The Bonzo Dog (Doo-Dah) Band: C or D?

With the Bonzos, it was the precise opposite. Vivian, Eric et al clearly had too much going on in their diseased imaginations to let out in a 'straighter' form... to call their music 'comedy' is like terming John Berger's 'Ways Of Seeing' an art criticism book. True, but kind of missing the point. Bonzos were parody primarily, and often cruel (the best kind). All human life is within those chuckles and miscues and bad puns and intros and outros and pisstakes of comic book adverts. And some cracking great tunes, and insightful lyrics too.

As for George's involvement, of course he was in the film but Innes also played the songs for John and George before they were released incase they were offended or were going to sue him. They thought they were fine although John advised him not to release Get Up And Go because it was rather too close to Get Back. As it turned out Allan Klein (I think it was him anyway) wasn't standing for it and Innes lost the rights to all the songs, so he's never made any money out of them at all.

As for the Bonzos, not all great but classic all the same. They would be classic even if all they had done was the Intro and the Outro and the guitar solo in Canyons Of Your Mind. Plus some of their 60s TV appearances are great with false arms and silly masks much in evidence.

The Bonzos were GRATE. 'Sofa Head' is the best pro-getting pissed track ever.

*sound of feet galloping towards HMV*

The earlier, more obviously comedic records are the ones that, for the most part, keep getting cited above but surely by the time they did Keynsham the Bonzos were doing so much more.

oh and obviously so classic you could never believe. viv was a comic and musical genius, and neil one of the nicest blokes you could ever hope to meet

They truly did move beyond parody, and were already beginning to do so from the debut album onwards.

SO THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

REVIVE-O!

Through the exceptionally good, generous graces of fellow ILM'er Abbics Abbie, I have finally aquired the above album (after merely expressing that I'd wanted to finally hear "Eleven Moustachioed Daughters" after reading so much about it here on ILM). Very nicely, she ripped the whole shebang for me, and by gosh is it ever great. All I'd heard previously were compilations, but this album really is fucking fantastic. Moreover, the lyrics to "11 Moustachioed Daughters" are truly creepy in a decidedly occult-bothering sort've way. Witness....

Eleven moustachioed daughters, running in a field of fat
The moon is high, the mandrake screams,
Please come to our Sabbat.
The changeling children shiver, round the fire their mothers dance,
With strangely painted faces,
That smile but never laugh.
The crow-pecked gibbet's victim swings broken in his cage
His hands cut down to make a crown.
To wear as our homage.
Round & round the magic ring soft figures fastly rush
And wolf-like things & toads with wings whisper wetly
"Come with us".

The fresh-plucked eye of a favourite cat,
Pulped and mixed with a white hens fat,
A lapwings' wing and lions' gall,
And Belladonna to make your eyes
Like a beasts.
To anoint the body and make it shine,
To drink & make thyself divine,
To choose another's form and make it thine.

And now they gibber blasphemy & fill the fetid air
With ancient lies & leprous cries,
This night he will be there.
A madness has them, mouths gape wide
As one they sway and moan, & every brutish face is turned,
To see our Goat-King's Throne.

Anyway, thanks again Abbie and let's hear it for the Bonzos.

"Lipstickgleam
Hexachloraphene
Cling cling a ring
Clang clang she sang
It's tragic magic
There are no coincidences
But sometimes the pattern is more obvious"

also "eleven moustachioed daughters" has uncredited backing vocals by germaine greer.

2006

Saturday 28th January

Neil Innes and Friends
(The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band Revisited)
FEATURING
Rodney Slater
Roger Ruskin Spear
Legs Larry Smith
Vernon Dudley Bohay Nowell
plus special guests
THE ASTORIA
LONDON
Doors Open 1800hrs

Tickets are still available from

STARGREEN BOX OFFICE
Credit Card Hotline 020 7734 8932
www.Stargreen.com

hooooold me back!

i saw neil innes at the melbourne comedy festival in 2003 - he was every bit as wondrous as i'd hoped. (i was the youngest person there by about 20 years)

anyone fancy coming along?

*checks stargreen*

oh bollocks, it's sold out.

The answer is total classic, of course... (off humming Hunting Tigers...)

My dream is that Mike Oldfield could do "The Intro and the Outro".

Stephen Fry? It could work, as long as he's not visible.

The NATIONAL TOUR is set to roll. 40th Anniversary tour with special guests.

