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Dirk McQuickly
Sir Dirk McQuickly
Dirk McQuickly 1978
Born June 18, 1942; age 82
Occupation Singer, songwriter, musician, comedian, politician, record and film producer, businessman
Association with the Rutles Bassist, also played keyboards, guitars, and drums on various songs
“It's not up to me. If you come to me and ask me, I'm gonna tell you the truth, because it is the truth, I have had tea. Lots of tea. Indian tea. And biscuits.”
―Dirk McQuickly

Sir James Dirk McQuickly CH MBE (born June 18, 1942; age 82) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, comedian, politician, and record and film producer who gained worldwide fame with the Rutles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with Ron Nasty. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, Dirk is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring genres ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical, ballads, punk, electronica and comedy music. As a comedian, Dirk is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs, some of which are style pastiches of the work of other acts. His songwriting partnership with Nasty is the most successful in history, however, much of their success was a result of their trousers and not their actual songwriting ability.

A self-taught musician, Dirk is proficient on bass, guitar, keyboards, and drums. He is known for his elaborate wordplay and musical numbers. Dirk began his career as a member of the Quarrelmen in 1958, which evolved into the Rutles in 1960. Sometimes called "the cute Rutle", Dirk was the only Rutle not to complain about Rutlemania. He later immersed himself in the London avant-garde scene and played a key role in incorporating experimental aesthetics into the Rutles' studio productions. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band, he gradually became the Rutles' de facto leader, providing the creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. His Rutles songs "With a Girl Like You" (1964) and "Scrambled Eggs" (1965) rank among the most covered songs in history. He voiced all four Rutles in the 1968 animated movie Yellow Submarine Sandwich, based on his 1966 song of the same name.

In 1970, Dirk debuted as a solo artist with the album McQuickly, though a bootleg solo album titled Dirk McQuickly Singing in the Shower had been released four years prior. Throughout the 1970s, he led Dirk McQuickly and Punk Floyd, one of the most successful punk bands of the decade, with his first wife Martini Lafleur, and Denny Laine, and had more than a dozen top ten singles and albums, including The Dirk Side of the Moon, Punk Floyd at the Speed of the Brick in the Wall and Nevermind The Rollocks, Here's Punk Floyd. He released his signature song as a solo artist, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", in 1978, which became one of the best-selling singles in UK history. Dirk resumed his solo career in 1980, and became a comedy artist full-time. Since 1989, he has toured consistently as a solo artist with his comedy band as well as his music band.

Dirk's success as a comedy musician comes in part from his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the song's original artist and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy helped boost sales of his later albums. Dirk has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles from the 2010s onward. After marrying his second wife Natalia Poklonskaya in 2003, Dirk turned to politics and obtained Russian citizenship, and later became the First Gentleman of Russia after Natalia was elected to the Russian presidency in 2014.

Dirk is one of the most successful composers and performers of all time. He has written or co-written 32 songs that have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2009, had sales of 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. Since the debut of his first comedy song in 1979, Dirk has sold more than 12 million albums—more than any other comedy act in history—recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him five Grammy Awards among sixteen nominations, along with several gold and platinum record certifications. His honours include two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Rutles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1999), 18 Grammy Awards, an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965, and a knighthood in 1997 for services to music and comedy. He is also one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with an estimated fortune of £800 million.

History[]

Early life[]

Young Dirk McQuickly

Dirk as a child, after receiving his first dress shirt, Christmas 1950.

James Dirk McQuickly was born on 18 June 1942 at Walton Hospital in the Walton area of Liverpool. He has a younger brother, Rick McQuickly, and a younger stepsister named Ava McQuickly, with his brother later becoming a member of The Scaffold, a light comedy group that played the Cavern in the early 1960's. His mother, Mary McQuickly, was a health visitor and his father, Jim McQuickly, served in the Royal Air Force during World War II and was also a musician. McQuickly was brought up by his grandmother in Swinton, Lancashire. He spent part of his childhood in Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, and attended St George's Primary School. His mother had difficulty coping with a full-time job and bringing up a child, so when McQuickly was seven, she enrolled him in the Royal Wolverhampton School as a boarder. At this time, the school was a charitable foundation dedicated to the education and maintenance of children who had lost one or both parents.

