One Man Show

It's a sad thing that Mike Harding has, for all his popularity on the concert circuit in the U.K., seen the majority of his album releases lapse into vinyl obscurity. While much of his comedy has a focus on his Yorkshire roots, he always maintained the ability to present it to a broader audience — he certainly was easier to understand overall than Billy Connelly, who was working a music and comedy act on the same circuit at the time. Harding had a secondary career as a folklorist and a serious performer of English folk music (often focusing on the concertina). One Man Show presents a large part of Harding's stage show as it was in 1975 — a one man show mixing hilarious songs and broad slice-of-life comedy. In this case, the performance includes "Rochdale Cowboy," his biggest single hit, and its B-side, "Strangways Hotel" (about the Strangways Prison.) It's a funny album, certainly, though the humor might be a bit lost on Americans who lack a reference point, and may seem rather tame to some, despite a few risqué moments.