Bob Newhart, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960)

Kids, there was a time when a comedian could entertain, enthral even – without using the ‘F-word’. Bill Cosby still does it. But there are not many who can do it. Bob Newhart could do it – and in the early 1960s his comedy career exploded with a run of albums that featured his trademark story-telling monologues and dry delivery. I got hooked on Newhart – and a few other comedians – about a decade ago, I worked in a music store and was sick of listening to music by the time I got home from work (I was also reviewing music too). So music was a job very much. But I was so used to the physical act (chore, even) of putting a CD in the tray that I started buying up comedy albums. I checked out many of the greats and a few lame ones too of course. But Newhart is still a favourite and so I bought this – his second album, released swiftly on the back of the runaway success of his debut – on vinyl, for cheap, when I saw it somewhere. I still have a great double-CD compilation of Newhart highlights. But this album is a gem. Sure, comedy dates. But Newhart’s in-character tales have a timelessness to them. Superb observational comedy.

Sample Track: Ledge Psychology

The Vinyl Countdown is a document of every LP I listen to, brand new discoveries and old-old favourites; extremely pre-loved, previously abandoned or with the shrink-wrap having just been removed it’s all here at The Vinyl Countdown