| Author | Message | ||
     Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4289 Registered: 03-2005 |
His spoofs of pop music delighted me from a young age. On their first album the Bonzo Dog Band took good-natured swipes at what a friend of mine once called "Pepper Pomp" as well as the first wave of tweecore popularized primarily in the U.K. from 1966 to 1968. There was even a wry little nod to the vaguely tropical rhythm and "three, uh-four" count starting up the Hollies' 1966 classic "Tell Me to My Face." From a later album was my own personal validation, the anthem for all us geeky sport-disinclined kids. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5_teUu9 jMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THx6kK5W yxI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HeEFxgk tVg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Jn1UvS 8GM It was Neil Innes' pop expertise that underlay all of these and many more gems the Bonzos would do over a brief handful of years. | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 610 Registered: 08-2005 |
Randy, I was hugely saddened by the news and, having never seen that video of The Esquestrian Statue, I'm in tears. I've listened to the Bonzos since the late 70s, can remember Rutland Weekend TV and The Rutles when it was first shown (and I have the LP). I saw him live in Norwich in the 1980s and the Rutles live in Bristol in, I think, the 1990s. I also saw the Bonzos at the Cheese and Grain in Frome c10 years ago; Neil wasn't with them but a lot of the original members were and they had a great stage show. They signed my original copy of Gorilla. I do wonder what his career would have been like had he somehow joined a more mainstream band in the 1960s, as he was a great songwriter. Very, very sad news. But I love the fact he has a co-credit on Oasis's Whatever, as a result of its 'similarities' to Innes's How Sweet to Be and Idiot. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4290 Registered: 03-2005 |
Simon, I never saw Rutland Weekend TV and I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get any of his solo records though I used to see "How Sweet to be an Idiot" in the racks. I did see the Rutles "documentary" of course, almost immediately before I moved down to Los Angeles for law school if I remember correctly. From Rutland Weekend Television, or perhaps the Old Whey Gristle Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfTlGMCe uDE | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 4291 Registered: 03-2005 |
I'm glad you mentioned Rutland Weekend TV, Simon. I've never seen any of this stuff. It is brilliant. The song is great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fC5B778 Oeg | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 1650 Registered: 10-2006 |
This is one I remember leaping round the living room furniture to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ubgv0-N k7o As much as the tune, I was probably delighted by the Billy Bunter references and the slightly weird Milliganesque humour, the same kind of thing that had me rushing down the hill from school on Thursdays to try to catch Do Not Adjust Your Set. And Monty Python was just around the corner. I'm trying to remember a lovely piano ballad that Innes composed, perhaps later on in his career, one of his rare non-parodies I think... any ideas for a title, anyone? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 9105 Registered: 05-2005 |
I very much agree with Simon's line "I do wonder what his career would have been like had he somehow joined a more mainstream band in the 1960s, as he was a great songwriter." I'll watch those links at some point, but right now I'm having too much fun listening to The Moles' Code Word album. |