Bad News, Worse Timing

“Great minds think alike.”

That and coincidence are the reasons why in 1984, This Is Spinal Tap had a counterpart from the UK, Bad News.

This Is Spinal Tap did a better job with the concept, but Bad News had an advantage; whereas Tap was an impersonation, Bad News was the real British deal. They had a scrappy authenticity that Christopher Guest and company, brilliant though they are, had to simulate.

But where Spinal Tap songs are carefully constructed pastiches of 70s Brit steel, Bad News’ music is simply… bad. You can bang your head to Spinal Tap. Bad News makes you want to bang your head in.

It all started in the 1980s, with a British comedy brigade called The Comic Strip. Their pedigree would prove indomitable: Adrian Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Robbie Coltrane and Alexei Sayle all started out there. They had their own weirdo anthology TV show, Comic Strip Presents…, beginning in 1982. How funny are these Brits? Well…

For as long as I can remember, Jennifer Saunders has played one of the funniest television characters of all time, on Absolutely Fabulous. Alongside the equally hilarious Joanna Lumley, Saunders has crafted a lampoon of fashion divas that contains innumerable uproarious moments. Lumley’s Patsy Stone trying to claw her way out of an open grave she’s stumbled into. Saunders’ Edina Monsoon berating her imbecile assistant for bringing a lapdog instead of a laptop. Patsy screaming at Edina’s daughter Saffron that when her mother was pregnant with her, Patsy screamed at her to “ABORT! ABORT ABORT ABORT!”

Dawn French went on to become The Vicar of Dibley, the only plus-sized religious woman on television that most guys would eagerly bang. Before that, she played a crazy woman who gets squashed by a giant sandwich, on a British comedy called The Young Ones.

You’ve probably heard of The Young Ones, because it saw play on MTV in the 80s, where it was a perfect fit. There were only 13 episodes, most are about 75% good, and the cast dies in the final show, when their bus careens off a cliff and bursts into flames over doo-wop music. The Young Ones were Vyvyan Basterd (Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders’ real-life husband), Mike The-Cool-Person (Christopher Ryan), Rick (the late great Rik Mayall), and Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye (Nigel Planer). Thanks to the shoehorned musical acts, the series received a higher budget, which allowed for the costuming and props that made the show the classic it became. It looks so authentic, I was flabbergasted when Neil’s long hair was revealed to be a wig in a later episode. Planer even released a “Heavy Concept Album” as Neil, completing some of the finest character work of the 20th century.

It was only natural that The Young Ones, swapping out Christopher Ryan for Comic Stripper Peter (Eat The Rich) Richardson, would launch a musical act. And as proven by Rob Reiner, the time was right for a swing at metal.

Mayall and Edmondson were longtime partners, originally as “20th Century Coyote”, and later in brilliant series like the gloriously nihilistic Bottom. Both of them have a “post-punk” comedy style that suits the material beautifully. Mayall is bass player Colin Grigson, and Edmondson is Vim Fuego, lead guitar and vocals. Nigel Planer makes a total transformation from hippie Neil to Sabbath obsessive Den Dennis (rhythm guitar). Their big LP was produced by Brian May of Queen. This, of course, means an obligatory cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. If you had a band in high school and attempted this, you sounded better.

I used that in the late 80s to aggravate Queen fanatics I knew.

I’m being honest; the only decent song on Bad News is “Masturbike”. The best parts are obviously the studio skits, where the band members bicker about not being able to record, for various reasons. They hurl blame and tear down each other’s musical abilities. As a bass player, I can’t warm up without attempting to evoke Rik Mayall on the following track:

The album opens with a rehearsal of a new song, “Bad Dreams”, courtesy of Den Dennis. He sounds fine on vocals and rhythm guitar, but he can’t get the other band members on the same page. Not only is this one of the best tracks, but these guys were masters at improvising in character, making it believable as well. Even when you can’t see them:

Edmondson gets to throw a glorious hissy-fit on “Vim Is Angry”, while his bandmates calmly try to soothe him. I’ve listened to this a hundred times; it never sounds staged. It’s either a real argument or proof that Edmondson and Mayall are unsung comedy polymaths. Note when Vim snarls “you’re fuckin’ near to fuckin’ havin’ your fuckin’ head kicked in”, at Colin. It takes a hell of a lot of talent to create a moment like that.

Another hysterical disaster track is “Excaliber” (sic), where tape is rolling, but nobody can agree on how to properly convey the atmosphere. Colin resorts to vocal renditions of bells and animals; “flap flap flap flap- that’s a bat.”

The Bad News videos are all on YouTube, and they’re good, even though they inevitably pale against the slicker Spinal Tap. Another similarity to Tap is the chemistry of the comedians involved. The four Brits work terrifically together, and Bad News revealed how deeply and intricately they workshopped their creations. Maybe Spinal Tap sent up the genre more consistently, but Bad News deserves less obscurity than its inspiration. And after Rik Mayall’s untimely passing, it’s even more worth checking out, being that it’s a footnote in the too-brief life of a comedy genius.

For max verisimilitude points, behold the inside gatefold cover of their LP:

By the way, the full quote is “great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ”. Since the lads in both “Spinal Tap” and “Bad News” are clearly a bunch of fools, the complete quote works just as well.