June 22, 2012 Playlist

"The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" by The Bonzo Dog Band (1968)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
The Bonzo Dog Band  "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse"  1968 (UK)
In the history of rock, comedy ranks pretty low on the totem pole compared to guitar solos, tight trousers and big hair.  Sure Led Zeppelin or The Beatles might occasionally slip in the occasional witicism, but few have ever dared to base a career on it.  Frank Zappa had a complicated relationship to "humour in music" -- one might complain that while his music was often great, the jokes were rarely funny -- indeed he's perhaps more of a satirist anyway (he's trying to make you think, laughter is merely a side effect).  And then you've got your Weird Al Yankovic types (parody:  the lowest form of art?)  The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (their original full name) was the group that broke this mold.  They come across like a combination of the Beatles' whimsical English psychedelic pop and Monty Python's subversive meta-conceptual lunacy.  Indeed, the Bonzo's main songwriter Neil Innes appeared on the Monty Python TV show and collaborated with members of that gang on other projects, most memorably The Rutles -- an inspired Beatles parody in which Innes portrayed a John Lennon type to Eric Idles' McCartneyesque characterization.  (That group was rounded out by some notable but unfamous musicians:  "George" Ricky Fataar had replaced Dennis Wilson as drummer for the Beach Boys(!!) in the early 1970's, and "Ringo" John Halsey was the drummer for Timebox and Patto, while "Paul" Eric Idle lip-synched to studo performances by Ollie Halsel, another member of Timebox and Patto.)
The Bonzo's biggest break came in 1967, when they performed in the cabaret scene in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour -- the song "Death Cab For Cutie" also inspired a band of the same name decades later.  Their only real hit single was Neil Innes' amusing "The Urban Spaceman", which was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym "Apollo C. Vermouth".  The B-side of that single was a psychedelic Elvis pastiche called "Canyons Of Your Mind".  The band also appeared regularly on a TV show called Do Not Adjust Your Set, a surreal and subversive sketch comedy show which was a precursor to the infamous Monty Python's Flying Circus.  Here's "Beautiful Zelda" performed in the days of black and white television.  The psychedelic insanity hits a peak in this wacky clip of "11 Mustachioed Daughters", a track from this week's classic album as performed by a spinoff group called Vivian Stanshall's Big Grunt!
(N) = New Release
Artist Song Album Year (label) Country
Pond
Dig Brother
Beard, Wives, Denim (N)2012 (Modular)Australia
Tame ImpalaAlter Ego
Innerspeaker (N)2011 (Modular)
Australia
The Luck Of Eden Hall
Complicated Mind
Butterfly Revolutions Vol. 2 (N)2011 (self release)USA
Paul Messis & Jessica WinterAs Nightmares Turn To Dreams
B-side 7" single (N)2012 (State)UK
Baby WoodroseNothing Is Real
Third Eye Surgery (N)2012 (Bad Afro)Denmark
Dungen
Panda
Ta Det Lungt
2004Sweden
 
  
The Bonzo Dog Band
We Are Normal
The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1968
UK
The Bonzo Dog Band
Postcard
The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1968
UK
The Bonzo Dog Band
Rhinocratic Oaths
The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1968
UK
The Bonzo Dog Band
Canyons Of Your Mind
Tadpoles
1969
UK
The Beatles
You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
B-side 7" single
1970
UK
 
  
Peaking Lights Cosmic TidesLucifer (N)2012 (Mexican Summer)USA
The Congos
Congoman (12" mix - CD bonus track)
Heart Of The Congos
1977
Jamaica
Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos
Food Clothing And Shelter
Icon Give Thank (FRKWYS Vol. 9) (N)2012 (RVNG)USA/Jamaica
Dr. John
Ice Age
Locked Down (N)2012 (Nonesuch)USA
Captain Beefheart & The Magic BandHarry Irene (original version)
Bat Chain Puller (N - previously unreleased "lost" album)1976 (2012 Zappa Vaulternative)
USA
 
  
Black Tempest
Invisible Moon (excerpt)
Ex Proxima
2010
UK
Cosmic Jokers & Sternenmädchen
So Beautiful / The Queen Of Sunshine / Meine Kosmische Musik
Gilles Zeitschiff
1975
Germany
Spectrum
The New Atlantis
Forever Alien
1997
UK
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO
Fellatioh's Dance Also Bitches Blow
Son Of A Bitches Brew
2012 (Important)
Japan
 
 
Earthling Society
Beltane Queen
Albion
2004
UK
Million Brazillians
Dance Into Your Dungeon (excerpt)
Dyngia Salon (N - cassette)2012 (Psychic Sound Recordings)USA
 
 
Meat Puppets
Up On The Sun
Up On The Sun
1985
USA
The Misteriosos
The Sun
The Misteriosos
2005
USA
James Last
Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles)
Beachparty 2
1971
Germany
                 
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