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The all new fantastic Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band thread

Started by Nowhere Man, December 31, 2019, 12:04:37 AM

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Nowhere Man

Many years ago on this very forum there used to be an incredible thread on the Bonzos (and anything Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall related)
https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,8062.0.html

I'd love it if we could get another big thread like that going, if at the very least so maybe some new folks could maybe discover their brilliance. Plus we already have great lads like ajsmith and Ballad of Ballad Berkely on here who know everything about them.

Is Cornology still the best sounding way to digitally collect their music?

Phil_A

When I was looking for Innes stuff earlier I found this great bit of footage of the Bonzos on stage I hadn't seen before, including footage of Roger's robots and Vivian playing a Stroh violin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKUlT7YDufU


studpuppet

I used to be part of S.H.A.R.E. (the Viv Stanshall archive that had Rupert Stanshall's blessing), and I've got seven CD-ROMs full of Viv stuff which may be of interest (mp3s, news clippings, bits of video of 2007ish quality).

DrGreggles

I think this was their TV debut:
https://youtu.be/n0OQXQhT0fY

I watch it a lot because it makes me smile.


Phil_A

2 takes of "Noises For The Leg" with bonus Sir Jimmel Fix You intro, please don't have nightmares.

https://vimeo.com/259899904

ajsmith2

Quote from: DrGreggles on December 31, 2019, 12:05:03 PM
I think this was their TV debut:
https://youtu.be/n0OQXQhT0fY

I watch it a lot because it makes me smile.

Apologies for being a titanic pedant, but their TV debut was this: https://vimeo.com/259904908

Blue Peter in early 1966 playing 'Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey' with the nine piece line up of the time

New Faces was about 18 months later in mid 1967 ish: annoyingly the upload has the wrong year. It is a great clip though!

daf


sirhenry

Quote from: studpuppet on December 31, 2019, 11:15:22 AM
I used to be part of S.H.A.R.E. (the Viv Stanshall archive that had Rupert Stanshall's blessing), and I've got seven CD-ROMs full of Viv stuff which may be of interest (mp3s, news clippings, bits of video of 2007ish quality).
I used to co-run S.H.A.R.E. but the constant pussyfooting around Ki and her threats stopped the whole thing from being much fun. It finally died (i.e. the domain name was allowed to lapse and so the site is only findable on the Way Back Machine) last year but I do still have a large shoebox full of CD's of bootlegs, scans of fan magazines, lo-fi live recordings and so on. Mostly of Viv as it was the Vivian Stanshall Sound Archive, but inevitably containing a fair bit of Bonzos. I wish I had the energy and enthusiasm to promote it - maybe a blog with weekly uploads or just the massive online archive that really ought to exist.
But I don't.
Hopefully Ki no longer thinks of Viv's unpublished work as her pension (as she said to me some ten years ago) and so won't try to keep it as unheard as it is. But someone else will have to put in the time, money and effort if Viv is not going to vanish from history. That would be a crime because while some of his humour has dated (because society and attitudes have changed), he played with the English language in a way that had few, if any, betters.


jobotic

I need to come back to this when I'm not pissed but can I just say

Drop out with Peter Scott on duck call



studpuppet

Quote from: sirhenry on December 31, 2019, 08:37:57 PM
I used to co-run S.H.A.R.E.

FWIW it was a really enjoyable thing to have subscribed to, so thanks for having a hand in it! It was one of those things you forget having done, and then every so often a big gobbet of Viv would land unannounced on the front door mat.
There are seemingly loads of complexities still surrounding Viv's legacy, and who gets to tell his story. If you haven't got the energy, I'm sure someone else on here probably would have. I'm in the 'happy to help but not sure how I can' pile!

Nowhere Man

Didn't realise this was meant to be happening later in the year.



Apparently it's still happening according to the Bonzo's Facebook page, but I imagine it will be held partly in tribute to Neil now. (Not to mention Sam Spoons and Viv of course)

It's been mentioned in the Neil tribute thread but it's so upsetting that Neil had to deal with this High Court battle and the name being stolen in his final years.

Interestingly, the information for the trademarking case decision is online here:

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/t-challenge-decision-results/o66419.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2q5J-eO_9LtspVaWKrrxKXbtSOI7I7UvPbgOPmsiDxHxi7vlL9R55TYAk

kalowski


tmg513

I was once in a country pub in Worcestershire walking down a corridor from the back room to the bar when walking towards me with a pint in his hand was a guy with long ginger hair wearing a Roman toga. "Fuck me, you're Viv Stanshall!", I exclaimed. "Of course I am, dear boy", he said as we passed each other, neither of us breaking stride.

Nowhere Man

That's made my day that has, such a simple encounter but I can visualise and see it perfectly.


Head Gardener



been spinning my original tin foiled 1st UK issue this morning

Paaaaul

Quote from: Nowhere Man on December 31, 2019, 12:04:37 AM
Is Cornology still the best sounding way to digitally collect their music?
There is due to be a 11xCD box set released this year of everything Bonzo which looks like it will be the definitive statement.

Cornology actually misses a short track from the end of Doughnut, but a very similar box set called A Dog's Life came out a few years ago which i believe includes that track and has all the remastered albums.

ajsmith2

Also I didn't realise for ages that the version of 'Trouser Freak' on Cornology misses out a whole seperate end section on the original record, including parodies of 'These Boots Are Made For Walking', and, improbably 'King Mindas In Reverse'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKLDBD2fw-g

Nowhere Man

Quote from: Paaaaul on January 09, 2020, 06:08:04 AM
There is due to be a 11xCD box set released this year of everything Bonzo which looks like it will be the definitive statement.

Cornology actually misses a short track from the end of Doughnut, but a very similar box set called A Dog's Life came out a few years ago which i believe includes that track and has all the remastered albums.

Thanks for the update! After checking stevehoffman.tv to see if there was anything else i'd missed recently I saw someone say that Andrew Sandoval is working on the box set, that's extremely enticing news I must say!

jobotic


ajsmith2

Quote from: jobotic on January 09, 2020, 11:10:04 AM
If I have this (which I do), what great songs am I missing out on as they're not on it?

https://www.discogs.com/Bonzo-Dog-Band-The-Bestiality-Of-Bonzo-Dog-Band/release/1222724

I know it's a flip answer, but I would honestly say 'most of the rest of their songs'. Their back catalogue had very few worthless tracks imo. That's the comp I started with too and it's good but it's like one slice out of the full cake of their greatness. You might as well get one of the complete works box sets. In particular you used to be able to get Cornology stupidly cheap (£10 or thereabouts) for how much it had on it and I'd bet you still can.

Nowhere Man

Quote from: jobotic on January 09, 2020, 11:10:04 AM
If I have this (which I do), what great songs am I missing out on as they're not on it?

https://www.discogs.com/Bonzo-Dog-Band-The-Bestiality-Of-Bonzo-Dog-Band/release/1222724

It's a fantastic assortment of tracks handpicked by Viv (not a big fan of The Strain though) but here are some really obvious tracks that seem to be missing:

Hunting Tigers Out In 'INDIAH'
Rockaliser Baby
You Done My Brain In
Look Out, There's a Monster Coming
Look at Me, I'm Wonderful
We Were Wrong
The Equestrian Statue
Death Cab For Cutie


But truth be told there are a ton of worthy tracks on the first four albums that make them all worth listening to, hell it's £12 on Amazon for all five albums. (Although Cornology's probably still a better bet since the bonus tracks are excellent.)

jobotic

I stuck up the wrong version. I have a Cd from the 90s which includes

Hunting Tigers
Look Out, There's a Monster Coming  (a favourite)
The Equestrian Statue
Death Cab for Cutie




Thanks though, and thanks ajsmith2 - will have a look for Cornology

ajsmith2

I like 'The Strain'.. yeah it's pure scatological humour which on 'paper' you'd think the Bonzos should be above, but with Viv going full bore for the subject matter with customary Rabelaisian gusto it works for me anyway, I like most of 'Let's Make Up and Be Friendly' in fact. Even though it's not really the same band as the 60s group (more like Stanshall and Innes with Gargantuan Guests and session men) it's full of fantastic new skits and textures. The original Rawlinson End is worth the price of admission and 10 times more alone.

I though their other reunion album from 2007, Pour L'Amour Des Chiens was really really bad though. Shame though cos the reunion tour from the year before was fantastic imo. But the album is an awkward mixture of trad jazz covers, shoe horned in Neil Innes songs from other projects (which aren't bad per se but aren't a great fit) and what I thought were really bad attempts at new Bonzos songs and humour. Clearly not everyone agrees though as the reviews on Amazon are uniformly excellent. I wish I did like it but I thought that even allowing for Viv's absence it missed the point of what was good about the band.

jobotic

Straining, complaining. No, I'm not complaining.

purlieu

I'm not really a fan of Let's Make Up and Be Friendly in general. Songs about constipation and dandruff in a rock'n'roll style, a long 7 minute jam, it all feels more Zappa than Bonzos really.
My favourites are Gorilla and Tadpoles. I think the mix of jazz, music hall and Goons-esque humour just ticks all the boxes for me.