Known for their odd comedy songs and surreal covers of rag-time tracks, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band started out on the hit 60s show Do Not Adjust Your Set (a precursor to what would later become Monty Python’s Flying Circus), alongside Eric Idle, Michael Palin, David Jason (amazingly, the most popular cast member at the time), Denise Coffey and Terry Jones. The show even included cut-out animation from the wonderful Terry Gilliam in the second series. It basically consisted of a group of twenty-somethings having fun and being silly. Although these co-stars went on to become far bigger than The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, many believe that they were the true, weird stars of the show; hilarious, but with real musical talent. For those of us not old enough to remember the original broadcast, I’d love to see DNAYS aired again! We’re ready for the madness… Ok, I found it on Amazon for £2.42 – it’s mine!
The original lead singer from the band was the late Vivian Stanshall, a comedy genius. These days, Rodney “Rhino” Desborough Slater, Sam Spoons and Roger Ruskin Spear tour with pianist David Glasson as Three Bonzos and a Piano.
Anyway, I thought I’d round up my list of their top 5 strangest songs and list them here for you to discover/re-discover. So in no particular order…
- Shirt from the Tadpoles album. It starts with the sound of munching… I don’t need to say anything else.
2. Dr. Jazz also from Tadpoles. An usual track for the band as it’s instrumental.
3. Keynsham from the album of the same name. Cling-cling the ring, clang-clang, she sang…
4. Tent – just a little creepy…
5. and finally… Death Cab for Cutie. Just lovely.
Jay Snelling Art 