uploading!
I grew up with their songs on LP, and remember watching their last performance on TV: thanks for the memories!
Interesting that this documentary allows the performance in full, these days they would cut them mid point and talk over the top I suspect.
'She made no reply, up her mind and a dash for the door'.
Wow.
I cant find Have Some Madeira
Found it bliss
Syllepsis.
Classic examples of syllepsis (or is it zeugma?) in there:
*"And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps..."*
@@estherbradley-detally9803 Did you know you can delete old UA-cam comments?
It was Armstrong and Miller that brought me here
That sketch was brilliant. Done today there would be much more malice in it.
John Amis, you are as lovely as Michael Flanders and Donald Swann.
Wonderful and quite beautiful, what a pity more people knew of these fantastic gentelman
We can still share them with our loved ones and friends, can't we?? :)
It's difficult not to see a parallel with Gilbert & Sullivan -- especially as Swan gradually became dismayed at being known primarily as Flanders' "accompanist". He sure could write beautiful melodies, though.
Check out his songs to words from Lord of the Rings: "The Road Goes Ever On".
I'm an American, but listening to his "Slow Train" always chokes me up..."
@@laurelpritchard4540 Look out the Kings' Singers version of that. Very moving.
I absolutely adore Flanders and Swann.
So good I wish there were more artists like this
Lovely. Thanks for the upload.
Fantastic!
Wonderful stuff and all still relevant. I love, 'Misalliance', precisely because I had a long and happy partnership that many viewed as unconventional. And isn't, 'The English Are Best", the ultimate, ironic comment on Brexit?
Not really, as it was some decades earlier, and it wasn't EExit. But it's certainly an excellent ironic comment on jingoism.
I have the CD's of Hat & Another Hat, they are the complete stage performances which were missing due to restrictions on the original vinyl recordings.
Just glorious
A great act --- one only they themselves could adequately follow.
Brilliant blokes. Thank you.
How wonderful! Thank u so much
Don had the most infectious laughter 😂😂😂😂
13:50 That performance in the Greek song is terrific.
Miles out of sync which is a bit of a shame but isn't it wonderful it is on yt :-)
sync was always the first thing to go when transferring VHS to VHS in the ancient times.
I find it so interesting that there are photographs of smiling airline staff beside Michael Flanders and his wheelchair, with Donald Swann, on the tarmac at London Airport, clearly happy to fly both of them to America. All these years later wheelchair - bound passengers, no matter how well known, are dumped on the tarmac, have their wheelchairs wrecked, and are treated appallingly despite all legislation supposed to ensure they are treated as well as passengers without physical disabilities. What a world we have today.
John Preston Amis 17 June 1922 - 1 August 2013
Michael Henry Flanders 1 March 1922 - 14 April 1975
Donald Ibrahim Swann 30 September 1923 - 23 March 1994
I'm not English at all (well, a great-great-grandfather was) but I do love these two.
Genius, pure genius!
Do we think any young ones have been brought to this? My parents introduced me to F and S in the sixties, do we do it to children now?
Delighted to tell you my daughter and her friends (now c. 30) have loved F & S since childhood. Listening to "At the drop of hat" kept me sane when working down south in the '70s :-)
Same here, my parents introduced me to F&S in the early 60s (I was born in 56) and have recently rediscovered how much I still love them. Thanks very much for the upload.
I share with my kids & grandkids
I grew up with their music in the 90s. Still learning what half the songs are actually about now!
I concur..was born in early 60s and they were staple diet in my family through late 60s and early 70s..it makes me slightly sad though because it reminds me of family who are no longer here
I remember this song when I was a boy still a great song
Their recordings were produced by George Martin, before the Beatles.
Notice the way the British tend to add "r" to words ending in vowel sounds -- "tuba" becomes "tuber".The version of "Madeira" heard here is crudely censored to avoid "offending" American audiences (ie, the network's department of "Standards & Practices".By the way, there is such a thing as madeira cake -- it's a kind of pound cake served with madeira. So Swan is not altogether wrong in thinking madeira to be "cake".
Almost any British adult of that period would have known of both the alcohol and the cake; children would only know of the cake. That's what the joke was - that Donald was innocent.
Superb!
Simply put, brilliantly done! 😂
Thank you!
Where do we find equivalent talent today?
Take note @ 21:35, this bit was recorded in 1967, but although things change, everything stays the same! ;)
"Nobody's going to vote for any of them sober."
Thank you UA-cam!!!
Does anyone remember him going on about Casse Noisettes instead of Nutcracker and singing very florid words to the tune of Danny Boy.? He thought that Jeanette Macdonald needed a lot of air and so did he ...the hot variety.
All great stuff, but this is not really a documentary, just a collection of their greatest bits. I think, now that I've added the 500th "like" - I'll head over to Wiki for more info...
Yes and dont forget the reference to Casse Noisettes...
Oh joy!
I am a great admirer of Flanders and Swann, but even the best people make mistakes. Beginning around 09:05, Flanders traces out the honeysuckle and bindweed growth habits with the index fingers of his left and right hand, respectively, but it looks to me as if he got confused (it would confuse me to do that, even if I wasn't trying to sing at the same time). In both cases the helix he traces out appears to be left-handed, which is like a honeysuckle, but opposite to a common corkscrew, bindweed, or the famous DNA double helix. Wrong-handed DNA representations are nearly as common in advertising copy as correct ones, indicating that few graphic artists understand the difference. To remedy this widespread and lamentable ignorance, Misalliance (the audio at least) should be made required listening for all graphic artists in training. Charles H. Bennett, chiral nitpicker.
Absolutely World Class pedantry, sir! :)
Charles Bennett you must be a very boring fellow to be with
lol well spotted he did do the same direction for both, but does it correctly later at 9:35 I think.
This is officially my favourite comment on youtube.
Angel was their label.
All Gall was my favorite.
I’ve always thought Swann was the real artist of the pair, and Flanders was great as his straight man. How difficult it must have been to play the part of the musically gifted idiot who created and flawlessly played a complicated animal song in Greek!
Swann wrote the music, Flanders the words (for most of the songs - I think one or two are solo compositions). As such, they're equally gifted, just different gifts. Rogers and Hammerstein, the Sherman brothers, the Gershwins, Gilbert and Sullivan, …
Flanders was crippled but was funny as Hell.
Vocal artists speak about "phrasing". Sinatra said Matt Monroe was the best. Flanders invented it.
I think Cole Porter had some …
old but good! Great to see a so-called-disabled person performing
I loved Flanders' commentary about flying with a wheelchair, that once they raised him into the plane through the kitchen on a fork lift...."Why they need a great machine like that just to lift a fork...."
'Imagine that, into cheese!'
Was it Kit or the Widow who recalled hearing Flanders and Swann first on a veranda in East Africa? They were a last breath of colonialism.
I don't think colonialism. If colonists enjoyed them, fine - but that doesn't mean they were colonial; the irony of "The English…" for example shows they were anything but. (It's like hating anything the Nazis liked.)
Its easy to be expert on these two...and Swann sang Greek and Russian.
Berliner's tm of an angel was Angel's .
Inimitable. :-)))
Polio in those pre-vaccine days.
Flanders lasted shorter than Swann.