THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "DOUBLE TROUBLE" -NEW SERIES! WITH PETER COOK, DUDLEY MOORE, JAN BERRY, AND DEAN TORRANCE. TWO PAIRS OF ODD-FELLOWS, CAVORTING FOR OUR PLEASURE - DOUBLE DOWN!

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Right here, squaring off, from opposite sides of the Atlantic, we present: Dueling tag-teams of zaniness — wearing fanciful disguises, winking at traditional forms, and tweeting in a birdlike falsetto… Good stuff!

BEDAZZLED

The Faustian satire Bedazzled, created by genius comedian Peter Cook (who plays the Devil trying to bargain for souls), makes good use of the talents of his Chaplin-esque comedy partner, Dudley Moore (who you might remember from the hit films Ten and Arthur), who plays the shlumpy Wimpy Burger cook, Stanley, willing to bargain away his mortal soul for love.

The team first worked together in the early 60s smash stage revue BEYOND THE FRINGE, then coalesced on the BBC as Pete and Dud, (and, later, even more darlingly in the scatalogical bootleg recordings of Derek and Clive). In 1966, with Bedazzled they were on the rise commercially, and Moore, an Oxford trained classical and jazz pianist, wrote all the music for the film.

In this cut, entitled Leaping Nuns chorus, the sisters of the Order of Saint Beryl (including Stanley in full habit) show their devotion to the Saint by jumping on trampolines.

JAN AND DEAN MEET BATMAN

Also in ‘66, laboring secretly on a similar track, energized by the same Goon Show type inspiration, Jan Berry and Dean Torrance were working to expand, (but not abandon) their surf sound by adding a storyline and special effects, and creating some nutty theater of the mind.

Who knows where this might have led, if Jan’s tragic car collision a few week’s after the record’s release, (resulting in his massive head injuries), hadn’t sidelined the team’s ambitions? Perhaps a blockbuster TV series…?

There was always a comic element to the Jan and Dean performance style. (Check out the classic Rock concert film Tami Show, which they hosted). They may have looked like copper toned surf hunks, but maybe there was some Abbott and Costello lurking beneath the Golden Boy surface.

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