I Must Be In Love

You have probably heard of the fab four - or The Beatles - but have you heard of the prefab four? Barry, Stig, Dirk and Nasty formed the band The Rutles, and they were a great inspiration for the other band from Liverpool - at least according to the mockumentary The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash.

The Rutles was the brainchild of Eric Idle of Monty Python fame and Neil Innes, who started his career with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and worked closely with Monty Pyhton as well. While they started on the Eric Idle TV show Rutland Weekend Television in 1975, the full mockumentary was released in 1978 featuring Eric Idle as Dirk McQuigley and Neil Innes as Ron Nasty (representations of Paul McCartney and John Lennon respectively). It featured several of the early SNL cast members (Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Bill Murray), as well as George Harrison (who also financed the movie), Bianca Jagger, and Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame).

The movie is incredibly funny, but to me, the best part is how well the songs are written. I believe it was my friend Stein Pettersen who said that the genius of the music is that you really think you are hearing The Beatles without quite placing the song - and that is on full view in today's song. It is funny - and it is just like The Beatles. Except it isn't. It is The Rutles with the song I Must Be In Love with the immortal line, "I feel good, I feel bad, I feel happy, I feel sad..." That's all the emotions you need to know in one line. I will be eternally grateful to Stein and Kjell Pettersen for introducing me to the brilliance of The Rutles!