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Date: Fri, 27 Sep 85 04:12:42 edt
From: harvard!topaz!jerpc.PE.UUCP
Subject: Faith Brown "Three Little Fishes"
> On 1 March 80, Faith Brown, a British comedian with her own television show and infamous for doing Kate Bush parodies (along with Pamela Stevenson, who is now on SNL), did a parody of Kate Bush doing an interview and then she did a parody of Kate doing a cover of "Three Little Fishes". I've never heard of this song before. Why is it appropriate for a parody of Kate Bush?
Well, someone who didn't like Kate Bush's diction, or her tendency sometimes to sing/talk like a very young girl (e.g., "All my words fade; What am I gonna say? Mustn't give the game away," etc.), would find it an appropriate song, because the entire "Three Little Fishes" song was in a sort of lispy "baby talk"; again I only remember the last line, which went
And they fam, and they fam
All over de dam!
Date: Fri, 7 Feb 86 08:54:46 est
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: Oh England My Leotard
Fu-Sheng said I should post this, so don't blame me. This song is from a British TV show called "Not The Six O'Clock News". It was sung by Pamela Stevenson, now of ex-Saturday Night Live fame. (She's the one that had the tits that moved around. Cleary she is into tits....). The lyrics included are only as accurate as my ears. If anyone thinks they know how "aresh aresh tomp pare hairdo" should really read, or knows what a "Cop Boutique" is, please let me know:
OH ENGLAND MY LEOTARD
(To be sung roughly to the tune of "Them Heavy People")
I was into yin and yang and half of yoga
Ginsing and carroway seeds and being a non-smoker
My carrot quiches were better than the board's were
And they were thicker than two short ones
People bought my latest hits cause they like my latex tits
Everyone is trying hard to get inside my leotard
Went to my hairdresser to have a hairdo
He asked if I him knew an aresh aresh tomp pare hairdo
That's how I was introduced to Gollette, Coctau, and Marcel Brust
Now whole food cookery is just a sideline
La la la la la ...
I went to Cairo and I read the Gnostic
A corporate form of joining the original Cop-Boutique ah
Cause I cuff psychosis berries
And a fibonacci series
Studied acupuncture and the bible
Opened the windows in my mind
"It's not your mind -- it's your body they're into"
My business manager said
He said I need an intellect like I need a
Hole in the, hole in the, hole in the head
Though I'm an honorary member of Mensa now
I'm going to try and keep up the pretense some how
Would you buy my latest hits because you like my latex tits
And you're all trying hard to get inside my
[...Music changes to "Violin"...]
Leotard, leotard, leotard
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 86 01:21:13 EST
From: nessus (Doug Alan)
Subject: In Remembrance of Pamela Stevenson
>> [Me:] If anyone thinks they know how "aresh aresh tomp pare hairdo" should really read, or knows what a "Cop Boutique" is, please let me know:
> [gtalylor:] I'm surprised that a dedicated obscurantist such as yourself could miss where "aresh" comes from.....after all, the author's name is right there in the song! Yep, good old Marcel Brust -oops, that's Proust. The real title is "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu", translated in English as "The Remembrance of Things Past."
Oh well, so much for my knowledge of French literature... Actually I know of the book -- just not the author.
Good detective work! I went back and listened to the song, and think that the line is actually a play on the real title. It now sounds like
Went to my hairdresser to have a hairdoo
He asked if I him knew 'A la Recherche Tete-Temps Perdu"
From: pekowsky-larne@CS.YALE.EDU (Larne Pekowsky)
Date: 29 May 90 17:45:09 GMT
Subject: Up yours, ugly
A while back I seem to recall someone asking why "Up your's, ugly" was engraved in the center of one of Kate's singles [TWW-picture disk]. Well, it seems it's a Young Ones reference (as I discovered this weekend during a massive YO-fest). At one point in "Sick" Vyvyan's mum shows up and gives him a bottle of vodka. He eagerly unwraps it and discovers it's all been drunk, and she says something to the effect of "Ha, got you! Up your's ugly!" and leaves. This was a particular disappointment to Vyv, as he had earlier wasted his last bottle trying to blow up Ric and Neil.
