Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias (often erroneously spelled Alberto y Los Trios Paranoias) was a comedy rock band, formed in Manchester, England in 1973. Their story is told in the book 'When We Were Thin' (published 2007 by Hotun Press).Created in 1973 by former member of Greasy Bear -- Chris "C.P." Lee and Jimmy Hibbert (vocals, bass) and Bob Harding (vocals, guitar, bass), the comedy sketch outfit became a musical group in 1974 and was joined by former Greasy Bear drummer Bruce Mitchell (drums), with Les Prior (vocals), Simon White (steel guitar, guitar), Tony Bowers (bass, guitar) and Ray "Mighty Mongo" Hughes (second drummer). They became a popular support act, supporting Hawkwind on their 1974 tour. The group mercilessly parodied the major rock names of the 70s - "Anadin" was a reworking of Lou Reed's "Heroin" / "Sweet Jane". By 1975 they were topping the bill in their own right and were supported by such acts as The Police, The Stranglers and Blondie. As with many comedy ensembles, the Albertos belied their comic aspirations by their exemplary musicianship and they released three albums and a variety of spoof discs, culminating in the musical play "Snuff Rock".
"Snuff Rock" was the record-breaking musical play presented at London's Royal Court Theatre and Round House, and was famous for the role of the comic disc jockey played by Les Prior. The accompanying EP, "Snuff Rock", released on Stiff Records, poked fun at the punk rock phenomenon, targeting the Sex Pistols ("Gobbing On Life"), The Damned ("Kill") and The Clash ("Snuffin' Like That") as well as a myriad of reggae bands in "Snuffin' In A Babylon". For once, the Albertos' act was successfully transferred to vinyl. They hit the UK Top 50 with the Status Quo spoof, "Heads Down No Nonsense Mindless Boogie" in 1978. Les Prior died in January 1980 from leukemia, which left a large gap in the group.
After their nationally-networked TV show Teach Yourself Gibberish and a crack at America with Sleak, the Albertos called it a day in 1982.
The band's brand of spoof rock was in the same tradition as that of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and National Lampoon.
From Wikipedia
"Snuff Rock,Dada punk cabaret at it's best.Weirdos rockin' and rollin' with punkish attitude .Only for listeners with high sense of humor. Imagine Pere Ubu ,New York Dolls and T.Rex(minus the glitter and eyeliner) combined with Monty Pythons humor and you got Albertos.
get it here
anybody know the password to unzip this?
ReplyDeleteSounds very interesting!
there's no password
ReplyDeleteThanks. My unzip utility choked on it twice, but it worked this time.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteMy unzip utility choked on it twice, but it worked this time.
Thanks for this, I saw this band quite a lot at university in the late 70's, only managed to buy a couple of 7"'s, so this will bring back some good memories.
ReplyDeleteHi mutantsounds,
ReplyDeletethanks very much for the Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias debut - it's hilarious and I love it! However I'm prettyt confused about the deal with the last track. Your download has the last track as Mandrax Sunset Part VI, which goes for a only a couple of minutes, and it's credited as being from their second album, Italians From Outer Space. However I've seen the track-listing for the debut at Rate Your Music, and they say the last track is Mandrax Sunset Variations, with three different parts and going for 6 minutes. Just wondering, what happened to the rest of it?
regards,
Chris
Ok, Chris here again -
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this so much I went and bought the 2-CD compilation 'Mandrax Sunset variations' that collects their 3 albums in their entirety. Now I can say that the download here is not the full album, as the last track - Mandrax Sunset Part IV - is actually from the next album, Italians From Outer Space. So this download is missing perhaps the best track, the 6 minutes plus of Mandrax Sunset Parts I, II & III, and has substituted a [less than 2 minute] track from the second album in its place. Weird.
Chris