I Tried To Be A Puppet On Spitting Image But Failed The Audition
Previously on this blog we’ve posted the rare occasions where, when asked, Angus Deayton has proved surprisingly chatty about his time in The HeeBeeGeeBees. But what about the band’s lead singer-songwriter Philip Pope - is he also as forthcoming with recollections?
We’ve only been able to uncover one printed interview with Philip Pope, published in the Record Mirror to promote the release of Spitting Image’s The Chicken Song as a single. Although the article mainly focuses on this track and other aspects of Spitting Image - fascinating in itself - Pope does let slip a few choice nuggets for the HeeBeeGeeBees aficionado. From pages 22 to 23 of the Record Mirror, Saturday the 17th of May 1986 - sadly the picture that originally accompanied this article, and is referred to several times throughout it, was unavailable to us:
‘I TRIED TO BE A PUPPET ON SPITTING IMAGE BUT I FAILED THE AUDITION’
Philip Pope, the man behind Spitting Image’s ‘Chicken Song’. takes the salami out of his ears and deposits a deck chair on his handkerchief.
Spitting fire: Robin - do, do, do the funky chicken - Smith
This man looks as if he’s an ordinary bloke who loves chickens and minds his own business. But Phil Collins, Michael Jackson, ZZ Top and Julio Iglesias are just a few of the people who would like to strangle him.
He’s Philip Pope, a master mimic whose formidable range of voices can be heard in action during Spitting Image. Phil is also the show’s musical director and the man behind the Spitting Image single ‘The Chicken Song’.
Phil’s most cruel impersonation so far was mimicking Phil Collins on a song called ‘Hello, I Must Be Gone’. Collins was said to be extremely upset when he first saw himself so ruthlessly caricatured.
“I study a song and then the idea is to exaggerate certain parts of it,” explains Philip. “You pick up on certain aspects of the music and amplify them. Phil Collins has a very distinctive style; there was a lot to inspire me.
“I also do a fair Frank Sinatra, but I’m not in the mood for doing him at the moment. There are a lot of very talented people involved in Spitting Image. We’ve built up a good range of voices which are very close to the originals.
“I tried to be a puppet on Spitting Image, but I failed the audition, so they employed me on the musical side instead.”
If Philip’s face now looks a bit familiar it’s probably because you’ve seen him in another TV show full of hard hitting comedy, ‘Who Dares Wins’. A few years back, Phil also played Dobbin in the spoof group the Hee Bee Gee Bees. One of their claims to fame was a number entitled ‘Meaningless Songs’ which mimicked the Bee Gees style exactly.
“It took a lot of concentration and clothes pegs on our bottoms to get the song just right,” says Philip. “There’s an unreleased album of Hee Bee Gee Bees’ songs sniffing around, but I don’t know if it will ever see the light of day. I think 10 Records have got it.
“The Bee Gees were very upset by the things we did and they tried to sue. They couldn’t see the funny side of it.”Phil has been involved in comedy ever since he was at Oxford University. He was in various revues and he met up with Rowan Atkinson’s writer Richard Curtis.
Phil has written for radio, and judging by his stylish suit he makes a pretty good living out of it. He hopes he’ll be able to please the bank manager even more when ‘The Chicken Song’ clucks its way into the charts.
Forget your white canvas shoes, polka dot mini skirts or even Samantha Fox designer G strings. If you want to be hip this summer, you need one of those fabulous plastic chickens Philip is holding to take to the beach.
‘The Chicken Song’ is a splendid piss take of the British abroad and those infernal Euro disco songs that usually start migrating across the Channel at this time of year.
“I always think the British are very good at laughing at themselves,” says Phil. “As a nation we have a good sense of humour. I hope that doesn’t sound too superior.
“I think the song takes the piss out of some of our attitudes abroad, but I’m sure people will be able to see the funny side of it. It’s also a very good dance record.
“I hope there’s going to be a whole album of Spitting Image songs. The show will also be going to America, but obviously they’ll have their own characters. They wouldn’t be able to identify with many of the British characters.
“At the moment, Spitting Image is popular in Holland but they have explanations about who some of the characters are.”
Ever since it started, Spitting Image has been criticised by some people for the way it savages people, but Philip doesn’t feel that the programme ever gets unnecessarily nasty.
“It’s been said you shouldn’t criticise the Royal Family because they can’t answer back, but we know that Princess Anne watches the programme and enjoys it,” continues Phil.
“The programme hits at everybody, it knows no boundaries. I think it would be disastrous if we just stuck to one party or one variety of politics.
“Spitting Image also has a fantastical quality to it. I think that soon people will start identifying with the puppets rather than the real life people they portray. I’m sure some people even think Margaret Thatcher is a puppet rather than a real person.
“I don’t think there’s any harm in poking fun at politicians. There’s nothing wrong in pulling people back and saying they’ve gone too far. Comedy is one of the few ways we have of hitting back.”To get inspiration for writing wacky tunes, Phil says his musical tastes are pretty far ranging.
“I’m very Catholic in my tastes but I have to admit that I’m also a bit of an old fart when it comes to music.
“I don’t know if I have any aspirations to be a straight singer. You have to have a certain amount of charisma and I don’t know if I’ve got what it takes. Not that I’m bad looking. I think I want to concentrate on writing and get involved in all sorts of different areas.
“I think humour is very stimulating. I think that alternative comedy, or what is called alternative comedy, developed because a lot of the old standard comedy programmes didn’t really have much to say to younger people. You couldn’t really identify with them because they were so set in their ways. But I haven’t got anything against people who want to watch ‘The Two Ronnies’.”
Relaxing after toiling on songs for Spitting Image Philip tells me he enjoys going to football matches.
“I was at a match the other night and the fans were singing ‘The Chicken Song’ which was very gratifying. You need a sense of humour if you support a team like Arsenal.”
