- “From these streets, very close to the Cavern Rutland, came the fabulous Rutland sound, created by the Pre-Fab Four; Dirk, Nasty, Stig and Barry, who created a musical legend that will last a lunchtime.”
- ―Melvin Hall
Melvin Hall (born 29 March 1949) is a 20th and 21st-century interviewer, most popular for his documentaries on The Rutles. His first documentary, All You Need Is Cash, is often attributed to reminding the world of the Rutles (who at that point were minding their own business) and helping to make them a legend to survive a lunchtime. He has become notorious for his constant desire to clarify himself in his documentaries.
Early Life []
Melvin Hall was born on 29 March 1949 in Rutland. He lived a quiet and normal life, as his father was an accountant and his mother was not, just as life should be.
He was a good child, until he first heard The Rutles in 1963, at which point he grew more ambiguous and rebellious against his parents. It was around this time he also started a small rock and beat band entitled Monty Python, who began playing in small joints and smaller pants (in imitation of the Rutles).
It was through this practice of music that Melvin met his mentor, Jimmy Climmer. In the early 1950s, Jimmy had been a popular musician, using the stage name "The Wallasey Warbler." Later in his career, however, he gave up the occupation for a job in interviewing. Melvin, amazed about the stories that Jim told of people that he had interviewed that knew the Rutles, decided to give up the music business for a chance to someday meet the Rutles, and began working for an interviewing scholarship.
Melvin began work at Pokembroke College, where he learned all the skills needed to interview individuals. He graduated in 1970, the same year the Rutles split up. He was devastated, yet still believed that one day he would meet the Rutles. In an attempt to put them back into people's hearts, Melvin began to create a documentary on the Rutles.
The documentary proved to be a success, so much so that Melvin himself became a semi-recognizable figure of pop-culture. He was parodied on such shows as The Powerpuff Girls and The Simpsons, and in some people's eyes preserved the legacy of the Rutles.
One notable parody of Hall was created by comedian William Campbell with his mockumentary The Beatles: All You Need Is Love, which focused on a fictional parody of The Rutles called The Beatles. While Hall was initially unfond of the segment, he later appeared in a 2014 Grammy-based follow up discussing the fictional band. However, his segment was cut from the broadcast version.
Hall would later make a second documentary on the group, The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch, in 2002. It would be here that he would finally meet his son, Ollie Hall. After discovering who Ollie was, Melvin quit the interviewing industry to spend more time with the family he never knew he had.
In 2014, Hall hosted The Lunchtime That Also Changed America: A Grammy Salute To The Rutles.