He Loves Brew (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)

Inspired by The Beatles cartoon, a Saturday morning show which ran from 1965-1967. “The Feebles” are characters from the “Irritable Vowel Sketch,” with Elekiah Berg as John, Thebay Ginns as Paul, Ertrude Arch as Ringo, and Ruder Monns as George.

Elekiah and Thebay’s costumes were inspired by a scene from the opening titles in Episode 32 when the Beatles were attempting to escape from girls by disguising themselves as spies. The colors of the costumes were particularly funny to us, with red hats and purple coats on top of their light blue tops, dark blue shirts and slacks and black ties and shoes. And they wondered why they were discovered by their fans.

We here at CoBaD think that despite the cartoon clearly being a cash grab and a vehicle to capitalize on the Beatles success, the cartoon series was quite well done. Indeed the series did receive great ratings in its first season; which was particularly impressive despite the fact that the first season was created from scratch in less than 10 months. Given such an aggressive schedule it was inevitable that some quality control issues would rear their ugly heads. For example, the Beatles having three fingers and a thumb on each hand in one scene, then having four fingers and a thumb on each hand in the next scene, Paul having fingernails that appear and disappear in his introductions in the singalongs, George’s voice coming out of John’s mouth in the “Roll Over Beethoven” cartoon, the Beatles’ arms disappearing and reappearing in the opening scene of "Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand," and Paul playing his bass right handed in “Bad Boy.” Still, these quirks, much like the imperfections in “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show” are what makes The Beatles cartoon that much more charming. Having Paul Frees doing voices in both cartoons doesn’t hurt either.

Elekiah: “But let me tell ya, when I was your age, women your age (and by “women your age,” I mean women your age in my day and age, not women your age in this day and age because women your age in this day and age in my day and age wouldn’t have been born yet), showed respect to men my age (“my age,” of course, referring to aged men in my day and age when I was coming of age). So how is it that now that in this day and age that women your age coming of age in this day and age are treating aged men who were your age in my day and age so differently and with such utter contempt!?” – In this sketch, the curmudgeonly Feebles are quite clearly trying to hide their taste for skunky beer. Ertrude and Ruder hide in the car, and Elekiah is trying to distract the saleswoman while Thebay attempts to shoplift a six pack and sneak out the bathroom window. When they get caught and Patty chews them out, Elekiah and Thebay whip out the “no respect for elders” speech. CoBaD is on Patty’s side here. We believe “respect” should be earned, not something automatically given to someone when they reach an elderly age like some sort of senior discount.

Patty: “OUT!” - Like Dirty Harry, Patty’s weapon of choice is the Smith and Wesson Model 29 Model double revolver, which we found to be a rather odd choice as Revolver was not a double album.

Herbie, the “I am off to love” Bug – This label and Thebay’s hyperextended elbow are a reference to the Isadora Duncan’s memorable yet gruesome death on September 14, 1927. “I am off to love” were apparently the last words uttered to her friend Mary Desti before Isadora and her lover du jour drove off in an open-spoked wheel convertible. Wearing a long flowing scarf around her neck, Isadora’s scarf became entangled in the rear axle of the car. She was yanked out of the vehicle and died instantly. Gertrude Stein said of the incident “Affections can be dangerous.” No, you Nazi sympathizer, affections for Hitler can be dangerous. Wearing dangling long scarves out car windows is just stupid.

Voiceover: “Catch The Feebles, the world’s only 80-plus Beatles cartoon tribute band, every evening at MacDonald’s Old Farm Activity Center. Plus, this Saturday night only, see The Feebles live at Spinster Resort and Casino’s One Hit Wonder Amphitheatre as they open for 1980s where-are-they-now bands. Catch this one of a kind show as unforgettable rockers in their 80s play alongside forgotten rockers from the 80s. Don’t miss this opportunity to tap your foot to Feebles covers of Beatles tunes of yesteryear, then rush straight for the exit right after the 80s band which has no original band members remaining relives their three minutes of fame, leaving you free to drunkenly work the slot machines for the rest of the weekend.”

Spoof of a newspaper article we saw many years ago. A one hit wonder band from the 1990s was hired by a famous casino. They noted that in past performances at the casino that once they had played their famous hit, the audience (probably middle aged folks trying to relive their younger days) would get up and leave the amphitheater and head back to the casino. So the band decided not to play the hit in their sets, much to the chagrin of their audience (assuming they had any chagrin in the first place). The band was right; the audience was not being respectful. If the audience wanted to hear the hit, they could have just played it on their phones. Treating a band like a jukebox is very disrespectful. So just like the elderly Elekiah and Thebay, it seems like there’s quite a few middle aged folks out there that have yet to deserve respect.

The opening song, “Gunn Control” by Ryan Scott, and the closing song, “Venture to the North Pole” by The Commandeers, are courtesy premiumbeat.com.

References:
Wikipedia. Isadora Duncan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

Wikipedia. Smith & Wesson Model 29. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_&_Wesson_Model_29

YouTube. Parlogram. The Story of The Beatles Cartoon Series – Why & How It Was Made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS9Yn09NbO0