Driving through the hot night/ without my headlights/ 20-20 hindsight
It is odd how something can seem relatively normal at the time but around twenty years later the same event will be completely incomprehensible.
People of arrange my age or older will probably remember the disastrous attempt at sketch comedy formerly known as “The Comedy Company”. Yes, the show that was responsible for such appalling blights on our culture as Con the Offensive Ethnic Stereotype, and which launched the careers of Russell “British Comedy Classics” Gilbert and Glenn “please stop it” Robbins. Sure, at the time I was proud that they filmed a sketch at my school and the “Advance Australia – Learn Languages” poster I made for my Year 8 German class briefly achieved national prominence by being in the background for about 3.4 seconds, but apart from that the show was an exercise in finding the lowest common denominator Kylie Mole style and I’m deeply embarrassed that I ever watched it.
Anyway, at some point in this show’s mercifully brief history, probably around 1987, ABBA decided to tour again and the Comedy Company duly assembled the usual suspects for a musical parody. The baffling part was that they decided to parody not just ABBA, but also the recent nuclear non-proliferation summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhael Gorbachov.
For memory, the lyrics, sung to the tune of “Mama Mia”, went something like this:
Ronnie Reagan, here we go again/ talking non-proliferation/
Ronnie Reagan, in Moscow again/ talking missile limitation/
But when the talking’s finished/ stockpiles are undiminished/
Why why, did they ever let him go
At the time, this didn’t seem odd. However, I now find it utterly beyond all comprehension that, within my lifetime, there was a time when the possibility of nuclear holocaust was so much a part of our everyday experience that it didn’t seem odd when the most lightweight, apolitical sketch comedy program in the history of this country presented us with amusing songs about it.
I’m curious as to what will seem equally odd in another twenty years.
People of arrange my age or older will probably remember the disastrous attempt at sketch comedy formerly known as “The Comedy Company”. Yes, the show that was responsible for such appalling blights on our culture as Con the Offensive Ethnic Stereotype, and which launched the careers of Russell “British Comedy Classics” Gilbert and Glenn “please stop it” Robbins. Sure, at the time I was proud that they filmed a sketch at my school and the “Advance Australia – Learn Languages” poster I made for my Year 8 German class briefly achieved national prominence by being in the background for about 3.4 seconds, but apart from that the show was an exercise in finding the lowest common denominator Kylie Mole style and I’m deeply embarrassed that I ever watched it.
Anyway, at some point in this show’s mercifully brief history, probably around 1987, ABBA decided to tour again and the Comedy Company duly assembled the usual suspects for a musical parody. The baffling part was that they decided to parody not just ABBA, but also the recent nuclear non-proliferation summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhael Gorbachov.
For memory, the lyrics, sung to the tune of “Mama Mia”, went something like this:
Ronnie Reagan, here we go again/ talking non-proliferation/
Ronnie Reagan, in Moscow again/ talking missile limitation/
But when the talking’s finished/ stockpiles are undiminished/
Why why, did they ever let him go
At the time, this didn’t seem odd. However, I now find it utterly beyond all comprehension that, within my lifetime, there was a time when the possibility of nuclear holocaust was so much a part of our everyday experience that it didn’t seem odd when the most lightweight, apolitical sketch comedy program in the history of this country presented us with amusing songs about it.
I’m curious as to what will seem equally odd in another twenty years.
posted by I'm not Craig at 8:52 PM
7 Comments:
I remember that sketch. Sigrid Thornton was in it.
They also did a lawyer joke as I recall, it was to the tune of 'I do' and went something like this
"So come on now and try it/
Accuse me, I'll deny it/
And I'll sue...
I'll sue, I'll sue, I'll sue, I'll sue"
Are you sure this didn't subliminally determine your life path, INCraig?
"INCraig"? Is INC the first blogger to be shrunk down, injected into a friend and is posting from various points along the journey?
I have to admit that Glenn Robbins and the Comedy Company did introduce the concept of Daggy Dancing into my life and my dancefloor moves have been sensational ever since.
I'm hoping in 20 years we find it bizarre and inefficent that we typed on a keyboard - my top of hands are hanging for that technology. Hopefully we won't saying things like "Whoa, that Waterworld really did predict things quite accurately."
I used to love Col'n Carpenter. In fact my brother and I still quote a few of his lines.
Hopefully, the Howard Government every having been elected will be incomprehensible.
Although maybe not. It is, in fact, incomprehensible now!
I hope we see people strolling about in the year 2027 saying to each other: “can you believe back then nobody was wearing Hammer pants!?” That would be awesome.
If we're all wearing Hammer pants then the future looks bright.
Oh no Harpo!
You've just given me bad flashbacks to my Year 12 Althetics Carnival when all of the boys from Burraneer House wore lime green hammer pants (kindly sewn by Mrs Smith)... my eyes, my brain, they hurt...
I also remember this sketch of which you speak. Does this make us all terribly old?
It was so poignant as I lived close to the Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor and also remember watching a Channel Seven 'special' on nuclear war which showed a graphic of 'what would go if ANSTO was blown up' - pretty much all of the Sutherland Shire basically...
I'm blathering. I'll shut up now.
Giggles
That is correct, and they brought it home with a little tune suggesting the latest tour was financially motivated, in teh manner of "Waterloo/ taking your money is what we do etc"
Yes, this did determine my life path. Oh nuts.
Adam
Re INCraig, what the hell are you talking about/yes
Re your hands, did you get my email with recommendations of an osteopath? If so, sounds like i need to update her rating from 'can fix anything' to 'can fix anything except Adam's hands, also not great with tooth decay/leaking brake cylinders/the cruciatus curse
re Waterworld
This movie will be presented as proof that NO ONE WAS INTERESTED IN SERIOUS WARNINGS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
Leilani
Col'n was one of the funnier characters, although he probably shouldn't have done that sitcom.
Meva
Tragically, I can understand why people vote for Howard. I just haven't figured out how to make them all stop at once.
Harpo
A future like that? So bright I'd have o wear shades
Actonb
Yes, I suspect it does. The good news is that, thanks to Lucas Heights not blowing up, we all get the opportunity to become terribly old.
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