In 1967, Iain Kerr and his songwriting partner Roy Cowen wrote and recorded (as the Brothers Butch, and accompanied by the psych-rock band the Purple Barrier) the innuendo-laden pop song Kay, Why? The song is now recognised as a camp classic, but it was for their unique take on light operetta that Iain, who has died aged 89, and Roy would achieve international fame.
As Goldberg and Solomon, the duo released their first album in 1968: the Tailors of Poznance, based very loosely on the Pirates of Penzance, featured the actor Miriam Karlin, whom Iain had coached for her role in the film Fiddler on the Roof. Over the following decade, Goldberg and Solomon recorded three further albums, including Gilbert and Sullivan Go Kosher, and toured the world, performing in front of more than a million people in more than 200 venues.