Young Dirk

Dirk in 1959, as a member of The Quarrelmen

McQuickly stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to Radio Rutland under the bedclothes and watching the local football team, the Wolverhampton Wanderers. He disliked other sports and would sneak out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema. McQuickly was eventually caught watching the film BUtterfield 8 (rated as suitable for audiences age 16 and over under the contemporary film certificates) and stripped of his prefecture, though by that time he was head boy. McQuickly had already refused to be senior boy in the school cadet force, as he supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and had participated in the yearly Aldermaston March. McQuickly says there was little to do at the school, and boredom drove him to study hard and consequently win a place at Liverpool Institute. His childhood friend at school was David Battley, who he went on to work with on a number of occasions.

During Christmas 1954, he received his first white dress coat and tie, and he received his first pair of glasses the next year. American rhythm and blues influenced him, and Chuck Berry was his schoolboy idol; "Johnny B. Goode" was the first song McQuickly performed in public, at a Butlin's Filey holiday camp talent competition in 1957. Later that year, McQuickly wrote "Never Gonna Give You Up", which became a big hit for Rick Astley three decades later and would ultimately make McQuickly the unofficial inventor of rickrolling. McQuickly's other music influences at this time included Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley.

With The Rutles[]

Screenshot 2023-09-07 at 17.35

Dirk in 1962

McQuickly bumped into Ron Nasty at 43 Egg Lane in 1958, and fell to the ground. Dirk offered to help him up, and the rest is history. Dirk joined Nasty's band, the Quarrelmen, as a rhythm guitarist, and he formed a close working relationship with Nasty. The Quarrelmen evolved into the Rutles in 1960. Soon, they would find their lead and slide guitarist, Stig O'Hara, and two years later their drummer, Barry Wom. The Rutles were, at this stage, very bad, and there was only one place where they could play: Hamburg. From 1960 to 1961, for fifteen months, Dirk played with The Rutles at the Rat Keller. In October, Leggy Mountbatten entered the Rat Keller. Leggy saw The Rutles performing and Leggy hated it. He hated their music, he hated their hair, he hated their noise: but he loved their trousers. Leggy asked Nasty what it would cost to sign the Rutles. "A couple of jam butties and a beer" was Nasty's reply. Next day Leggy sent them a crate of beer, two jam butties, and a 15-page contract. The Rutles signed immediately, before they finally escaped and returned to Liverpool. In the rush they lost their original bassist Leppo, who had crawled into a trunk with a small German Fraulein in July 1961, and was never seen again. This inspired Nasty to write the song "Goose-Step Mama", so McQuickly switched to bass in June 1961 just in time for the My Ronnie recording sessions with Tony Sheridan, even though He sometimes play guitar, and other Instruments.

The Rutles returned home to Liverpool. Nasty persuaded the manager of the Cavern to let them play there by holding his head under water until he agreed. Very soon their music began to create no small interest. Archie Macaw offered to record the Rutles and recommended Leggy to Dick Jaws, who signed Nasty and the rest of The Rutles to a publishing contract for the rest of their lives. In 1963, Dirk met his long-time girlfriend Cathy McGowan on the set of Ready Steady Slow! in 1963. She was his babe from 1963 to 1968 and inspired many songs, such as "With a Girl Like You" and "I Love You".

Dirk in color

Dirk during an interview in 1964

By May 1960, the Rutles had tried several names sporadically, including The Silver Rutles, The Rut Brothers, The Ruts, The Tuls, The Sluts, and even Alma Cogan. They adopted the name the Rutles in August 1960. Rutlemania was born in 1963 after the group had numerous hit singles, and their popularity increased dramatically after their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and 1964 tour of America. Dirk was called "the cute Rutle" and was the only Rutle not to complain about Rutlemania. He co-wrote (with Nasty) several of their early hits, including "Goose-Step Mama", "Number One", "Baby Let Me Be", "Hold My Hand" (1963), "With a Girl Like You", "I Must Be in Love" and "Can't Buy Me Lunch" (1964). Although McQuickly and Nasty had become prolific songwriters, with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones saying that McQuickly would sell a song to "any old slag", their song "Don't Ask Me What I Say" (which they had written for The Rolling Stones) was later revealed by Jagger in a 1978 interview to have been "horrible" and thus was never recorded by the group.

