In the midst of a brisk (read: deflating) doomscrolling session on Threads, I stumbled across this gem from the legendary Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, parodying a music compilation TV ad, in this case pitching “30 different versions of this contemporary American classic,” the classic being Led Zeppelin’s iconic “Stairway to Heaven.”
Hence, we get Stairways to Heaven, the joke being that we hear hilarious impressions of some of these “legendary” musicians singing “Stairway” during the ad, including:
- Al Stewart
- R.E.O. Speedwagon
- George Benson
- Vic Damone
- Dolly Parton
- Buffy St. Marie
- Devo
- Luciano Pavarotti
- Tony Bennett
- Bob Dylan
- Rod Stewart
- Barry White
- The Village People (with Rod McKuen)
- Slim Whitman
- Foreigner
- Jan and Dean
- Hall and Oates
- Rickie Lee Jones
- Fleetwood Mac
- Elton John
- Ferrante and Teicher
- 5 Neat Guys
- Smokey Robinson
- Rich Little
- Debbie Boone
- Foster Brooks
- The Irish Rovers
- Beatlemania Original Cast
- Roger Whittaker
- Box Car Willie
- Harry Belafonte
- The Chipmunks (because of course)
The joke really touches down when we hear ridiculous impressions of some of the above, though of course many of these names won’t even be recognizable to people under a certain age in 2025.
One of the funniest things about this vintage SCTV sketch to me is that I would totally be into buying this exact album in a non-ironic this-is-legit-awesome kind of way.
Part of the implied joke must be that “Stairway to Heaven” is a fairly long song, so the notion of spinning up eight minutes of Devo’s new wave interpretation might be a lot… but again, I must emphasize that I as a crazy music fan and pop culture obsessive would be all the way the hell in on this.
Highlights of the parody ad include “Pavarotti” belting out “there was a lady we all know!” which is objectively hilarious, as is “Barry White” getting funky with “baby baby baby it makes me wonder.”
The funniest moment in the sketch is when we’re told that iconic impression Rich Little’s version of “Stairway” is “so close to the original, it’s scary,” but then we hear the actual for real Robert Plant singing the studio version of “Stairway.”
This led me to do some quick research about how SCTV acquired the rights to use what remains one of the most famous songs ever produced by humankind. Where I landed on this is that the producers of the show either literally didn’t think about it – this was the late ‘70s, let’s recall – or simply figured that the band or Swan Song Records wouldn’t be all that motivated to get litigious with a Canadian sketch comedy show.
One other fun tidbit that dates the show in a quaint time capsule kind of way is that the end of the fake ad lets us know that Stairways to Heaven is available on “8 track tape or cassette.”
Check out the best 1,000 albums ever piece on Led Zeppelin IV, which clocks in at a scorching #56.