Mel Brooks ‎– To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) (Pts. 1&2) (UK 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983

R E Q U E S T

This is Mel Brooks at his bad taste worst relating the short but spectacular history of the Third Reich. The title is of course lifted from the Shakespeare play Hamlet; it is also the title of the 1983 film which Brooks produced and starred in with his wife, Anne Bancroft. It is actually a remake of a 1942 comedy, which did not of course include a rapping Führer, and neither did the Mel Brooks version; the song did though appear on the soundtrack, and was released as a single with a video reaching number 12 in the UK charts. It includes snatches of the melody of “Deutschland Ueber Alles”, the German national anthem, and the same couplet Brooks contributed to his earlier “Springtime For Hitler”.

Brooks co-wrote the song with the British musician, music journalist and producer Pete Wingfield.

SIDE A:
To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) (Part 1) 7:43

SIDE B:
To Be Or Not To Be (The Hitler Rap) (Instrumental Mix) (Part 2) 7:51

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Island Records – 12 IS 158
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Funk / Soul, Hip Hop, Stage & Screen
Style: Parody, Pop Rap, Disco
Credits: Engineer – Chris Birkett
Illustration – Graham Humphreys
Photography By – Stephen Vaughan (2)
Producer, Arranged By – Pete Wingfield
Written-By – Mel BrooksPete Wingfield

NOTES:
Inspired by the film “To Be Or Not To Be”

Find The 12″ On DISCOGS

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

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oscardeejay
oscardeejay
December 11, 2014 7:26 am

como me regristro

xenomorphis
xenomorphis
September 13, 2014 7:48 am

Hi!

Thanks for the post. Please a login and password to the entry.

Best regards!

xenomorphis
xenomorphis
Reply to  xenomorphis
September 13, 2014 7:52 am

Oh, I found paswords;)

Thanks! 🙂

Dan
Dan
June 27, 2014 4:30 pm

Mel Brooks isn’t simply hysterically funny, he makes good music too. I’d love to find more of his music.

In a similar vein is Billy Crystal’s “You Look Marvelous”, was that ever released as a 12″?

Jason63
Jason63
October 11, 2012 5:06 pm

Thanks Paul. I only had the 7″ on a compilation cassette previously. Now have the 12″ in pristine flac.

Gene Savage
July 12, 2012 4:00 am

Oh, WOW! XD This one is truly amazing!!! I saw it charted and tried to find a copy with no luck… now not only do I have a copy, but the 12″ dance mix… this is so wrong but SUCH a riot! 😀 Thanks for this politically-incorrect post! 🙂

Mike Brady
Mike Brady
July 11, 2012 7:28 pm

All those fucking krauts are still nazis,

cheers !

Johan
Johan
July 11, 2012 9:50 am

This is amazing, thank you!

Brett
Brett
July 11, 2012 3:37 am

Thank you for this one. It was a HIT in Australia as well.

Glen
Glen
July 11, 2012 2:10 am

The german national anthem’s name is not “Deutschland ueber alles” (Germany above all) -that’s basically a phrase from the hyper patriotic first stroke from 1841 (yep, a hundred years before the nazi abuse). Because of the “third reich” context, it then wasn’t used anymore. Since the fifties the germans only use the third stroke entitled “unity, justice and freedom”. Much nicer message, I think. Since 1991 the third stroke is the only one left. Parodies of the nazies, Hitler and this dark period were a big “no no” for decades in Germany. Mainly because of the fear, that the nazi… Read more »

Patric
July 11, 2012 1:29 am

OOOH Yes. The Movie was so funny – and still is. Mel is the Master of Bad Taste.

Thank you Paul , before i only have the 7”

all the best

Patric

by the way – has Donna arrived you ?

ric
ric
July 10, 2012 9:21 pm

This is one of the reasons why I prefer the UK charts back then, you get more surprises (and also SHOCKS! LOL!) as the chart is less homogenized than its US counterpart.
And this is one of those anomalies for sure!
It’s great to finally have this is lossless, Paul!
I Salute You! hehehehe

Scott Hughes
Scott Hughes
July 10, 2012 3:08 pm

Oh, yay! Money well spent. Thanks so much!

Patrick
Patrick
July 10, 2012 12:55 pm

Love the Film it’s so funny
thank you
patrick