Dirk singing

Dirk performing "With a Girl Like You" at the 1964 Royal Variety Show

In August 1965, the Rutles released the McQuickly composition "Scrambled Eggs", featuring a string quartet. Included on the Ouch! LP, the song was the group's first recorded use of classical music elements and their first recording that involved only a single band member. "Scrambled Eggs" became one of the most covered songs in popular music history. Later that year, during recording sessions for the album Rutle Sole, McQuickly began to supplant Nasty as the dominant musical force in the band. Critics described Rutle Sole as a significant advance in the refinement and profundity of the band's music and lyrics.

In 1966, the Rutles released the album Semi-Automatic. Featuring sophisticated lyrics, studio experimentation, and an expanded repertoire of musical genres ranging from innovative string arrangements to psychedelic rock, the album marked an artistic leap for the Rutles. The band gave their final commercial concert at the end of their 1966 US tour. Later that year, Bob Dylan introduced the Rutles to tea. Enjoying its pleasant effects despite warnings it would lead to stronger things, the Rutles began to drink tea regularly. Upon the end of the Rutles' performing career and their newfound enjoyment of tea, McQuickly sensed unease in the band and wanted them to maintain creative productivity. He pressed them to start a new project, which became Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band, widely regarded as rock's first concept album. McQuickly was inspired to create a new persona for the group, and wanted to encourage their fans to love and drink tea.

Dirk admits to having tea

Dirk admitting that he has had tea, lots of tea, indian tea and biscuits

Starting in November 1966, the band adopted an experimental attitude during recording sessions for the album. Their recording of "Cheese and Onions" required a forty-piece orchestra, which Macaw and McQuickly took turns conducting. The song ends with what is often credited as the memorable ending to any song in Rutles' history: one pound of a key on the low end of the piano. The sessions produced the side single "Doubleback Alley" in February 1967, and the LP followed in June. Based on an ink drawing by McQuickly, the LP's cover included a collage, featuring the Rutles in costume as the Sgt. Rutter's Only Darts Club Band, standing with a host of celebrities. The cover piqued a frenzy of analysis, and one of the people who designed the cover, Johnson Foney, said that they wanted to show a band celebrating you getting kicked out of a town. The album led to the Summer of Lunch and tea becoming a major part of the 1960s counterculture movement. Amid the Summer of Lunch, Dirk caused controversy when he admitted that he had tea, lots of tea, indian tea and biscuits.

Dirk 1968

Dirk in 1968

Leggy accepted a teaching post in Australia in August 1967 created a void, which left the Rutles shocked and stunned, and concerned about their future. McQuickly stepped in to fill that void and gradually became the de facto leader and business manager of the group that Nasty had once led. In his first creative suggestion after this change of leadership, McQuickly proposed that the band move forward on their plans to produce a film for television, which was to become Tragical History Tour. McQuickly largely directed the film, which brought the group their first unfavourable critical response. However, the film's soundtrack was more successful. It was released in the UK as a six-track double extended play disc (EP) and as an identically titled LP in the US, filled out with five songs from the band's recent singles. The only Capitol compilation later included in the group's official canon of studio albums, the Tragical History Tour LP achieved $8 million in sales within three weeks of its release, higher initial sales than any other Capitol LP up to that point.

The Rutles' animated film Yellow Submarine Sandwich, loosely based on the imaginary world evoked by McQuickly's 1966 composition, premiered in July 1968. McQuickly voiced all four Rutles in the film. He was not referenced as himself, but merely as "Sgt. Rutter" in order to hide that he played all of the roles. McQuickly would later say that the animation studio "did great." Though critics admired the film for its visual style, humour and music, the soundtrack album issued six months later received a less enthusiastic response. By late 1968, relations within the band were deteriorating. The tension grew during the recording of the Triangular Album. Matters worsened the following year during the Let It Rot sessions.