November sees the start. Check out the www.bonzodog.co.uk website.

See you all there.

Reissues out this week! Finally I will be able to get my hands on The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse!

Britain's answer to We're Only In It For The Money featuring Actual Ex-Mother (allegedly) Joel Druckman on bass and "come on everybody clap your hands" etc.

"Big hello to big John Wayne, xylophone..."

I love THIS:

I heart "Tubas in the Moonlight"

So do I. I love that song.

RFI: A long time ago a friend lent me a Bonzo Dog Band dubbed cassette, and it had a track on it that used a tape loop - an early sample, really - of pool balls being hit, and also one of a chainsaw. Does anyone know what this is and where it can be found?

Oh yeah, and there was another track that used a man laughing to similar effect.

The laughing one is "Slush", it's on "Let's Make Up and Be Friendly". The other one sounds like it could be one of the between-track bits on "Keynsham".

Two words for you: "Big Shot"

(No, that's not the answer to the RFI)

Hurting, you asked that question on a thread before but I can't find it now for some reason. "Cool Britannia" ends with about 15 seconds of what sounds like pool balls being hit with a woman laughing over the top. "Quiet Talks and Summer Walks" closes with a few seconds blast of dentist's drill. I'd call them sound effects rather than samples though so I'm not sure if those are the ones.

Yeah, I did ask that a while back. My memory is that the track opens with pool balls being hit looped over and over again so that it becomes a rhythm, and then some sort of repeated organ and guitar comes in over it. Then a similar thing is done in the same song with the sound of a chainsaw being ripped. Maybe it's some bonus track from a comp. Maybe it's not even Bonzo Dog Band and it was just tacked onto the tape, but the style is very similar to the laughing track, which is identified above as "Slush". I've been wondering this for years.

Hmmmmmmmm, I don't know what that track is! I wish I did!

"They bite
They scratch
They make an awful fuss
It's no use stroking them and saying "puss puss puss"..."

Oh, you know what?

Thanks to this thread, I just bought all five remastered CDs (plus extras) for £30 off ebay.

"But now, here in Willesden Green, yes, *brrrrr*, it is a bit chilly, but, no matter, because here comes a gentleman, and we're going to talk to him about shirts..."

"Let's Make Up And Be Friendly" - strange album! "Turkeys" sounds like one of the weirder Canterbury bands and "Waiting For The Wardrobe" is a great Roger Ruskin Spear track. Has anyone heard either of his solo albums?

Also, I've been rocking this new comp of songs they covered or were influenced by. It's 75% good, a few absolute crackers and a two or three crappy ones. Worth getting though, especially for the originals of Ali Baba's Camel, Mickey's Son and Daughter and Skirts (aka Shirt).

http://shop.instant-shop.com/magpiedirect/picture?pic=417140810&table=pictures&width=301&height=300

Wow, I must get that!

There's a lot of old songs that they played live or whatever but aren't on the albums, like "Little Sir Echo" (which you can see them doing on Youtube). Some of those ones are really good, especially if you like their first two albums the best.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3647630

splendid!

Okay, I did not know that it actually WAS Eric Clapton on ukelele. Cool but not surprising.

Another song I really like by them is "Straight from My Heart"--can't remember the album it's from (maybe "Let's Make Up..."). I like the chorus sing-a-long and the lazy sax line.

Whispering Jack Smith (who does the original version of "All By Yourself In the Moonlight" on the aforementioned comp) has mad flow.

How does his flow compare to that of Norman "Hurricane" Smith?

Comedy Music is about the only kind I can stand anymore.

Poor you

eeeeh.

the five remastered cds have ARRIVED!

see you monday!

Death Cab For Grouty

Grout Stripped Bare By Bachelors

"I'm Going to Bring a Watermelon to Mark Grout Tonight"

WE ARE NORMAL AND WE WANT OUR FREEDOM

The Intro and the Groutro

Well, the kids were impressed with "Monster Mash" and "Urban Spaceman" so far, and Alice enjoyed the "roll call" one (forgot it's name!)

Mind you, when I picked them up from a friends house they were both singing "Good Morning, How Are You, Shut up!!" so I have to go round explaining, thesedays!

Oh, and Alice was singing along to "Death cab for cutie" (the "Baby, don't do it" bits), which surprised me, until I remembered she'd seen the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" film about 3 months ago.

