YMMV / The Wurzels

• Covered Up: Few people are aware that, in addition to it being a parody (see below), "The Combine Harvester" is actually a cover of a song by Irish comedian Brendan Grace which got to #1 in the Irish charts in 1975. The Wurzels' version, released a year later, is now much better known.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In 1995, they appeared as themselves in an episode of Coogan's Run in which they were plugging a new, slightly rewritten version of "The Combine Harvester". Six years later, a remixed version of that very song was released for real, and got to #39 in the charts.
• Parody Displacement: A few of their songs are now better known — in Britain at least — than the songs they were originally parodying.
  • As well as being a cover (see above), "The Combine Harvester" is a rustic pastiche of Melanie Safka's 1971 hit "Brand New Key". It is the most famous Wurzels song by some considerable distance, (providing them with their only #1 hit) and is much better known in Britain than Melanie's original (which got to #4 in the British charts).
  • In 1975, Dutch pop band The George Baker Selection had an international hit with "Paloma Blanca", which peaked at #10 in the British charts; later that same year, a cover by Jonathan King got to #5. In 1976, The Wurzels' parody, "I Am a Cider Drinker", got to #3 — and in Britain at least, more people are familiar with that than the original.
  • "Farmer Bill's Cowman" adds rustic lyrics to Whistling Jack Smith's instrumental novelty record "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman", which got to #5 in the charts in 1967. Although the parody didn't chart as highly as the original (released a year after "The Combine Harvester" and "I Am a Cider Drinker", it peaked at #32), it is still better known in Britain than said original today.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Originally written and recorded in 1967, "Pill, Pill" — which is about the village of Pill in northern Somerset — contains several references to the ferry service over the Avon that operated between Pill and Shirehampton (in Gloucestershire). Within a few years, the ferry service was rendered obsolete by the construction of the Avonmouth Bridge, which opened to traffic in 1974.