The Moptops
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The Moptops

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"A Hard Day's Day"

A Hard Day's Day
Film directed by DAVID K. KESSLER
Review and interview by Ronnie
(Additional questions by Christine "Darling" Feldman)

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REVIEW

A HARD DAY'S DAY is a 'must have' for Beatles fans, if for no other reason than to see if you can point out all the Beatle references cleverly placed throughout the film. Although the short film only clocks in at 9 minutes (the video at 7), it is a thoroughly enjoyable tribute to the Beatles. Loosely based on the HARD DAY'S NIGHT theme, it is really a combination of the zany, fast-paced HARD DAY'S NIGHT with the surrealistic feel of HELP (and the musical comedy of the Rutles thrown in for good measure)!

Basically, the film is about the 'day in the life' of a Beatles tribute band. I don't want to give away all the "goodies", so I'll only mention a few of the obvious. The HARD DAYS NIGHT references are easy to spot, like the chase scene at the beginning, a "This Boy" scene where the Asian Ringo (John calls him Chingo at one point?!) sadly contemplates being kicked out of the group, the running up and down of stairs when they try to find Chingo, and finally the "Are you a mod or a rocker" question complete with a hilarious variation! The surrealistic images of HELP are subtler - such as the marathon runners during the chase scene, the overweight fan chasing Paul, and the band waiting 3 hours for a bus to their meeting in LA. I nearly fell out of my chair when John explained, "Sorry…I only pointed out the fact that Ringo's nose is bigger than most noses. I didn't say we were bigger than Moses…"

And then there's the music. It would have been to costly to get the original Beatles music - plus I feel you would lose some of the effect, since this IS a faux Beatles band! There are basically 4 songs used throughout the film. The opening song sounds, of course, like a variation of "A Hard Day's Night" - cleverly using the middle guitar break from the original song to form a similar melody. When Chingo is sadly walking during his "This Boy" scene, of course the song is a clever take on "This Boy." A Beatles-sounding variation of "Roll Over Beethoven" is used during the scene where the Mop Tops are frantically searching for Chingo. Finally, there is the ending song where the band has their "big gig" and starts into "Twist & Shout". Or is it? I'm not going to give this one away - only going to tell you that you will be in hysterics when you hear what song they are really singing!

- Review


"The "New" Rutles"

Joe Stefanelli was and is "the John" for The Moptops, the Beatle tribute band who for two nights were "The New Rutles" with Neil Innes. Since that time, The Moptops have gone from playing all over L.A. to playing all over the world. Joe was also the voice of John Lennon in Forrest Gump! Having just returned to L.A. from a Moptop tour of Taiwan, he told us all about the experience of being a "New Rutle" for a weekend.

At the time, we were the big Beatles tribute group. We were the up 'n' comers in the city. We caught the interest a long time before of Martin Lewis, who would bring us in to do work and do stuff with him. All of a sudden, we were asked to do these Rutle songs. At the time I really didn't know the Rutles that well. I remembered it was a Monty Python thing. I had to rent the movie and go watch it. I said, "Which one are we working with?" And he says we're working with Ron Nasty. That's Neil Innes. He's going to front the band, and he's going to be Ron Nasty and the New Rutles. And then the joke is obvious you have guys up there that look just like the Beatles. So I remember learning these songs in the studio, and we had this appointment to meet Neil when he came in. So we're in there and we haven't met Neil yet, and we all just watched the movie, and we're expecting this guy that looks like that. And here comes Neil, looking as he does in a Hawaiian shirt and a straw large brimmed hat. And my drummer and I were like, "That's him?" He came in and jeez, we got on like a house on fire and had a ball. The songs are really good. We were trying to pick out the different songs of the Beatles. There are some of them that had two or three different songs in one song. But we noticed that they were songs that stood on their own. They're very good songs.

Two nights before the gig we went to this big party at the British Consulate. And then we met Eric Idle. At the time I think they were in a bit of a spat. I think Eric didn't want us doing the concert or something, because he wasn't very nice to us. The rest of the Pythons were there, but I don't think John Cleese was there. But I met Sid Cesar, Jeff Lynne was there. We met all these people, and people loved us!

