The most legendary band in music history - The Rutles - are reuniting! The band, which recently announced the October release on Virgin Records of its legendary Archaeology album of vintage, hitherto buried material, has decided to reform for the recording of a new track. The song, "Shangri-La," will be the first single from Archaeology.
To celebrate their reunion, the band will be joined for the recording by an invitation-only group of superstar friends and artists. These special guests will sing on the chorus of "Shangri-La." Naturally, an event of such magnitude could only take place in New York.
The session will take place at an undisclosed New York recording studio on the evening of September 3 - the night before this year's MTV Video Music Awards (also being held in New York). Invitations to witness and partake in the most eagerly-awaited reunion in music history are certain to be highly-prized. To maintain security, the location will be kept secret.
Among the many stars expected to attend are diverse names including Oasis, Tony Bennett, Peter Gabriel, The Cranberries, Eartha Kitt, Cindy Lauper, Ben E. King, David Sanborn, Richie Havens, Corey Glover, Joey Ramone, Richard Belzer, Elliot Gould and Janeane Garofalo. And, as Rutles frontman Ron Nasty puts it, "Everybody in between."
The recording of "Shangri-La" will be filmed for use as a music video to promote the new single and album. This event is likely to evoke memories of The Rutles' momentous 1967 recording of their Summer of Love anthem "Love Life" - accompanied by many of their pals. That occasion was transmitted live by satellite to over 400 million TV viewers around the world.
Three of the four original Rutles will be present to record the song - Ron Nasty, Stig O'Hara and Barry Wom. The fourth Rutle - Dirk McQuickly - will not be available for the session. The Rutles issued a simple statement: "Sadly, Dirk is no longer with us. He's gone into comedy."
The Archaeology album and new single will both be issued worldwide on October 29 by Virgin Records. Aside from the new single, the album consists of material the band was working on when they broke up amid squabbles and lawsuits. Those tapes - until recently - had been buried in a time capsule "to thwart bootleggers. And tax authorities." The plan was for them to stay buried for a thousand years. When asked why The Rutles themselves dug up the legendary tapes, Ron Nasty simply stated, "Things change." All further queries have been referred to the band's accountants.
Archaeology will be the first release of any Rutles material since their greatest hits compilation All You Need Is Cash was released in 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. That album, and its CD reissue in 1991 by Rhino Records, has been an outstanding seller.
Not known at this time is whether the band will reunite to perform live. Apart from their famous rooftop concert - seen in the All You Need Is Cash documentary - the band has not given a public performance since 1966.
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