All the fun of the pharaoh as Steve Martin song is reissued on vinyl

Steve Martin's classic comedy song King Tut is to be reissued on vinyl.

The song – originally performed on Saturday Night Live – was released as a single in 1978, sold over a million copies.

It paid homage to the blockbuster Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition that was touring America at the time.

Now it is being reissued on the Rhino Warner label as a 12-inch picture disc on Black Friday Record Store Day, available only in person from November 29, then online the next day.

The B-side features the lively instrumental Sally Goodin and the upbeat Hoedown At Alice's.

When it premiered on SNL, it was one of the most expensive skits the show had stage until that point. In his introduction he sombrely stated what a shame it was that the great Egyptian pharaoh's treasures had been commericialised with trinkets.

However it has more recently been accused of racism and cultural appropriation. In 2017, one student at Reed Colleg ne Portland, Oregon, likened it to 'a song just littered with the n-word' and said of the SNL version: 'The gold face of the saxophone dancer leaving its tomb is an exhibition of blackface.'

The song was also included on Martin's 1978 stand-up album A Wild and Crazy Guy.

A list of participating stores can be found on the Record Store Day

Published: 4 Oct 2024