Martini

Dirk and Martini's wedding

In March 1969, McQuickly married his first wife, French actress Martini Lafleur, after ending his relationship with long-time girlfriend McGowan, who went on to marry a well-known actor in the 1980s. He dedicated his first solo song to her, "Today is Our Wedding Day". Shabby Road was the band's last recorded album, and Macaw suggested "a continuously moving piece of music", urging the group to think symphonically. McQuickly agreed, but Nasty did not. They eventually compromised, agreeing to McQuickly's suggestion: an LP featuring individual songs on side one and a long medley on side two.

Dirk Get Up and Go

Dirk performing "Get Up and Go" with the Rutles in 1969

Nasty privately left the Rutles in September 1969, though agreed not to go public with the information to not jeopardise ongoing business negotiations. McQuickly was in the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, largely concerning Ron Decline's management of the group, when he announced his own departure from the group on 10 April 1970. In November 1970, McQuickly sued O'Hara, Nasty and Wom; Wom sued McQuickly, Nasty, and O'Hara; Nasty sued Wom, McQuickly, and O'Hara; and O'Hara sued himself accidentally. He filed a suit for the band's formal dissolution on 31 December 1970, and in March 1971 the court appointed a receiver to oversee the finances of the Rutles' company Rutle Corps. An English court legally dissolved the Rutles' partnership on 9 January 1975, though sporadic lawsuits against their record company EMI, Decline, and each other persisted until 1989.

Solo career[]

Gun pointed at Dirk

Dirk being interviewed shortly after the release of his first two solo albums

In 1967, loaded with money, McQuickly rented a 2 up, 3 across, 6 sideways, 4 around the back, and one in the cellar posh flat in London. After forgetting to pay the rent for a year, McQuickly's landlady decided to get the money any way she could. So, she played a microphone in his shower and taped his morning showers. The recordings were released on the bootleg album Dirk McQuickly Singing in the Shower. The songs are mainly childhood ditties and bawdy pub songs, but the sound quality is ruined by the running water in the background. From 1968 to 1970, McQuickly began writing songs for other artists, including "Just Forget It" for Goldfinger in 1968, and "Those Were The Days' for Mary Hopkin, also in 1968. After the Rutles broke up in 1970, Dirk became a fan of the psychedelic and progressive rock group Pink Floyd. His first album, McQuickly, consisted of 87 tracks but only lasted 30 minutes. The album was received as well as you'd expect. McQuickly released his second solo album, Spam, in 1971, which was also received as well as you'd expect but became a cult classic amongst spam fans in later years.

After becoming disillusioned with the idea of "Rutle-esque", Dirk created the punk group Dirk McQuickly and Punk Floyd (consisting of himself, his wife Martini Lafleur, and Mouldy Greens founder Denny Lanie) and released the group's first song "Listen to the Noise That the Small Girls Make While They Participate In Various Primitive Games For Their Own Amusement", which was shorter than the time it would take the average individual to say. He instantly fell in love with this fast-paced, nonsensical style of music. In 1972, Punk Floyd decided to go on a spontaneous tour of British primary schools. They were very quickly arrested for supplying small children with acid. Dirk was quoted as saying 'We saw lots of children and 5 of them grew up illegal'. The following year, Punk Floyd released two albums (Red Sauce Speedway and The Dirk Side of the Moon), and for the first time in McQuickly's post-Rutles career, people actually liked them. The Dirk Side of the Moon was a loose concept album based on how amazing Dirk was, and also contained a few jibes at the other ex-Rutles, which led to Dirk being arrested for rudeness, and sued by Ron, Stig, and Barry. This was then followed up with Punk Floyd at the Speed of the Brick in the Wall, a commercially successful concept album about a man's love for brewing tea. It was followed up by their most popular album Nevermind The Rollocks, Here's Punk Floyd, which featured a new-lineup for Punk Floyd that only lasted for that album as a result of volatile internal relationships.

Punk Floyd

Dirk in 1978 as a member of Punk Floyd

By the time Punk Floyd began work on their next album, it was back to the core trio of Dirk, Martini and Denny again. Much of the album Animal's Town was recorded in the back of a lorry which drove around Central America. After the lorry crashed one day, a member of the group chipped his nail, which prompted him to quit the band. They got sued multiple times for playing too loudly. Animal's Town provided a scathing critique of capitalism but ironically ended up selling millions of copies. After the release of the album Wish You Were The Egg, Punk Floyd went on a tour of Japan. After the customs discovered a fireman's helmet in Dirk's luggage, he was promptly sent to the local fire station to fight fires. After 10 days, he had learned enough Japanese to tell the locals that he wasn't, in fact, a fireman. It cost Punk Floyd their tour, and resulted in Dirk being sued by all the venues that had to cancel gigs, as well as all the houses he let burn down.