When we arrived at the Troubadour, they were lined around the block going all the way up Doheny. And I'm talking four deep! It went over so well that they had to add a second show because there were people around the block trying to get into the Troubadour. People were turned away. And who was in the audience that night, it was incredible! Julian Lennon was in the audience. The guys from Spinal Tap were there. The Rolling Stones were reportedly going to show up but I think they had a gig that night. I mean, there was a ton of people. We got to do a set of our own as the Beatles right after the show. Then Neil came up and joined us in the band, and then Greg Phillinganes stayed up and he did his little characters like Billy Preston. Greg Phillinganes played with us. And we did USSR, he came and sat in. It was really a cool evening. It was really great. I remember to this day, I got home after and sat on the couch and I thought to myself, "What the hell happened? What was this?" I had no idea the popularity of that Rutle movie was so extensive. Then they decided to add that second show and believe me, it was last minute. I got a call early the next morning, they wanted to do another show, can we do it? It was very much like that.

We had to play with an orchestra. They were players from the Hollywood Bowl symphony orchestra. They added a second show but they couldn't contract the Hollywood Bowl people because they didn't have the time to do it or they were committed or something. What ended up happening is, they had to simulate it or do a keyboard. Because they only came in on Doubleback Alley and all those ones. They came in for that stuff, and that was what they were there for. So we figured we could get away with it.

Neil did his little Bonzo Dog thing. Some of his songs in the center. I think he was surprised. I think he was.

The big disappointment of that whole thing is that we were scheduled to go on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Neil and the New Rutles were scheduled, and we were supposed to go down there when they film the show at 6:00. Like 4:00 in the afternoon we get the phone call: well there's some scheduling mix up and we got dropped. And we had called everybody saying, "We're going to be on the Tonight Show!" We had to call everybody back. I learned valuable lesson; until you're in the green room, you're not even safe!

Neil is a very nice guy. He's a really beautiful guy. He always treated us with a lot of respect and he always remembered me, which I always appreciated. I've called him at home a couple of times over the years since to get his advice and to see if he'd be interested in some other projects, and he always talked to me and always communicated to me and gave me advice.

This thing I think wasn't - rutlemania.org


Discography

"LOCOMOTION-THE MOPTOPS" 2006

Locomotion
A Hard Day's Night
Can't Buy Me Love
From Me To You
And I Love Her
Eight Days A Week
We Can Work It Out
Help!
Nowhere Man
Rock And Roll Music (Live at Candlestick Park)
I Feel Fine (Live at Candlestick Park)
Money (Live at Candlestick Park)

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Bio

THE MOPTOPS

The original members of THE MOPTOPS were cast as look-a-likes of The Beatles in 1992 by Paramount Television for the highly rated "I, Elvis" mini-series. On the set, they discovered that they all also played as musicians and quickly formed the band.

Since then, THE MOPTOPS have become one of the world's hottest entertainment tribute acts, and with their uncanny resemblance to The Beatles, their tribute is like no other. Rather than emulating the Broadway "Beatlemania", format that most Beatles tribute acts do, The MOPTOPS try to recreate what it might been like to see the Beatles in concert. All members have studied hours upon hours of concert footage of the Beatles to make their recreation as authentic as possible. As Bill Westbrook (Entertainment Director of the Edgewater Hotel & Casino) stated, "The MOPTOPS do what no other Beatles tribute act can. The combination of their look, sound, and personalities enable them to create the feeling that you are actually in the presence of The Beatles." With authentic Liverpool accents, 60s clothing, haircuts, and exact replicas of The Beatles’ musical instruments and equipment. THE MOPTOPS recreate the energy, excitement, and spontaneity of The Fab Four that would win over any or die hard Beatles fan.

Although based in Southern California, THE MOPTOPS’ accomplishments are recognized on an international level. In November of 1995, The MOPTOPS were selected over a host of other tribute bands by Capitol Records to promote the new blockbuster Beatles’ album, "Anthology I". They are constantly requested to commemorate other historic events, such as the thirty-fifth anniversary of Dodger Stadium, and they have just returned from a tour of Japan commemorating The Beatles’ legendary tour, thirty years ago. Their popularity is also rapidly growing in The Beatles’ community. Their long list of fans include Cynthia Lennon, Angie & Ruth McCartney, and Alan White (former drummer of John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band).

In addition to their "I, Elvis" television debut, The MopTops have been featured on national and local magazine shows, numerous music videos, and independent feature films. Joe Stefanelli (John Lennon) was cast after a national search to portray Lennon in the Tom Hanks movie "Forest Gump."

Special events, casinos, fairs, festivals, promotions, corporate functions, and private parties make up most of THE MOPTOPS’ calendar, because they are more than just a tribute....THEY’RE AN EVENT! And one, you won’t want to miss!!