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At the Drop of a Hat | 
 enlarge | Artist: Michael Flanders & Donald Swann
Label: EMI Europe Generic
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $7.49
You Save: $9.49 (56%)
New (12) Used (5) from $7.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 27896
Format: Import, Live
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 077779746521
EAN: 0077779746521
ASIN: B000026GPR
Release Date: July 15, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | A Transport of Delight | | • | Song of Reproduction | | • | The Gnu Song | | • | Design for Living | | • | Je Suis Les Tenebreux | | • | Songs for Our Time (Philological Waltz/Satellite Moon/A Happy Song) | | • | A Song for the Weather | | • | The Reluctant Cannibal | | • | Greensleeves | | • | Misalliance | | • | Kokoraki | | • | Madeira, M'Dear | | • | Too Many Cookies | | • | Vanessa | | • | Tried by the Centre Court | | • | The Youth of the Heart - Flanders & Swann, Carter, Sean | | • | The Hippopotamus Song |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Witty performance for Anglophiles November 18, 2008
My brother out-law hooked us into this by giving us the Bestiary album. We enjoyed the songs so much that we went looking for more. The humor is very English, the historical references are sometimes dated (and therefore educational) and the music is first-rate. I must also add that the lyrical complexity is something that bears more than one listen. Flanders manages to squeeze so much meaning out of so few words, that one picks up new insights even after many listens.
One of the funniest records ever made! September 6, 2008
First heard this when I was in grade school and 50+ years later am still singing the songs on it. We used to listen to it when we came home from school for lunch and with the family after dinner. It never lost it's appeal.
old and still good February 20, 2005
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I count myself a rare American who appreciates this recording. My uncle sent it to me on tape when I was quite small. my mom, ever handy with the censor's razor blade, let it go--untouched--in spite of the song about madeira, which I now know is about an old man doing the nasty to a young innocent lass. back then, of course, I thought it was about cake! with both mom and uncle passed on, I wanted to buy up what music of theirs I could locate, and I fortunately found the Complete Flanders and Swann, apparently no longer available. i bought up the copy and didn't get scalped, somehow. 45 years after the songs were sung, "Transport of Delight," "Soung of Reproduction," and "reluctant Cannibal," and yes even "Song of the Weather," still reverberate in my mind. i used to sing "The Gas Man Cometh," from the "At the drop of Another Hat" show album, in performances as a teen-ager, and sometimes even got good results. any of their albums are money well spent.
 Not What it Claims to be December 10, 2004
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
For those of you who grew up with the UK recording of "At the Drop of a Hat" be warned - in spite of what it says on the box this is NOT the recording of the 1959 show at the Fortune Theatre. This is the Broadway show.
The identity of the recording can be determined in the first minute from Flanders' introduction of Swann as "noted composer, pianist, linguist, also contains lanolin" - in the Fortune Theatre recording he is introduced as "noted composer, pianist, linguist, and all round egghead". There are substantial differences in the two performances, not least of which the pace which is a lot quicker in this recording, lacking the elegant timing which characterised the UK performance and which is comparable to the available CD of "At the Drop of Another Hat" (which WAS recorded in the UK).
Many of the jokes and asides are different - for instance in "Have Some Madeira", the Fortune Theatre recording includes an aside "He slyly inveigled her up to his flat, to view his collection of stamps [aside] All unperforated! ha ha ha ..." clearly this was regarded as too risque for the US performance.
The songs are the same vintage and hilarious Flanders and Swann but the presentation, to me, is nowhere close to the quality of the earlier performance - it sounds to me like they were by this stage tired of the material and "going through the motions" for an audience that they did not relate to in the same way as an English audience.
Incidentally - Too Many Cookers, Vanessa, Tried by the Centre Court and The Youth of the Heart were not on the original LP recording and judging from the acoustics these were recorded elsewhere. The sleeve notes identify these as being recorded in 1957, 2 years prior to the Fortune Theatre performance.
Good Memories!! December 4, 2000
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
My father used to work in the kitchen, cooking or cleaning, with music playing in the background. One of his favorites was this album by Flanders & Swann. He had seen the show and loved the record. I sang the songs through my childhood and now I sing them to my children, my co-workers, my friends! I only just realized that I can get the original album on CD. WHAT JOY!!!
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