Product Description

Spike Jones, referred to by many as the "god father of music video mayhem," brought his special brand of notes and nuts to '50s network television. Sneezes, belches, coughs, razberries, tuned cowbells, auto horns, and gun-shots - along with the finest musicianship - made up Spike Jones' "Musical Depreciation Revue." The original bad boys of music directly influenced such musical iconoclasts as Stan Freberg, Ernie Kovacs, Frank Zappa and Weird Al Yankovic. Enjoy the zany antics of Spike Jones (who passed away in 1965) and the City Slickers in four of their most hilarious and memorable NBC television shows in this special four DVD collector's set. Includes the holiday favorite, "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth," and Jones' million-selling version of "Cocktails for Two."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10579 in DVD
• Brand: INFINITY RESOURCES
• Released on: 2007-10-30
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Collector's Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 340 minutes

Customer Reviews

Great Gift For Grampy
Gave the set to my elderly father. He's been rockin' out to it ever since. I remember hearing his LPs when I was a little kid and laughing my silly head off. Great for grampa. Great for little kids. I'm so glad this made it to a modern data format.

THE TITLE DOESN'T LIE!
Whether you are a long-time fan, or just discovering the genius of Spike Jones this is one boxed set you simply must have-"Spike Jones-The Legend" delivers. So little of Jones' visiual work is available and that is a shame for recordings alone, as good as they are, only capture half the fun of The City Slickers Musical Depreciation Reviews.

Watching these great old shows from televison's "Golden Age", it's almost staggering to see just how much sheer talent is (nearly) contained on one stage. Each and every band member, a genuine musical comedian in their own right offers up as many laughs as notes, while Jones, pistol in hand stands nearby leading, particpating and above all, appreciating the zaniness that unfolds around him. Add to the mix some variety acts of the day, a few popular celebrities and the ever beautiful songbird Helen Grayco nearby to restore some sanity to the controlled lunicy and you have more than a full evening's worth of true entertainment.

This terrific DVD set takes us back to when entertainment was clean, TV was funny and you never heard the phrase "parental guidence is suggested". While the silly man in the crazy suits often said "Thank you music lovers", after watching these shows, you will be saying "Thank you Spike Jones".

AN ABSOLUTE DELIGHT!
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!!