Man, I had forgotten just how funny this thing is. We all barely made it past the "tell tale garden Gnome" bit.
From: amdcad!tymix!hobbes!nancyh@decwrl.dec.com (Nancy Holt)
Date: 1 Jun 90 08:05:17 GMT
Subject: young ones live!
this is more or less a transcription of the live bit in which the Young Ones discuss Kate Bush. I've put bits I couldn't crystal clearly remember in <> brackets. Enjoy!
<Mike and Rick talking about the song they are going to sing with Cliff Richards... Mike tells Rick he can't be in the song...>
Rick: Why not?
Vyvyan (off stage): Because you're total and utter crap!
Crowd: [LOUD CHEERS]
Rick: <oh very clever, what are you doing hiding in the dark?> trying to get a snog off Kate Bush?
Vyvyan: <oh, sorry, Kate, my hand accidentally slipped up your dress and into your knicks>, my God, it IS Kate Bush!
Mike: Vyvyan! You know very well that's not Kate Bush, that's Neil!
Vyvyan: Kate Bush is underneath! I'm using Neil as a contraceptive!
From: ed@das.llnl.gov (Edward Suranyi)
Date: 5 Jun 90 21:10:55 GMT
Subject: Re: The Young Ones
> Really-From: JONES%RPIECS.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu
>Just a short comment about the Kate Bush bit on the Young Ones: Of the rather large number of YO episodes I've seen, I've been unlucky enough to miss the one dealing with KT. It sounds like a gem... :) -- Deb Wentorf
Well, that's because it's not really from The Young Ones. It's from the British version of Comic Relief, c. 1986. Immediately after the conversational bit that was quoted, the announcer says something like, "Well in that case, Kate Bush:" Cheers ring out in the audience as the curtain rises, and Kate is seen behind a piano. She sings "Breathing". Truly beautiful.
Ed Suranyi
From: Dances With Voles <jondr@sco.com>
Date: Thu, 30 May 91
Subject: Another Young Ones/Kate Bush reference
Because I am the coolest person in the world, I get to find out about all sorts of neat things. Thanks to the second coolest person in the world, who, by an amazing coincidence, works in the office next to mine, I now have in my sweaty little hands a copy of Neil's Heavy Concept Album. (That's Neil the hippy dude from the Young Ones, for those of you who are slow on the uptake.)
Take it away, Neil:
...and another sixties type number on the album is a song called HURDY GURDY MAN which I wrote one night in my sleep no you didn't yes I did, you didn't write HURDY GURDY MAN, Donovan did, oh yeah? who are you then? I'm Donovan, you're not Donovan, you look much too straight to be Donovan, yes I am, I'm Donovan, oh yeah if you're Donovan I'm Meatloaf, well if you're Meatloaf I'm Kate Bush, oh come on you don't look anything like Kate Bush, well nor does Donovan... well anyway HURDY GURDY MAN is like about universal peace and understanding and harmony and really important shit like that...
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 21:24:35 GMT
From: James Hogan <James@absfabs.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Leotard Revealed
Peter Brewis, the writer of "England My Leotard" or "EML" :), contacted me and I lost no time in getting the essential information on the Kate credit mystery. Here are his answers to my questions.
> - If you have the lyrics in computer format can you e-mail them to me ?
Done. I had them in my head.
(I have not received them yet but will post as soon as I get them).
> - Why does the Album cover entry say (Kate Bush)/ Kate Bush Music Ltd.
