The Rutles

Eric Idle, a former Monty Python member, created a Beatles satire that first aired on network television in 1978 and stood among the scant handful of rock parodies to achieve real success, with only Spinal Tap arguably eclipsing it. A standout feature of this mock rockumentary was its sharply crafted soundtrack, supplied by Neil Innes, a longtime Python collaborator and onetime Bonzo Dog Band participant who also portrayed the character loosely modeled on John Lennon. Because Innes had been an actual contemporary of the group during the 1960s—the Bonzos themselves appeared in the Magical Mystery Tour film—he brought genuine insight to his musical send-up of the Fab Four. Apart from Idle, all four Rutles performed their own instruments on the recording while simultaneously acting in the film. To extend the joke, the Rutles regrouped in 1996 and cut a follow-up album, Archeology, timed to match the Beatles’ Anthology series. Although presented as unearthed archival recordings, most of Archeology was freshly tracked in the mid-’90s and proved every bit as clever and polished as the original TV special’s soundtrack from nearly two decades earlier.