Mind you, when I picked them up from a friends house they were both singing "Good Morning, How Are You, Shut up!!" so I have to go round explaining, thesedays!

Hip kids!

you know it.

It's such a sliding scale between joke band and 'real' band. I think that, at times at least, The Bonzos were as much a comment on the music of the time and as much a cheeky, but relevant and spot-on, take on 60s pop as, say, Arthur Lee and Love were. There's still something very sincere about The Bonzo Dog Band.

My dad willed me his 'Beast of the Bonzos' LP when I was four because I loved the illustrations so much. So I guess I'd have to say that they're one of my all-time favorite bands.

"Piggy Bank Love" for the win.

I mean... "Look Out There's A Monster Coming"? What kinda class A white-boy reggae music hall robotic vocals mish-mash thang is this?

^^ srsly

"Gorilla" is great. But then so are all the other albums.

What's best is to have the albums "as they are", with their mix of contemporary rock and trad jazz and all directions off.

The "best of"'s, while serving them well, can only scratch this.

The last "Make up and be friendly" was somewhat disappointing, but the other four are blummin wonderful!

It's a contractual obligation album cobbled together 2 years after they broke up, so no surprises that it's a bit thin.

"...through the HOLES in your STRING VEEEEEEEEEST!"

I got the "chien" reunion album.

Um, they miss Viv. Badly.

Oh, it's not absolutely terrible. But.

Friend of mine had me convinced that BDDDB did Winchester Cathedral, largely on the evidence of one MP3 ID3 tag and one cartoon credit (Clive the frog). Seems that he was mistaken.

You know what's "look at me I'm" wonderful right now?

Scouring Youtube for classic BDDDB filmclips, and finding a festival gig in three parts in perfectly good sound/pic!

I say "sound" but I've not heard it yet. But judging from the picture quality...

Here's part two, the rest you can find...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLX5dlum3yk

Am really digging their song "Don't Get Me Wrong"...sounds kind of like Lennon-led Beatles (sort of like "Dig a Pony").

where's that from?

Let's Make Up and Be Friendly

Heard the strains of "I'm the urban spaceman" on the One show last night, thought "Oh, another useful background for some bloke who likes science fiction", but no:

A whole 10 minutes about the Bonzo's! W/ Neil Innes today, a bunch of film bits that you can see on Youtube (even now), but better quality, and Viv Stanshall of course.

A nice b/day surprise...

My pink half of the the drainpipe separates me from the incredibly boring story of your life in all its minute and tedious attention to detail, and "Was it a Thursday or a Wednesday .... ?" - Well I don't know if you are normal, but if you're normal then I intend to be a freak for the rest of my life and I will baffle you with cabbages and rhinoceroses and quotations from "Now we are Six" through the mouthpiece of Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head.

SO THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

― Bumfluff, Friday, 6 August 2004 20:03 (5 years ago) Bookmark

^this

"Equestrian Statue" remains one of Alice's favourite songs to sing.

And mine.

"It's a sight to bring you joy
You feel so gay..."

Mark G you are bringing yr kids up right.

A couple years ago, they did a version of "Monster Mash", based strongly on the Bonzo's version.

(It's on a thread around these parts, the link is still valid)

i need to get this stuff.

Lord Snooty's giant poisoned electric head.

Gah, and all the years I've heard that as "Lord Snoopy's...." I've now properly Googled and understood the source.

http://childrensbookshop.com/images/bookimages/66/66589.jpg

are there any other bands names after the Bonzos apart from Death Cab For Cutie and Poisioned Electrick Head?

er....Busted?

Real answer is Sofahead.

there was a magazine named after the bonzos. does that count?

this is great for anyone who hasn't seen it. i came across it whilst looking at bonzo vids one night. comes in three parts. watch it when you have the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACm2wGbpu4A

Which magazine? Trouser Press?

Thanks for that link by the way. I will watch that tonight for sure.

I bought the Poisoned Electrick Head album just because their name was a Bonzos reference.

I think my step dad bought me Gorilla when I was about 11, it was one of the first records I remember owning.

BDDDB are an ideal band to introduce children to. At that age they sound like the Beano's house band and then later you realise there is loads of stuff going on and most of the funny songs are spot on pastiches.

I had tickets to see Viv but sadly he went and died.

