Listen to Topping & Butch while you browse!
We thought you might like to hear some snippets of Topping & Butch in action so we've prepared a few of the more topical tracks taken from shows this year. Each track will open in its own window so you will be free to browse the Topping & Butch site while listening. The tracks now stream so there's no longer a need to wait for the whole track to download. If you have any problems with listening to the tracks, please email us so that we can fix them at butch@toppingandbutch.com. Recommended for listening over broadband only. If you're having problems listening, click here.
Watch Topping & Butch on "The World Stands Up"
- YouTube
The song is "Please Don't Be Beastly To The Burglars" and is a ditty inspired by Noel Coward about what to do if you find a burglar in your living room. Please vote for us!!
Watch Topping and Butch"Fat!" from the musical Les Vegetables Filmed
for the Paramount Comedy Channel's TV series "The World Stands Up".
This piece is dedicated to those who may be overweight and unhappy or thin and ridiculously ecstatic!
Watch Topping & Butch "Cherie Blair " - YouTube
With the announcement of his leaving on 27th June 2007 Tony Blair steps down as Prime Minister - and Cherie is forced to follow. Filmed on location around Westminster with genius comic Zoe Lyons in the title role.
Topping and Butch perform for their Czech audience for the 8th visit when they head to Prague this Christmas 2008. The makers of the national gay television programme "Q" wanted them to record 20 weekly segments to "teach" the audience a gay phrase each week, sometimes camp subjects and sometimes very filthy ones. These clips are seen in English with Czech subtitles and are all filmed in the Soho, London area in one day. The spot is called "Phrase A Gay" after their main Breakfast progamme which has a serious slot teaching the Czechs standard english called "Phrase A Day". The link starts with the 1st September programme and subsequent programmes each have the end-of-show appearance at about 24:30 minutes in.
http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/vysilani/10121061347-q/208562210900025-01.09.2008-23:10-summertime.html
BBC Radio 4 - 16th September 2006
"Waiting In the Wings"
With the Labour Conference imminent and the T.U.C. Conference tearing strips off Tony Blair, Gordon Brown - who has been waiting to assume the Prime Minister's seat when he steps down - is eager to rally the troups. But Blair's not done. In the press they have been friends for 23 years and "had their ups and downs", but comment writers see it more as a pantomime! (specially written for that week's Loose Ends performance)
BBC Radio 4 - 18th March 2006
"Don't Send Me Junk Mail" and "Bird Flu"
In the news, a man who threw junk mail in a local council bin and was fined for throwing away domestic rubbish inspired "Don't Send Me Junk Mail" a pastiche of Jerry Herman's "I Won't Send Roses", followed by the short number from their new album, "Bird Flu" a song which is not just stupid, it's prophetic!
BBC Radio 4 - 4th February 2006
"Cherie Blair"
In the dying days of Tony Blair's reign as British Prime Minister Cherie, his wife, is getting a lot of flak. This song was a late-night blusey ode to a desperate woman, recorded at ten o'clock in the morning!
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends", Edinburgh Festival Special - 13th August 2005
Back to the Never Mind's in front of a live audience. In the news that month - exam results, the aftermath of the London Bombings, Robin Cook's funeral (not attended by the Prime Minister), British Airways were having problems with their caterers while the American's were in space and a Russian submarine was being saved.... by the Scottish!
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 11th June 2005
"I'd Like To Know The Reason Why My Bluetooth Doesn't Work"
Ned's introduction says it all. The guests on the show included Aussie comedians Kath and Kim and singer Curtis Stigers as well as the director of Guys and Dolls and a documentary maker who was following the fan club of Martha Stewart. The aim with Bluetooth was to fit the guests into the song as well as maintaining the general topicality of the piece.
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 30th April 2005
Alas, we were unable to bring you the Loose Ends version of "Fat!" recorded in March 2005 from their hugely successful musical Les Vegetables. But the General Election Campaign saw them doing a special Burlesque treatment of the three main parties quest for power in The Vaudeville Election. The Daleks were to meet Doctor Who again over on BBC1 shortly after the song was broadcast. Instantly out of date, this one, but should bring back some memories!
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 29th January 2005
Track 1 - The Burglar Song - Inspired by Noel Coward's Please Don't Be Beastly To The Germans - which was banned by BBC Radio in 1943 after complaints it was anti-war. This time new tune and lyrics, about what to do if you find a burglar in your home. Current Home Secretary Charles Clark had just indicated that he was not about to change the law governing homeowner's rights despite calls from the Torys and right-wing press.
Track 2 - Never Mind - Another few verses covering the Gillette merger with P&G, Liverpool Council sanctioning a red-light district, Anne Robinson's new face and a totally SHAMELESS plug for the Valentine's Show including the Box Office phone number which wasn't edited despite guidelines.
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 11th December 2004
On their seventh visit the news covered doomed Home Secretary David Blunkett and his affair with Kimberly Quinn as well as a wax Posh & Becks cast into the roles of Mary and Joseph in the nativity scene.
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 6th November 2004
For their sixth performance, two brand new songs were penned. Prince Harry had been in some controversy in October with his Art A-Level results and with the Paparazzi while George Bush had just been re-elected as President on a right-wing agenda.
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 7th August 2004
For their fourth appearance the boys were asked to join the team for a special edition at The Edinburgh Festival in front of a live audience. In the news – Gibralter’s “occupation”, The Democratic Convention and Mike Tyson’s ill-fated bout with Danny Williams which procured a saucy line that we all thought would be cut!
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 24th June 2004
This is the third appearance of Topping & Butch on Ned Sherrin's "Loose Ends" on BBC Radio 4. Favourites for the weekly news summary, Topping & Butch perform "Never Mind". In the news were President Bush's visit to see the Pope, the now infamous missed penalty in Euro 2004 taken by Beckham and a very cheeky chance to use the 'bleep' during a verse about Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon!
Topping & Butch Live - Blocking Half of the Street
Recorded at a sell-out performance of "Take It Up the Octave!" at the Komedia in Brighton earlier this year. Topping gets a problem off his chest, namely posh mothers, four wheel drive juggernauts and narrow streets.
BBC Radio 4 "Loose Ends" - 1st May 2004
When the boys were asked back for a second appearance, Topping & Butch took a pop at Jimmy White's chalk habit and Ron Atkinson's faux pas (in "Never Mind") before addressing Gordon Brown's burning desire to be PM ("Gordon Brown Eyes"). Butch plays Tony to Topping's Chancellor.
We have found that often music players (such as iPod) prevent straightforward streaming of the above tracks. Two possible solutions to this problem are below, if you have an alternative method to offer or are still experiencing problems please contact us. Alternatively, you can download the file directly to your computer and play it once it's downloaded.
For PC (Windows Media Player):
- Right click on the Click here to listen button.
- Click Copy shortcut.
- Open Windows Media Player.
- Select File > Open link from the file menu and paste in the link by pressing Ctrl+V.
For Mac (Quicktime):
(Thanks to Antz)
Because of the way Macs handle M3U files you can't just click on them as this won't work.
- Open QuickTime Player.
- Select QuickTime Player > Preferences > QuickTime Preferences.
- Click the Plug-in tab
- Click the MIME Settings button, then under the MP3 - MPEG layer III movies and streams section, check the MP3 playlist file checkbox.
- Restart Safari if you have it open.
- Either paste the URL of each clip into the location bar in Safari or, more simply, open this page in Safari and play the clips by clicking on the Click here to listen button. This only works using Safari, not IE or Firefox.