Dirk McQuickly 1984

McQuickly in 1984

Dirk toured with Punk Floyd until the early 80s before turning to a solo career. A short-lived friendship and collaboration with former child star/director Ron Howard soured after Howard bought the rights to all of The Rutles' movies. In the late 1970s, Dirk became interested in Russian music and wrote a number of songs about the country that became big hits for other artists, including "Moscow' by Degennhis Khan and "Rasputin" by Boney M. He also released his own song about Russia, "Back in the U.S.S.R.", a parody of the Rutles song "We've Arrived! (And to Prove It We're Here)".

The 1978 documentary film The Beatles: All You Need Is Love, in which Dirk was parodied as Paul McCartney and played by William Campbell, was successful, as was the Melvin Hall documentary All You Need Is Cash, which led to a resurgence of interest in the Rutles. Dirk's solo song "Back in the U.S.S.R." was covered by the Rutles parody band The Beatles, in the style of "We've Arrived! (And to Prove It We're Here)". He released his signature song as a solo artist, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", towards the end of the year, which became one of the best-selling singles in UK history and was the Christmas number one of 1978. The success of this single inspired Dirk to pursue comedy music full-time, while occasionally making more serious music. In 1980, he released the comedy record "I Like Chinese" and formed his own comedy band.

Starting from the 1980s, Dirk became a comedy artist full-time. He has since released fourteen studio albums, one soundtrack album, nine compilation albums, eleven video albums, two extended plays, two box sets, forty-six singles and fifty-four music videos. Since the debut of his first comedy song in 1976, he has sold more than 12 million albums—more than any other comedy act in history—recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him five Grammy Awards among sixteen nominations, along with several gold and platinum record certifications in the United States.

Juche7

Dirk with Juche in 2012

In March 2003, Dirk and Nasty performed together for the first time since the Rutles broke up, where the two "jammed" at a private event, singing "Let's Be Natural" and "Shangri-La" together. This would be widely bootlegged, and released on A Hoot and Some Tea Back in '03 by fans. He and Nasty performed for the second and final time together in 2007, at a Rutles reunion gig. Dirk has continued to release albums in the 21st century, including Pathos and Destruction In The Backyard (2005), I'm Out Of Ideas (2007), Dew (2013), Litigation Station (2018), and McQuickly III (2020). In 2012, Dirk joined the band Juche as lead guitarist and singer replacing Kim Jong-Chul, who chose to retire from the music industry following the passing of his father, Kim Jong Il, and the ascension of his brother Kim Jong Un as the North Korea Supreme Leader.

In 2018, Dirk released his "sortabiography", Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography. He released a second book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, in 2021. Also in 2021, Dirk, Barry and Stig attended the screening of the documentary The Rutles: Get Up and Go. In 2022, Dirk started his Got Up and Left tour and headlined the Glastonbury concert that took place later in the year. He performed several Rutles songs in the concert, and closed it with the crowd sing-along favourite from his solo career, "Always Look On The Bridge Side Of Life". In 2023, Dirk, Barry and Stig released the final Rutles song "Hard to Get" based on a 1979 demo from Nasty, reuniting the surviving three Rutles for the last time forever, honestly. Dirk said of this final song: "This was a tough one to get through. I miss having Ron around. I guess you could say we're the pre-fab three now.." Earlier in the year Dirk released his third book, 1964: Eyes of the Storm.