There's a GREAT bootleg DVD collection of all their promotional films which is a must see, maybe even more important than hearing the records. Really weird avant garde performance art stuff with bizarre masks and miming. British comedy strangeness 100x stranger than Monty Python.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6rc448Gs14

Craig Ferguson opens with "Look Out There's A Monster Coming". Great fun. Killer song, new to me.

One of my favourite Bonzo songs, and some of Viv's best lyrics..

Also inspired the screen name i've been using for the past few months..

Sky Arts had (has?) a half-hour "Bonzo's Live" show on last night.

Damn. Does anyone have access to a 'play-it-again' version?

anyone?

Our apologies for the late change to the schedules which was due to unforeseen circumstances with the delivery of the programme. The Bonzos are now scheduled for 14 Feburary at 6:30pm, and repeating on 15 and 18 Feb.

http://www.skyarts.co.uk/music/article/the-bonzo-dog-doo-dah-band/

Mark, if it's the live stuff from the Bilzen Festival as per the picture on the Sky webpage, then all that stuff's on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6VCtIXwVV4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLX5dlum3yk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHANNAEIZQA

^^^ was so psyched when I found these on youtube, finally being able to put visuals to the audio I've been listening to for years. (Interesting that they launch several times into the "Fuzzy dice..." line from Zappa's "Dog Breath.")

ok Sky Arts, you win..... I wish we have Sky now......

Yeah, that was my thought..

NickB, yeah thanks, I did manage to d/l those off Youtube back when you could do that.

I was more "wow, not rubbish quality broadcast! Yeah!"

So, I have a month to find someone to 'save' it for me?

.. anyone?

Is this still going to happen?

Did anybody catch this?

neil innes is playing at the port washington public library on long island, may 5.

I picked a random episode of "Do not adjust your set" and played it for the kids (and me, obv).

Bear in mind, this was my favourite prog back when it was originally transmitted, but was thinking that it may well have dated badly and/or of little interest to the kids (like the Banana Splits DVD boxset, which we could only watch approx 2 episodes before seeing that they were all pretty much exactly the same, and the inserted bits of "Danger Island" were poor stuff by todays standards, the cartoons being ... um, OK.)

Anyway, as we discussed, this was my generations' "Sorry I've got no head", but whereas that has Sue Perkins and Marcus Brigstoke making up for slightly inferior writing by mugging furiously, this has Denise Coffey and David Jason. Along with some Pre-pythons and the Bonzos obviously.

But, you know what, it's as strange and funny as it was at the time. "Captain Amazing" is a truly surreal 'silent'/b&w film episode thing...

"Captain Amazing" is a truly surreal 'silent'/b&w film episode thing...

... but not funny though. Sue Perkins isn't in "Sorry I've got no head", thank fuck

Oh it's the other one, innit?

(In my defence, there is an episode of "QI" where Stephen Fry calls Sue Perkins "Mel"...)

innes was charming the other night at the library. he had everybody singing and stomping along, from curiosity seekers to the folks who'd brought stacks of bonzos albums for him to sign.

Film with "Canyons Of Your Mind" in it. What was it???

The Innes Book of Records was also wonderful, a TV prog that was just wall-to-wall musical parodies, all with a surreal flavour

So they boxed up the remasters as Dog's Life, which is basically a higher fidelity Cornology (it even has the extra cuts like "Labio-Dental Fricative"). Even as an import it was pretty cheap and sounds amazing. Big jump from my rips. Long story short, I ended up on youtube and found this great clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hcZ4s9cvpw

Viv, man. Viv.

"looking very relaxed, Adolf Hitler on vibes" = classic.

the long ending "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" on 'My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe' = classic.

Trying to have a conversation with friends while under the influence while 'Noises For The Leg' plays in the background and failing miserably = classic.

Shocked, and Stunned, part 56: Seeing Neil Innes' last appearance on TOTP repeated, "Silver Jubilee" from 1977. Sex Pistols it aint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiSflr2XsQI

Never knew such a thing existed

Me neither.

I was vaguely aware the track existed, but didn't realise it was so bad.

That Bilzen festival stuff is amazing.

Yeah, finally got a decent quality version a few months ago. And now I have the Virgin TV, I now have a perfect version saved on the tivo.

