Spike Jones The Legend [DVD]

I really needed a laugh! This is the best compilation of Spike Jones I've seen yet. Amazing DVD set for Spike Jones fans.

There is NO WAY I'll ever convince you to like Spike Jones unless you have an open mind, a well developed sense of humor, and are willing to appreciate absolute mayhem as entertainment. The Jones band didn't bill themselves as a "Music Depreciation Review" for nothing. They systematically "destroyed" all music that came their way by playing it in a totally unexpected fashion. However, if you listen carefully, you hear an extremely clever and talented rendition of music that might otherwise be considered as banal. The renditions are never "polite" or even reasonably truthful to the original. However, all are truly "howlers" due to their devilish reconstruction.If you are a music purist don't even consider buying this CD. If your tastes are in the more eclectic range and you enjoy a good laugh, buy this CD NOW!Note: Spike Jones was a product of the 1940's and his music reflects that era. If you're a fan of that era, Spike's stuff belongs in your collection. If for no other reason than as a reminder that we used to have a sense of humor.

Anyone old enough to remember the Colgate Comedy Hour will appreciate this collection of kinescopes from that show. The Colgate Comedy Hour featured a variety of stars from the 40s and 50s. Spike Jones was a band leader, famous for his outrageous ripoff satires of popular songs of the era. Probably most famous for an anti-Hitler song "Der Fuhrer's Face", featured in a Walt Disney Cartoon, and a hit number "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth". These DVDs feature several full length Colgate Comedy Hour shows that he did, complete. They are silly, stupid, and hilarious!As one would expect from kinescopes (the only means of saving live TV in those days--recording on film directly from a TV monitor), the quality of the video is not terribly great, but it's good enough to enjoy shows that would otherwise be gone forever. We're lucky to have these..the kinescopes of many of the great shows of the era were not preserved, and these are certainly watchable. Enjoy! I do.

It's difficult to write this review, because I haven't stopped laughing since I put the first of the four excellent discs into my player. I've been a fan of Spike Jones since I was a kid, but being in Australia, we never got to see any of his TV appearances in the Colgate and other shows. These DVDs bring out the best of Spike's comic genius. The comedy sketches are a bit old fashioned and the rather 'in your face' commercials pushing tooth paste and cleaning agents in the Colgate shows we could do without, but the musical items are an absolute gem. Spike may have murdered the classics, but he and his masterful musicians provided an entertainment that the world desperately needs, moreso today than it ever did. Regardless of the commercials and comedy sketches which seem slow and ponderous by today's standards, the four discs in this pack are excellent value. If you don't get at least a dozen laughs out of all the discs, you'd better have your pulse checked.

This a treasure trove of Spike Jones material. Spike Jones was the only man alive who could play cowbells, gargle and chew gum at the same time.The DVDs contain classic TV performances by Spike Jones and the City Slickers from the Colgate Comedy Hour and the All Star Revue, perhaps the best examples of the variety show format and video production in television's early days (1951-2).Other disks contain special video and audio interviews and archive material.This is madcap television and music with adlibs and asides that allow the viewer to be "in" on the jokes. Such fun, we had tears streaming down. Made before the days of video editing, we can see the spontaneity, great music-sense, invention and comic timing of the whole Spike Jones band, without retakes.Very funny, this is a classic piece of TV history. Thanks to Spike Jones, Jr., for restoring it and making this available.Never has there been better ensemble television!!

Once again the spirited and rediculous Spike Jones Band can be seen and heard - to some of us "oldies," and hopefully to a bunch of "newbies," for our/their entertainment and laughter. I hadn't forgotten the antics, but was most happy to see ad hear them again. This is somthing one wants to keep in his archives for rainy days.

Great collection. My mom loved it.

Spike Jones The Legend is great mad cap fun. You will laugh untill it hurts. Spike and his band were great musicians and crazy wild comedians. Seems pretty clear that the Monty Python crew must have taken some inspiration from these guys. Enjoy

brilliant truly a one off NUFF SAID

I haven't yet seen the whole program but, as a Spike Jones fan from the 1950's, I am pleased with what I have seen and heard. I especially liked finding more about "Spike" personally. I have his 78's, 45's, 33's, CD's and VCR's but what's included in the DVD's made their acquisition worthwhile.

You can't go wrong with Spike Jones. I figured that he was inspiration for Frank Zappa.