In 1967 Leonard Nimoy was at the height of his "Star Trek" fame. He had also recorded several albums in which he croaked out a variety of songs that include everything from Credence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" to Jackie DeShannon's "Put A Little Love in Your Heart" to Judy Collins' "Clouds" in a pained gravel voice. Well, Lenny occasionally covered a novelty song or two on his albums. "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" is perhaps the single most sublimely silly and hence most sidesplitting tune Nimoy ever wrapped his ragged tonsils around. Best of all, Leonard actually performed this gloriously ridiculous number on a short-lived groovy 60's musical variety show. Len belts out this song with tremendously hale'n'hearty aplomb on a beach while a bunch of insanely cute swingin' hippie hotties sporting pointy ears ala Mr. Spock merrily dance all around him. One of these gals is none other than a very young and foxy Erin Gray, who went on to portray Wilma Deering on the popular 80's sci-fi TV series "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century." Another lady is adorable bubbly blonde pixie Patricia Wymer, who had a regrettably fleeting cinematic career as a drive-in exploitation starlet in the enjoyably trashy movies "The Babysitter," "The Witchmaker," and "The Young Graduates." Did I mention that the chicks also wear these goofy buttons with dopey sayings on them? Or how about the kooky bassoon solo that concludes the song? Yep, what we got here is a truly choice chunk of pure blithely ludicrous 60's kitsch at its most delectably absurd and awful. Sure, this stuff is undeniably tacky, inane and hideously dated, but it's also flat-out hilarious (the club-footed dance choreography has to be seen to be disbelieved) and loads of fun to watch. Moreover, the one and only Mrs. Miller appeared on the very same episode warbling out "Let's Hang On" in her truly inimitable and unmistakable sub-Ethal Mermanesque quivery soprano voice. An absolute gut-busting hoot and a half.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews