An Ode to the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band

A few months ago I found myself engaged in a conversation about the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, one of the great bands of the 1960s. The person I was talking to expressed surprise that I knew who they were. At first I assumed this was because of my age (I’m in my early 20s), but it turned out the reason was that he had never come across a single person who had heard of them — even fans of the Beatles and Monty Python, both of whom had significant connections to them.

I must admit, I was shocked by this. I had always assumed that most people were well aware of the Bonzos. I can remember buying an album of their greatest hits when I was a young teenager and being blown away by the sheer brilliance of it all. I’d never come across a band quite like them — gloriously funny and surreal yet musically brilliant at the same time; a mix of rock, jazz, music hall, and all sorts of other influences. They inspired a whole generation of musicians, artists, and comedians. The indie band Death Cab for Cutie even took their name from a Bonzos song. Yet they remain criminally underrated.

The band started life in London in 1962, formed by a group of art students led by Vivian Stanshall and Rodney Slater. They named themselves after the 1920s cartoon character Bonzo the Dog and the Dada art movement, which was then changed to “Doo Dah.” After one or two lineup changes, the core of the band became frontman Stanshall, saxophonists Slater and Roger Ruskin Spear, guitarist/pianist Neil Innes, and drummer ‘Legs’ Larry Smith. The principal songwriters were Stanshall and Innes, though the others all contributed in this department.

The Bonzos gained their initial following playing live gigs, and Vivian Stanshall’s stage antics became the stuff of legend. They signed to Parlophone in 1966, but their first two singles didn’t make much impact. In 1967, their fortunes changed, when they began two famous associations with whom they would remain forever linked.

The first association was with a group of comedians who would go on to form the Monty Python troupe. Do Not Adjust Your Set was a comedy TV show aimed at a younger audience, written by and starring future Pythons Eric Idle, Michael Palin, and Terry Jones, alongside David Jason and Denise Coffey. The Bonzos appeared as the house band in each episode, performing songs and sometimes taking part in sketches. Neil Innes later became known as the seventh Python, appearing in their feature films and live stage shows. He also took part in Eric Idle’s post-Python series Rutland Weekend Television, which in turn led to The Rutles, the classic Beatles parody for which Innes wrote songs as well as playing the John Lennon-like character, Ron Nasty.

The second association was, of course, with the Beatles themselves. At around the same time as Do Not Adjust Your Set, Paul McCartney, who was a fan of the Bonzos, invited them to make an appearance in the Beatles’ upcoming film, Magical Mystery Tour. Their performance of the song “Death Cab for Cutie” is arguably one of the most memorable and entertaining parts of the film.

Both these associations served to increase the band’s popularity, and the same year they released their debut album, Gorilla. This was at last followed by chart success in 1968 with the release of the single “I’m the Urban Spaceman,” which reached #5 in the UK chart and is probably their most famous song. The Beatles connection comes into play once again, as the song was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym of Apollo C. Vermouth. It also earned its composer, Neil Innes, an Ivor Novello Award.

The Bonzos released four more studio albums and toured the United States with the likes of the Who and the Kinks, before disbanding in 1970. Their recording career was relatively short, but they still managed to produce a body of work that has been an enormous influence on so many subsequent acts. There is so much variety in their music, from trad jazz sounds (“Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold”) to rock (“Mr. Apollo”), and even a nod to film noir in the hilarious “Big Shot,” which features Viv Stanshall at his absolute best.

The band have reunited sporadically over the years. In 2006, they performed at the London Astoria to mark their 40th anniversary, and later undertook further shows in addition to recording a new album, Pour l’Amour des Chiens, in 2007. Sadly all of this has been without Vivian Stanshall, who died in 1995, but the shows have featured a host of comedians as special guests paying tribute to him.

I was fortunate enough to meet Neil Innes recently at a public interview he did in Dublin, during which he shared some wonderful stories from his career and performed a few songs, including “I’m the Urban Spaceman” and the Rutles classic “Cheese and Onions” (a real highlight). He was extremely modest about his achievements, saying how pleased he was that people simply liked his music. Afterwards he was happy to sign the many Bonzos LPs people had brought with them. This is proof that the band still have a dedicated following. They may be sadly overlooked by the majority of music fans today, but that following, and the number of comedians clamouring to perform with them at their reunion gigs, shows their undeniable influence. Many have mixed humor with music since, but there will never be another band quite like the Bonzos.

Sarah Stacey

Sarah is a writer and aspiring radio producer from Ireland. She is obsessed with vintage music and comedy and sometimes feels like she was born in the wrong decade. When not writing or thinking up new ideas for radio shows, she spends her spare time playing guitar, going to as many gigs as possible, and watching classic British sitcoms.