Personal life[]

Relationships[]

Wives[]

Dirk McQuickly and Natalia Poklonskaya

Dirk and Natalia Poklonskaya's wedding

McQuickly has been married twice. His first marriage was in 1968 to Martini Lafleur, a French actress which whom he had a daughter, Laura McQuickly (born 1971), and a son, James McQuickly (born 1977). His marriage to Martini ended in divorce in 1998, when Martini divorced him and retired her acting career to become a social and human rights advocate. Dirk then met Natalia Poklonskaya, a Russian lawyer, in 2001 and they married in 2003. They have one daughter, Anastasiya McQuickly (born 2005). After their wedding Dirk turned to politics and obtained Russian citizenship, and later became the First Gentleman of Russia after Natalia was elected to the Russian presidency in 2014. His 2014 song "Nyash Myash" (written after Natalia became an internet sensation) is dedicated to her.

Rutles[]

Nasty-McQuickly

McQuickly (right) with Ron Nasty in 1964

Ron Nasty[]

Though McQuickly had a strained relationship with Nasty post-Rutles, they briefly became close again in early 1974, and played music together on two occasions in 2003 and 2007. In later years, the two grew apart. McQuickly often phoned Nasty, but was apprehensive about the reception he would receive. During one call, Nasty told him, "You're all pizza and fairytales!" In an effort to avoid talking only about business, they often spoke of cats, babies, drinking tea or baking bread.

McQuickly had been shocked and stunned by Nasty's decision to go back into retirement at the end of 1980, as the pair had been planning to sue each other again for no reason whatsoever for some time. He spent the next two years throwing rotten eggs at Nasty's house on a daily basis. By the late 1980s however, when Nasty returned to the music business to release several dozen box set albums, McQuickly apologised for the rotten eggs incident and allowed Nasty to throw rotten eggs at his house in payback. McQuickly and Nasty played music together on two occasions in 2003 and 2007.

Dirk McQuickly and Stig O'Hara

Dirk McQuickly and Stig O'Hara in 1964

Stig O'Hara[]

McQuickly had a strained relationship with O'Hara towards the end of the Rutles, but they became close again during their solo careers and collaborated with each-other on a few instances.

Barry Wom[]
Barry and Dirk

Dirk McQuickly (right) with Barry Wom (left) in 1965

During a recording session for The Triangular Album in 1968, the two got into an argument over McQuickly's critique of Wom's drum part for "We've Arrived! (And to Prove It We're Here)", which contributed to Wom temporarily leaving the band. Wom later commented on working with McQuickly: "Dirk is the greatest bass player in the world. But he is also very determined ... [to] get his own way ... [thus] musical disagreements inevitably arose from time to time."

McQuickly and Wom collaborated on several post-Rutles projects, starting in 1973 when McQuickly contributed instrumentation and backing vocals for "(Not The) Six O'Clock (News)", a song McQuickly wrote for Wom's album Barry. McQuickly played a kazoo solo on "You're Sixty" from the same album. Wom appeared as a fictional version of himself in McQuickly's 1984 film Give My Regrets to Broad Street, and played drums on most tracks of the soundtrack album, which includes re-recordings of several McQuickly-penned Rutles songs. Wom played drums and sang backing vocals on "Beautiful Night" from McQuickly's 1997 album Flaming Punk. The pair collaborated again in 1998, on Wom's Mandwich Sandwich, which featured McQuickly's backing vocals on three songs, and instrumentation on one.

In 2009, the pair performed "Rendezvous" at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation. They collaborated on Wom's album B cause in 2010. McQuickly played bass on "Peace Dream", and sang a duet with Wom on "Walk with You". On 7 July 2010, McQuickly was performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York with his ****-All Band in a concert celebrating his seventieth birthday. After the encores, McQuickly made a surprise appearance, performing the Rutles' song "Birthday" with Wom's band. On 26 January 2014, McQuicly and Wom performed "Queenie Pie" from McQuickly's new album Dew at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. McQuickly inducted Wom into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2015, and played bass on his 2017 album Give More Love. On 16 December 2018, Wom joined McQuickly onstage to perform "Get Up and Go" at his concert at London's O2 Arena.

Other information[]

David Bowie made McQuickly godfather to his son, film director Duncan Jones.

McQuickly holds atheist views, but does not like using the term, and is quoted as saying "I don't like that word, it implies that there's a God not to believe in."