"Hello Mabel," from DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUq6ktf19WE

And "Hunting Tigers Out In India"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS4vUaNQKHk

Urban Spaceman promo, with pre-Monster Mash mix, so no maniacal laughing at the beginning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WGVwreJNWlk
It actually says "Paul McCartney .... Producer" in the video and not Apollo C. Vermouth

Did that weird non-embedding time out thing. Will try again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=WGVwreJNWlk

OK, forget it. Finally here's one I never heard "High School Hermit." sung in "King of Scurf" doo-wop falsetto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi4WEAOdvWU&feature=relmfu

One more thing. The soundtrack (but not the visuals unfortunately) to an old BBC2 show called Colour Me Pop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BuG8f5QBCk&feature=relmfu

Slightly off topic, but I stumbled across this while searching for Bonzo footage. Sweet, glad youngsters are discovering them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN_K685svsU

Hello:

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_bonzo_dog_band_the_adventures_of_the_son_of_exploding_sausage

Thanking you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_teUu9jMc

Nice find! I have the LP of "Gorilla" around somewhere, I need to dig it out. Forgot about this great Kinks pastiche.

are there any other bands names after the Bonzos apart from Death Cab For Cutie and Poisioned Electrick Head?

Yes.

http://www.fade2grey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/R-990156-1263250581.jpeg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrjzooEAWU0

Love this track, still have never been able to figure out what the pool ball/chainsaw loops were.

Got a mono "Gorilla" on Saturday!

look out there's a monster coming

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/bonzodogbanned/

Wow, what must it feel to have your legacy stolen from you.

It's getting there...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFK980rXCyA

The Bonzos are so great. Absolute classic for anyone who loves The Beatles, The Kinks, or British whimsy. Also, The Incredible String Band.

If you love the Bonzos, you'll adore this album:

https://img.discogs.com/QTjnzGveKAyjo8jSU7Wt0RADyJw=/fit-in/480x480/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-709666-1275289286.jpeg.jpg

Also Syd Barrett

Neil Innes RIP

Ouch! :(

It's a blow, for sure.

oh fuck really?

"... and stunned!"

my daughter is 3 and likes the Beatles. As i generally can get sick of 'em fast, I thought it would be a good idea to play her the Rutles. Five months after doing so, she demands Rutles music more often that she does that of the Beatles or "let it Go" or "Barbie Girl" or "what does the Fox say?" I suppose I'm not unlike the dad that forces his kid to listen to Remain in Light, but I can't deny that I like that she's very likely the only child who loves the music of Neil Innes within 100 miles of where we live…

Innes always struck me as a guy whose talent maybe went unnoted a bit because he was, at times, the straight guy in the Bonzos. But he was a great one; his Bonzos songs include some real proto-glam in things like "Beautiful Zelda," "Rockaliser Baby," and "Mr. Apollo" and I think he was one of the best at the old-timey stuff like "Hello Mabel," too. His songs on Keynsham would have fit right in on a Kinks record from the period.

Story time, and yes it did happen!

Back when, our Alice came home from Brownie Camp. She said she'd had a great time etc, oh and she'd won the talent competition. I said ah fine, what did you sing? "The Equestrian Statue". I did wonder if I'd ruined her social outlook, but the rest you know! (well, some of you)

Anyway, just now we both caught the bus back from town together, and I mentioned I was going to share this tale. She said she didn't remember winning, but she did remember doing it and that "it was very untogether". Ah, I said, I would have expected so, to be quite honest...

Can we talk about how amazing this is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eFk9bAXzkI

Or how beautiful this is?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Uuvb3zctA

Or this? This is the weird prog sound of my childhood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzByBZs4c0A

That is great. I've never heard that 1972 album.

Goodbye Nasty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9SQ7GeiGh8

icymi

Ira Kaplan joined Gaylord Fields on WFMU for a 2-hr tribute

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/91049

Imi, so thanks. Haven’t crossed paths with Gaylord in ages. Maybe last time was at LaLa Brooks show in Astoria at which Ira and Georgia were in attendance as well.

Glad the playlist features the tune whose title derives from part of my screenname.

if WFMU web pages still look like that, you should still be able to save the m3u, open it in notepad, copy the mp3 address and put that in getright. they're not playing fair imo.

ihonestly do not care what web pages look like

I'm 100% in favour of radio station playlist pages still being done with tables in Composer, I just want to be able to still take the audio away and listen to it while walking or doing the dishes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKXsrWrmbAg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQ7ds90xDw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXXUmssNGI

RFI: A long time ago a friend lent me a Bonzo Dog Band dubbed cassette, and it had a track on it that used a tape loop - an early sample, really - of pool balls being hit, and also one of a chainsaw. Does anyone know what this is and where it can be found?

