Classical humour

December 15, 2009 7:43 PM

Westminster Gold reissued classical albums in the seventies. The covers could be racy [slightly NSFW], unusual, puzzling, irreverent, and employ national stereotypes, but my favourites are the literal puns like Pops Promenade and Allegri String Quartet.
posted by tellurian (16 comments total)

Best of Beethoven, favorite.
posted by Huck500 at 7:54 PM on December 15, 2009

I'd like to think Romeo would take off his huge socks before lying down to make love.
posted by Bromius at 8:01 PM on December 15, 2009

Wow! Where'd he get those awesome sandals!
posted by Balisong at 8:10 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Wow! Where'd he get those awesome sandals!

That picture just gets stranger the more you look at it - the incredibly crotchful panty shot, the bizarre headdress she's wearing which is seemingly assembled out of slices of zucchini, his apparent lack of genitals. It's terrific.
posted by eatyourcellphone at 8:21 PM on December 15, 2009

A little bit of night music, if you catch my drift.
posted by paisley henosis at 8:37 PM on December 15, 2009

I love stuff like this. Some of them are just awful. Barber, get it? I'd seen a lot of these, but never connected them to one company. Thanks, tellurian.
posted by mediareport at 9:06 PM on December 15, 2009

"Best of Beethoven, favorite."
posted by Huck500

Breast of Beethoven, favorite.

These are all awesome. Great find.
posted by not_on_display at 9:55 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

not_on_display---don't you mean Bust of Beethoven?
posted by Bromius at 9:57 PM on December 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

That "puzzling" one looks like it belongs to something that came out on Warp in the late 90s.
posted by DecemberBoy at 10:47 PM on December 15, 2009

Back in the day, I would play classical music on the record player in the library and display the album so that savvy kids could start their journey by learning what the heck they were listening to. A teacher complained that the Planets album was too racy. So I knew what that link was going to be before I clicked on it--and was delighted to see it again.
posted by ancientgower at 1:19 AM on December 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Some of them are just awful. Barber, get it?
What about Organs of the national shrine what does that even mean?
posted by tellurian at 4:47 AM on December 16, 2009

I don't understand this, and I like it. (I could be hungry.)
posted by not_on_display at 5:35 AM on December 16, 2009

I'm pretty sure that my folks wouldn't have allowed me to own several of these albums as a teenager, purely because of the covers. Also, I think that The Planets cover may have invented fanservice.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:20 AM on December 16, 2009

I love that the fanservice wikipedia article has a [citation needed] on the assertion that jiggling breasts are a common form of fanservice in anime.
posted by Babblesort at 8:38 AM on December 16, 2009

I don't understand this, and I like it.

I'm guessing it alludes to whatever happens after Brahms Lullaby. Great set!
posted by furtive at 8:42 PM on December 16, 2009

heh!
posted by furtive at 8:49 PM on December 16, 2009