Legacy[]

Dirk with his MBE

Dirk with his MBE in 1965

Achievements[]

In June 1965, McQuickly and the other Rutles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). They received their insignia from Elizabeth, Queen of Rutland And Parts Of Leicestershire And A Bit Of Northampton As Well at an investiture at Rutland Palace on 26 October. In 1971, the Rutles received an Academy Award for the best Original Song Score for the film Let It Rot.

McQuickly was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Rutles and again as a solo artist in 1999. In 1979, the Guinness Book of World Records recognised McQuickly as the "most honored composer and performer in music", with 60 gold discs (43 with the Rutles, 17 with Punk Floyd) and, as a member of the Rutles, sales of over 100 million singles and 100 million albums, and as the "most successful song writer", he wrote jointly or solo 43 songs which sold one million or more records between 1962 and 1978. In 2009, Guinness World Records again recognised McQuickly as the "most successful songwriter" having written or co-written 188 charted records in the United Kingdom, of which 91 reached the top 10 and 33 made it to number one.

McQuickly has written, or co-written, 32 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: twenty with the Rutles; seven solo or with Punk Floyd; one as a co-writer of "A World Without Love", a number-one single for Peter and Gordon; one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Good Times Roll"; one as a co-writer on Stars on 45's "Medley"; one as a co-writer with Michael Osmond on "Gay Gay Gay"; and one as writer on "Ebony and Ivory" performed with Stevie Wonder. As of 2009, he has 15.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States as a solo artist, plus another 10 million with Punk Floyd.

Since the debut of his first comedy song in 1979, Dirk has sold more than 12 million albums—more than any other comedy act in history—recorded more than 150 parody and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His works have earned him five Grammy Awards among sixteen nominations, along with several gold and platinum record certifications. Dirk's success as a comedy musician comes in part from his effective use of music videos to further parody pop culture, the song's original artist and the original music videos themselves, scene-for-scene in some cases. He directed later videos himself and went on to direct for other artists including Ben Folds, Hanson, the Black Crowes, and the Presidents of the United States of America. With the decline of music television and the onset of social media, he used YouTube and other video sites to publish his videos; this strategy helped boost sales of his later albums. Dirk has stated that he may forgo traditional albums in favor of timely releases of singles from the 2010s onward.

Credited with more number ones in the UK than any other artist, McQuickly has participated in twenty-four chart topping singles: seventeen with the Rutles, one solo, and one each with , Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and "The Christians et al." He is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Wonder), trio ("Wonderful Christmastime", Punk Floyd), quartet ("Hold My Hand", the Rutles), quintet ("Get Up and Go", the Rutles with Billy The Pirate) and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).

Scrambled Eggs

"Scrambled Eggs" is the most covered song in history

"Scrambled Eggs" is one of the most covered songs in history, with more than 2,200 recorded versions, and, according to the BBC, "the track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list ... [and] is the most played song by a British writer [last] century in the US". His 1964 Rutles composition "With a Girl Like You" achieved the highest sales in the UK that year and topped the US charts for nine weeks, which is longer than any other Rutles single.

In July 2005, McQuickly's performance of "Major Happy's Up And Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band" with U2 at Live 8 became the fastest-released single in history. Available within forty-five minutes of its recording, hours later it had achieved number one on the UK Official Download Chart.

In December 2020, the release of his album Wipe Dopes on Punk III and its subsequent charting at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 earned McQuickly the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.

Awards and honours[]

  • 18-time Grammy Award winner:
    • Nine as a member of the Rutles
    • Six as a solo artist
    • Two as a member of Punk Floyd
    • One as part of a joint collaboration
  • Two-time inductee – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
    • Class of 1988 as a member of the Rutles
    • Class of 1999 as a solo artist
  • 1965: Member of the Order of the British Empire
  • 1971: Academy Award winner (as a member of the Rutles)
  • 1988: Honorary Doctor of the University degree from University of Sussex
  • 1997: Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to music
  • 2000: Fellowship into the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors
  • 2008: BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music
  • 2008: Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University
  • 2010: Gershwin Prize for his contributions to popular music
  • 2010: Kennedy Center Honors
  • 2012: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • 2012: Légion d'Honneur for his services to music
  • 2012: MusiCares Person of the Year
  • 2015: 4148 McQuickly, asteroid named after him by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center
  • 2017: Appointed Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to music

Discography[]

