Ron Nasty

Ron Nasty
Born:	9 October, 1940 Liverpool, England
Occupation(s):	Musician, Actor, Babysitter, Pyrotechnics, Rutle
Years Active:	1945-1980, 1995, 2014
Associated Acts:	The Rutles, Chastity, David Bowie, Ben Elton
Died:	December 30, 2019

"Money isn't everything. I usually give it away, in exchange for something else." - Ron Nasty

Ron Nasty (9th October, 1940 - 30th December, 2019) was a 20th-century Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning English songwriter, prophet and babysitter, with his own particular brand of cigarette, who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Rutles.

Biography

Childhood

A young Ron (left) and his uncle (right).

Ron was born on 9 October 1940 in Liverpool. When he was a child, both his parents went missing and he was raised by his uncle, a well-known Liverpudlian ventriloquist. He was a very good boy whose main fault was violence. At the age of 5, he began attending Charlton Heston Elementary School. At the age of 6, be blew it up.

To channel his violence, he was soon introduced to the banjo, the perfect instrument for the anti-social, at age 7. This led him into a long and ill-advised career in music.

The Rutles in 1960. (Nasty sits atop the box.)

In 1955, Ron failed his GCE O-levels and thus became eligible to enter the Ed Wood College of Art. There he met Carinthia Pleasant, Kevin, and Leppo, several important figures in his life which this article will never mention again. Soon he was kicked out of the college and became a wanderer -- which, perhaps, would help him wander into destiny itself.

The beginning of The Rutles

During one of these frequent wanderings, Ron was walking through 43 Egg Lane when he bumped into Dirk McQuickly, who fell to the ground. Dirk offered to help him up, and the rest is history. Soon, they would find their guitarist, Stig O'Hara, and two years later their drummer, Barry Wom.

The Rutles: 1960-1970

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, Nasty played with The Rutles at the Rat Keller. In October, Leggy Mountbatten entered the Rat Keller. Mountbatten 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. Mountbatten asked Ron 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 fifteen page contract. The Rutles signed immediately. before they finally escaped and returned to Liverpool. In the rush they lost Leppo. He had crawled into a trunk with a small German Fraulein and was never seen again. This inspired Nasty to write the song "Goose-Step Mama". 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 Ron Nasty and the rest of The Rutles to a publishing contract for the rest of their lives.  

In 1966, Nasty in a widely quoted interview had apparently claimed that the Rutles were bigger than God, and was reported to have gone on to say that God had never had a hit record. Sales of Rutles albums sky-rocketed. People were buying them just to burn them, many burnt their fingers attempting to burn their albums. Later that year, Nasty took a break from the Rutles to star in a war movie directed by Dick Lester, How I Won The Lottery.

After The Rutles and Antisociality

Footage of Nasty on the Dick Tracy show would be used in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. To his right is longtime Rutles fan Tom Hanks.

Nasty was well-known for making very few television appearances after the Rutles broke up. One of these rare appearances was on the Dick Tracy show in 1971, where he set fire to the entire building. Stock footage from this appearance would later be used in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan.

Sometime in 1973 after releasing his critically-panned Mine Games album, Nasty turned his back on the world and became antisocial. For years he refused to sing, play, dance, or babysit, although he would later contradict himself in 1975 by helping write the song Foam for David Bowie. Don Nasty was born that same year. In 1977 he appeared briefly on SNL, where he performed his hit piece Cheese and Onions. In 1980 he came out of retirement briefly to release his musical hit Triple Ecstasy, but afterward regressed back into hiding. At this point, his hair had turned a streak-white. He would not be heard of for the rest of that decade following a sudden attack of performance anxiety.

In the mid-90s he began re-appearing publicly at Rutles reunions, starting off in 1995, when he and everyone else but Dirk recorded Archaeology. In late 2014 he returned to do several tours following the release of "Imitation Song".

Death

Ron passed away from natural causes on December 30th, 2019, becoming the first member of the Prefab Four to die. His art and his work hold an influence, even today, and through his life, he truly helped create a legend which would last a lunchtime.

Discography

• Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Mormons (1968)
• Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with Willows (1969)
• Live Peas in Toronto 1969 (1969)
• Destructo Album (1969)
• Ron Nasty/Polyvinyl Wicker Trio (1970)
• Imitation Song (1971)
• Crime in New York City (1972)
• Mine Games (1973)
• Cum On Feel the Noize (with Rude Nasty)
• Shoots and Ladders (1974)
• Taking Off (1975)
• Triple Ecstasy (1980)
• Bilk and Money (1984)
• Ron Nasty: Live in New York (1986)
• Nasty (1990)
• Imitation Song (2009)