9. Penny Lane
(Single, 1967)
Bach and Noel Coward combine in uber-elegant, English comic-pop utopia.
 Neil Innes(erstwhile Bonzo; The Rutles’ Ron Nasty): “This was mould breaking. The lyrics ran like a movie, and it made me think there was something more to writing pop songs than just trying to get girls to scream. The Bonzos weren’t interested in being in the charts – we subscribed to the view of Albert Grossman about The Tremeloes: y’know, ‘Imitation pearls before genuine swine’ – but this, this was actually a piece of art.
“The opening line is brilliant: ‘In Penny Lane, there is a barber showing photographs / Of every head he’s had the pleasure to know’. It brings you right into a personal world. Then there’s Paul’s melodic genius – he can bang two bricks together and make a tune. That key change towards the end – “Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes” – up it goes, and we’re off! It’s effortless.”
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