With The Rutles[]

Punk Floyd[]

The Barman[]

Solo[]

Studio albums[]

Compilation albums[]

Live albums[]

Comedy albums[]

Studio albums[]
Compilation albums[]

Classical[]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1964 A Hard Day's Rut Himself
1965 Ouch! Himself
1967 Tragical History Tour Himself / Ticket Salesman / Magician with Tea Also narrator, writer and director (producer uncredited)
1968 Yellow Submarine Sandwich Himself / Ron Nasty / Stig O'Hara / Barry Wom Cameo at the end, also voices of the Rutles (voices uncredited)
1970 Let It Rot Himself Documentary (executive producer – as The Rutles)
1978 All You Need Is Cash Himself Documentary
1982 The Repleat Rutles Himself Documentary
1984 Give My Regrets to Broad Street Himself Film
1990 The Rutles: The First U.S. Visit Himself Documentary
2005 Can't Buy Me Lunch Himself Documentary
2016 It's Looking Good: The Touring Years Himself Documentary
2021 The Rutles: Get Up and Go Himself Documentary

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1963–64 Ready Steady Slow! Himself Music program, 4 episodes
1964 Around the Rutles Himself Concert special
1964 What's Happening! The Rutles in the U.S.A. Himself Documentary
1964–65 The Ed Sullivan Show Himself Variety show, 4 episodes
1965 The Music of Nasty & McQuickly Himself Variety tribute special
1966 The Rutles at Che Stadium Himself Concert special
1966 The Rutles in Japan Himself Concert special
1975 A Salute to the Rutles: Once upon a Good Time Himself Documentary
1977 Love Live: The Story of Popular Music Himself Documentary mini-series
1987 Once Upon A Good Time On This Very Day Himself Documentary
1991 Twin Peaks Himself Cameo
1995 The Rutles Anthology Himself Documentary mini-series

Tours[]

Punk Floyd tours[]

  • Punk Floyd University Tour (1972)
  • Punk Floyd Over Europe Tour (1972)
  • Punk Floyd 1973 UK Tour (1973)
  • Punk Floyd Over the World tour (1975–1976)
  • Punk Floyd UK Tour 1979 (1979)

Solo tours[]

  • The Dirk McQuickly World Tour (1989–1990)
  • Unplugged Tour 1991 (1991)
  • The New World Tour (1993)
  • Frying World Tour (2002)
  • Back in the World Tour (2003)
  • '04 Summer Tour (2004)
  • The 'US' Tour (2005)
  • Secret Tour 2007 (2007)
  • Summer Live '09 (2009)
  • Good Evening Europe Tour (2009)
  • Up and Coming Tour (2010–2011)
  • Dirk Side of the Moon Tour (2011–2012)
  • Out There Tour (2013–2015)
  • One on One (2016–2017)
  • 2018 Secret Gigs (2018)
  • Freshen Up (2018–2019)
  • Got Up and Left (2022–2023)

Bibliography[]

Instruments[]

Basses[]

  • 1961 Huffer 500/1 Custom (1961-1964)
  • 1963 Huffer 500/1 ([[1]]/1989-_)
  • 1964 Rickybacker 4001S-LH Lookslikefire (1965-1990)
  • 1966 Bender Jazz Bass Sunburst (1968-1969)

Guitars[]

Electric[]

  • 1962 Pissiphone 230TD Winner's Mentality Sunburst (1965-_)
  • 1964 Bender Esquire (1966-1968)
  • 1960 Lipson Clarence Shannon Cherry Sunburst (1989-present)

Acoustic[]

    • 1964 Pissiphone Wyoming FT-79 (1964-_)
    • 1968 Martian D-28 (1968-1970)
    • Meinkampf EN25C (1989-????)

Other[]

  • Earwig Super Classic drum kit in Oyster Black Pearl finish with 22-inch kick drum (1968-1969)
  • Unidentified Grand Piano (1963-_)

Gallery[]

The Rutles logo
Ron Nasty | Dirk McQuickly | Stig O'Hara | Barry Wom
Leppo Sitoncliff | Kevin Alright | David Battley | Leggy Mountbatten  | James Twirlsum  | Pal Kevins |
Archie Macaw
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