Mum and dad got me something interesting.

If you grew up in Ontario, Canada in the 70s and 80s, you probably remember watching City-TV, and later, MuchMusic! For me, the content I found there had a profound effect on the music I listened to and talked about, and my sense of humour. (SCTV!). In fact, it wasn’t until later in life that I discovered that some of the content featured there was NOT Canadian! I thought “Weird Al” was from…

01. Reservoir Dub "La Junta Radiente" 02. Pula Dub "Version" 03. Pula Dub "Original" 04. Mad Professor "Backward Sucking" 05. Pinch "Chamber Dub" 06. Bitter Sweet "Phaser Edit" 07. District "Transmission" 08. Stereotyp "Um-dois-Tres" 09. A Tribe Called Quest "Bugginout" ...

Lenny and The Squigtones: Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny and The Squigtones (1979)

Not to sound morbid, least of all callous, but I’m afraid that comedian David Lander -- known to most Americans of a certain age as Squiggy, of Laverne & Shirley fame -- had to die (on December 4, 2020, aged 73), after a 45-year battle with multiple sclerosis, for me to learn of this LP’s existence.

Along with his sidekick Lenny, played by the great Michael McKean, Lander turned oddball duo Lenny and Squiggy into a minor cultural phenomenon, capable of breaking the third wall to exist beyond the popular ‘70s sitcom starring Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney.

This 1979 album entitled Lenny & Squiggy Present Lenny and the Squigtones is the proof, and it was recorded live at L.A.’s Roxy Theatre then issued by Neil Bogart’s notorious Casablanca label (Kiss, Parliament, Donna Summer, etc.) precisely to capitalize on the fictional band’s name recognition, while it lasted.

As such, this set collates both comedy bits (e.g. “Babyland,” “Only Women Cry”) and 1950s rock parodies that the duo (who met as students at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University) brought to the TV show, including “Night After Night,” “Creature Without a Head,” and “Foreign Legion of Love.”

(Here’s a glimpse of how these songs figured in the sitcom itself, courtesy of the all-preserving magic of Youtube: “Night after Night,” “(If Only I had Listened To) Mama,” “Starcrossed.”)

But there’s another reason why this LP has become so collectible, and it lies with The Squigtones’ pseudonymous musicians: Murphy Dunne (also seen in The Blues Brothers) as keyboardist Lars Svenki, Steve Benderoth as bassist Dwight Knight, Don Poncher as drummer Ming the Merciless, and ... drum roll please ... Christopher Guest as guitarist NIGEL TUFNEL.

Now do you see the significance? We are all witnesses to the birth of Spinal Tap, Mk. I!

Indeed, Christopher/Nigel can even be seen peeling off one of his signature solos, then introducing himself with that trademark cockney accent, when Lenny and The Squigtones performed “King of the Cars” and “Love is a Terrible Thing” on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand!

All of which makes this LP (which you can stream in full here) a suitable subject for April Fools’ Day, don’t you think?

Why, there’s even a collectible poster (see above) included for the kids!

Unfortunately, as I said earlier, Landers has now left us, but McKean keeps adding to his remarkable body of work (his incredible performance in Better Call Saul showed just how underrated he is as an actor) along with Guest, though he may better-known nowadays as Mr. Jamie Lee Curtis.