You guessed right: there were copyright problems. When Kate Bush's publishers EMI got wind of the song being put out on an album I was summoned to a meeting with their lawyers who said I'd ripped off Them Heavy People. I said, 'The tune's different, the harmony's different, the bass line's different and the words are different. It's a different song'. They said, 'But your song wouldn't have been written if Them Heavy People hadn't existed'. Yep - true enough. 'And that makes it a breach of copyright', they said. So there you are: in this country you can't send up any song that's still in copyright. Not The Nine O'Clock News was extremely popular at the time, so the album stood to sell squillions. They agreed to let the song go on the album as long as they (and Kate Bush) got my share of the money. And they insisted on that wording: 'by Kate Bush. Lyrical pastiche by Peter Brewis'. Sounds really Edwardian doesn't it? Lyrical pastiche. 'And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, for your amusement I should like to perform a lyrical pastiche'.
> Was Kate involved in any way in the production ? If not did you discuss the item with Kate and what was her reaction etc.
No, she wasn't and we didn't. I heard, soon after the show was first broadcast, that she was a bit angry about it. Then a year or so later I asked a friend of mine who'd been working with her if she'd ever mentioned the song. 'Yeah - we were talking about it. She thought it was funny'.
> - What is the story behind the record.
You mean the song? Well, I wrote it, made a demo tape of me singing it to give to Pamela Stevenson for her to learn it, booked four or five musicians, a couple of backing singers and a studio. The bass-player was having an off-day and I got a bit impatient, but we got the backing track recorded in a couple of hours. The musicians went home. Pamela Stevenson arrived and listened to the backing track a couple of times before we started recording it. On the first take she sang the first line, 'I was into yin and yang and hatha yoga' and said, 'can I hear that back?' I said, 'You've only done one line!'
So bit by little tiny bit we got it recorded. She said she thought the line 'my carrot quiches were better than the bought ones' would be better if it was 'cauliflower quiches'. Never defensive about my finely-honed, expertly-crafted lyrics I agreed to change it. (Well - I argued with her for half an hour about it THEN I agreed). For the rest of the session, whenever we got to that line, the engineer and I would sing, 'My cauliflower quiches were better than the carrot ones'.
Date: Sun, 14 May 1995 08:52:25 GMT
From: James Hogan <James@absfabs.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Leotard Lyrics
Here are the lyrics to "England my Leotard", Hum (to sing with closed lips with-out words or articulation to you in the USA :) "Them Heavy People" to it. Also bear in mind that alot of the humour was based on the way it was sang Hence By-a-buble. Also appropiate backing vocal added an extra dimension !
Ok some of you might not approve of this send up of the beloved Kate. Bear in mind that a mention on "Not the Nine O'clock News" in those days, showed you had made it.
Oh England my leotard
(c) Peter Brewis (pbrewis@cix.compulink.co.uk)
I was into yin and yang and hatha yoga
Ginseng and caraway seeds and being a non-smoker
My cauliflower quiches were better than the bought ones
And I was thicker than two short ones
People bought my latest hits
Cos they liked my latex tits
Everyone trying hard
To get inside my leotard
Went to my hairdresser to have a hair-do (hair do-be-do-be-do)
He asked if I knew A La Recherche De Temps Perdus
That's how I was introduced to Colette, Cocteau and Marcel Proust
Now wholefood cookery is just a sideline
(Shrill 'La-La-la' middle eight.)
I went to Cairo and I read the Gnostic
Apocryphon of John in the original Coptic
Korsakoff's psychosis theories
And the Fibonacci series
Studied acupuncture and the Bible - the Byabubble -
Opened the windows in my mind
'It's not your mind, it's your body they're into-oo-oo'
My business-manager said.
He said that I need an intellect like I need a
Hole hole in the in the hole in the head
Though I'm an honorary member of Mensa now
I have to try and keep up a pretence somehow
'Cos you buy my latest hits
Because you like my latex tits
And you're all trying hard to get inside my
Leotard leotard leotard
Oh England, my leotard
Ooh ooh ooh ooh
(High, MELISMATIC 'ooh's, increasingly varispeeded up in pitch until they're so high only dogs can hear them. and tall ones at that.)
written by Love-Hounds
compiled and edited
by
Wieland Willker
Sept 1995 June 1996