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The Complete Flanders & Swann: Michael Flanders, Donald Swann

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Rating: - Witty, civilised, scintillating

Bliss! If you tire of entertainment aimed purely at the lowest common denominator then this is the welcome antithesis. The other reviews say it all really. The wordplay of Flanders is just fabulous, the wit perfect, Swann's music light but expertly arranged, and they're not afraid to make references that are, for want of a better word, "intellectual" - in other words, for all the fun and silliness (and they really are very funny), they treat their audience like grown-ups. The result is a box set that is highly original, utterly pleasurable, and often of a range and depth that one wouldn't have at first suspected. "Misalliance" is, at first glance a trivial piece of nonsense about a honeysuckle and a bindweed, but ends up as a surprisingly powerful piece about the freedom to love regardless of race, religion or any other restriction.

I too would place Flanders and Swann in the same corpus as Gilbert and Sullivan, Wilde, Jerome K Jerome, Chesterton and Wodehouse, but that doesn't mean this box set can't sit next to your Franz Ferdinand or Scissor Sisters albums - the criterion isn't whether something is modern bur whether its good. Listen to these three CDs and you realise you are in the presence of two massive talents. Sometimes you have to look to the past to find something new and Flanders and Swann are a breath of fresh air. Brilliant!

Rating: - Timeless humour

I don't expect there are many 20-something year olds who enjoy Flanders and Swann but I am proud to be one of them. I learnt to sing the Hippopotamus Song at school and then my mum introduced me to this fine collection.

Nothing makes me giggle more that The Gas Man Cometh or playing the Song of Patriotic Prejudice at top volume with 'foreigners' in the house!

I am proud to say I once saw Donald Swann on stage about a year before his death (and, thanks to a kindly employee, even have his autograph). Together, Flanders and Swann were one of a kind - unmissable British humour at its best!

Rating: - Comedy changes with the seasons, wit is timeless

Comedy changes with the seasons, but wit is timeless. Oscar Wilde never goes out of fashion, because he ignored fashion. In the same way, Flanders & Swann remain relevant because their material was selected with care to tap into the eternal concerns of middle-class audiences.

There is still much to surprise and delight as F&S take on public transport, hi-hi, parking, xenophobia, relationships, popular songs, animals fictional and real, even war (arguably, F&S were never more powerful and relevant than in the two very dark anti-war songs included on the third CD, perhaps inspired by Swann's Quaker sympathies), and much more besides.

True, many songs and commentaries by Flanders & Swann may seem dated because the personalities are long gone, but the veracity of Flanders' rapier wit in pricking inflated egos is just as relevant today as it has ever been, echoing the skills of WS Gilbert and others to transcend their time (just insert the names of your least favourite politicians!) While Flanders publically mocked satire ("It has rightly been said that the role of satire is to strip away the veneer from society. Our role as I see it is to put it back"), he was not averse to indulging in what for the time was fairly pungent satire (shame that the wonderful 'Hole in my Budget' is not included here.)

But overall, the mood is light and affectionately funny. Who could fail to enjoy Madeira M'dear, The Gasman Cometh or Ill Wind. Simple, light, refreshing and performed with consummate skill, and leaving the listener with a smile. What more could you want?

Rating: - Two Gentlemen of Music

I was fortunate enough to see At The Drop of Another Hat in London. These CDs bring back the memory of that evening very clearly indeed. The gentle satire of Flanders' words combined with Swann's incomparable music epitomise that era. If in doubt, buy it. You won't regret it at all.

Rating: - They make an old fan very happy

Flanders, the perfect after dinner speaker with a delightfully mellow and versatile baritone voice; Swann, the supreme partner, both on the keyboard and in the singing. Michael Flanders is expert with language, Donald Swann with music: the latter achieving the highest art -- that of singing counterpoint with MF while playing the perfect accompanist on the piano to them both. All this, and it is VERY funny: even when the jokes are dated they retain their punch and they are told and sung so well that they still convey their humour, and, on occasion, biting satire. These are timeless pieces with duets, solos, monologues and instrumental displays linked by MF in inimitable form. There will never be the like again.

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