- 2006
Andy worked with the Bonzo's in various guises in the early 1970's. Both he and Vivian Stanshall were great chums and in 1972 were the first to use Richard Branson's brand new Manor Recording Studios. So when the idea of a Bonzo's 40th Anniversary gig was first talked about...
...Andy signed up!
It was always going to be too much fun to miss. I had supper with Neil & Yvonne Innes after the launch of Roger McGough's autobiography at the Chelsea Arts Club last November, and Neil asked me soon after if I'd be available to join a planned re-union of the Bonzo Dog Band to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the release of their first single - "My Brother Makes the Noises For The Talkies" - on EMI.
So we all showed up at Panic Rehearsal Studios in North Acton, London, on Monday, 2 weeks ago (23 January 2006) to rehearse. This was a bit of a novelty in itself. I remember most rehearsals with the old band being of the 'knocked together in the soundcheck' variety. Anyway, I was first there, and I could immediately see the problem would be space. After all, the line-up was to be "Legs" Larry Smith, Vernon Dudley Bohay Nowell, Sam Spoons, Bob Kerr, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Neil Innes, JJ Jones, Tom Fry, Mickey Simmonds, and myself, with Stephen Fry, Adrian Edmondson, Phill Jupitus and Paul Merton occupying the Viv-shaped hole at the front. Knowing that, in addition to the personnel, there would be 2 drumkits, keyboards, amps, any number of weird instruments, along with Roger's constructions such as the Theremin leg, electric trouser press and Rowmonium, my first job was to ask that all non-essential gear be cleared out of the way!
No point in going into details of the grind of learning the material, except to point out that with the Bonzos nothing is usual. It was day three before Larry asked for a fully orchestrated version of the Theme From Exodus, and it was Friday morning before all issues were resolved, and Neil managed to issue a set-list that had given him several sleepless nights.
Endlessly inventive, they were all in their own way on top of the task. Big medal to Rod Slater, whose sax and clarinet are so much a signature sound of every stage of the Bonzos of old. Despite not having played regularly for a couple of years, Rod was a fantastic tower of strength, as well as being one of the nicest guys on the planet Earth. Never missed a note. I didn't know a lot of the early band well. Sam, Vernon and Bob Kerr were virtually strangers to me, and it was great fun getting to know them. I had lived opposite Roger Spear for 8 years in the 1980s, but I hadn't seen him for 20 years, so there was a lot of freshness in the team. I'd never met Tom the bass player either, though I knew Mickey and JJ from the Rutles of a couple of years ago.
As Friday approached, and I knew that the band was in pretty good shape, my fear was that the 'guest' vocalists might not measure up to the task of replacing Vivian. Boy was I wrong. As they trooped in one by one for the Friday rehearsal, it was clear that they would be the icing on the cake. Ade Edmondson showed extraordinary range, covering all bases, from The Strain to My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe. Phill Jupe handled the out and out rockers, dwarfing his fab blond Custom Telecaster on Blue Men, and Elvising affectionately on Canyons Of Your Mind. Paul Merton gave us a mind-bogglingly deranged Monster Mash, with Sam as the resurrected monster giving us a manic electric spoon solo before his head exploded spectacularly!
And Stephen Fry savouring every word of Viv's writing on The Sound Of Music and Rhinocratic Oaths. He lurked in the corner and sang along to the afternoon rehearsal, word-perfect. The Bonzos had been the much-loved accompaniment to his school days, and he clearly relished every minute in the same room as his heroes.
And so to the gig on the Saturday. We all arrived at the Astoria to find the girls from Tatu occupying our stage, as they soundchecked for their show which would be on after ours! A bit loud for my taste, but popular with the youngsters I'm led to believe. Took hours to set the stage and check our own sound, but soon it was gig time, and it became apparent that the rehearsals had been a mere distraction, and it was Bonzo business as usual. All week I had played ukulele on the 20s and 30s stuff, as being the perfect addition to Vernon's super-authentic tenor banjo. We got to My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies and I thought it sounded a bit different. Sure enough, I looked up and there was no sign of Vernon onstage. In fact I don't remember him showing up until he played musical saw and sang on Falling In Love Again, half of it in a Kaiser Bill helmet, and the other half in a Marlene Dietrich wig. But hey, that's the Bonzos. In the interval he explained that he'd had a bit of trouble changing out of a leopard costume he'd worn earlier in the set. That's all right, then.
The whole evening was filmed for a DVD to come out later in the year, so all will be revealed. Fancy Ade Edmondson in a parrot costume, anyone? Chaos? Yes, there was chaos, but the audience was superb, the Bonzos were inspired, the guest vocalists loved their time onstage with their idols, and the whole night was a triumph. And fittingly, Neil called for absolute silence as he announced that we would be remembering the sadly absent members of the band, Dennis Cowan and Vivian Stanshall with a minute's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . cacophany! Cue absolute pandemonium!
The set-list, with principal vocalists, was:
Rule Britannia
Hunting Tigers Out In "Indiah" (Neil)
My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies (Roger)
On Her Doorstep Last Night (Neil)
Little Sir Echo (Bob - Sam)
Ali Baba's Camel (Neil)
3 Legs (Roger)
Falling In Love Again (Vernon)
I'm Going To Bring A Watermelon To My Girl Tonight (Roger)
Look Out There's a Monster Coming (Neil)
Theremin Leg (Roger)
By A Waterfall (Neil)
I'm The Sheikh Of Araby (Rod)
Hello Mabel (Neil)
Jollity Farm (Neil)
Here Comes The Equestrian Statue (Neil)
Second Half
Cool Britannia
We Are Normal (Ade - Neil)
The Strain (Ade)
The Sound Of Music (Stephen)
Exodus (Larry)
Do The Trouser Press Roger/(Stephen)
My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe (Ade/Rod/Larry)
I'm Bored (Ade)
Sport Neil/(Stephen)
Mr Apollo (Neil - Phill)
Humanoid Boogie (Neil)
Tent (Ade)
Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? (Phill)
Look At Me, I'm Wonderful (Larry)
I Left My Heart In San Francisco (Larry)
Rhinocratic Oaths (Stephen)
Mr Slater's Parrot (Neil - Rod)
Monster Mash (Paul)
I'm The Urban Spaceman (Neil)
Canyons Of Your Mind (Phill)
The Intro and The Outro (from CD) (Vivian)
Slush (From CD) The Bonzo Dog BandIn 2009 Three Bonzo's and a Piano toured with Andy joining them for a selected number of gigs. You can see photos from these gigs here>>.
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