I'm afraid I'll go to my grave not knowing what this was. It's possible that it wasn't even a BDB song and was just apended to the cassette, I guess, but it was very similar in style to slush in my memory, sort of a slow, 12/8 feel to it.

#OnThisDay 1973: Roger Ruskin Spear, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, unleashes his “robots” on presenter Joe Melia and the British viewing public.

Straining plastic dolls, baffling games and a Patrick Moore machine are amongst the highlights. pic.twitter.com/ZPM62E3a64

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) April 7, 2024

Roger Ruskin Spear demonstrating some of his creations.

I love stuff like this and Tim Hunkin's Novelty Automaton/Under The Pier Show, Sam Smith - it all seems of a piece. Does anyone else make things like this? Some of Vic Reeves stuff is similar I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeN275kLtaE

this documentary about Sam Smith is great, seems like it might be of interest to fans of the Bonzos

more Roger Ruskin Spear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0l1hXdp5Zk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwZ_hMDzKmE

and Bruce Lacey, or course

Wilf Lunn was a mainstay of children’s TV in the 70s, similar absurdist hippy vibe as Ruskin Spear.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/wilf-lunn-protest-bike/zh9y6v4

Worth watching to the end to see his worm catcher.

Wilf Lunn is great, it's funny how there was this moment where you had stuff like Vision On where children's tv and experimental stuff could cross over, like Sylvester McCoy dividing his time between kids tv and the Ken Campbell Roadshow. Various Clive Doig shows as well

Look Out, There's a 17 CD, 3 DVD Monster Coming

https://www.amazon.com/Still-Barking-Bonzo-Doo-Dah-Band/dp/B0DHLLZ5NN

Seven years in the making and put together with band's full co-operation, 'Still Barking' includes: 17 CDs documenting a spectacularly entertaining career featuring:
- Stereo versions of all of the band's original albums, carefully remastered to capture their idiosyncratic charm.
- Additional remastered versions 'Gorilla' and 'The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse' in their original mono mixes.
- A newly compiled remastered CD of all the band's singles.
- Two discs of demos, rehearsals, and outtakes.
- A single disc of backing tracks.
- Three discs of BBC Sessions that capture the band's eccentric live energy.
- Two live discs: Studio Bellevue, Amsterdam. Recorded: November 1968. Fillmore East, NYC, 17 October 1969.
- A CD featuring a live show from London's Marquee Club and additional material of band rehearsals from the Manor Studios in Oxfordshire.
- Plus: Three DVDs of TV performances, including the complete 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' shows, 'Colour Me Pop', 'Beat Club', and more. Highlights include rare appearances, short films, and vintage footage from the height of their career.
- 148 page hardback coffee table book featuring an essay by Bonzos authority Chris Welch and an in-depth Day By Day Chronology/Cornology by noted author Andy Neill (The Who; Ready, Steady, Go!).

*faints*

guess i'll have to start saving. wow.

there's a big article in the new Ugly Things magazine where they interview surviving members.

Amazon.de are knocking this set out for €140 or thereabouts

What does it normally cost?

~£250

I’m not a huge fan but feeling tempted.

I'm a fan and not feeling tempted.

I'm a fan and I'm not spending €140 on any music, but if I had a lot more money to spare then I'd be tempted.

Exactly.

For the curious, find the first boxset they did, Cornology. Has all the albums, singles & b-sides without any bells or whistles. Second hand copies go for about $20.

I slsked the new box to hear the live and TV stuff. It's great but often feels like you had to be there. Lots of versions of the famous numbers and fewer unheard songs. Lovely that TV recordings have slowly been made available.

Just a fascinating band though. My introduction was as the 80s era cassette compilation on MFP which was all their A1 fun and jazzy material. I couldnt get anything else by them for ages and eventually found the 1974 comp "History of the Bonzos" which presents them as a darker, more abstract and less relatable band, despite a significant overlap in tracks.

When the albums were re-released on cd together (with bonus tracks, etc) they turned up in our local recshop for a fiver each.

I played them in the car taking Amber and Alice to dance and swimming lessons, particularly "Gorilla" and "Tadpoles" - they loved them and would sing various tunes around the house. Alice was particularly taken with "Monster Mash" so I recorded them via a downloaded karaoke backing track. I did share it on here back in the day, but its now unavailable as they are both in their mid-twenties..