Biography of The Bonzo Dog Band

The Bonzo Dog Band, a British music and comedy group, was formed by art school students in London in 1965, initially as The Bonzo Dog DaDa Band, then as The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. At first there was a large and changeable lineup, but shortly after the group began playing pubs, it became a septet consisting of Vivian Stanshall (b.1943 03 21, Shillingford, Oxfordshire, England) (trumpet, ukelele, vocals), "Legs" Larry Smith (b.1944 01 18, Oxford, England) (drums), Neil Innes (b.1944 12 09, Danbury, Essex, England) (keyboards, guitar, bass, vocals), Rodney Desborough Slater (b.1941 11 08, Crowland, Lincolnshire, England) (saxophone), Roger Ruskin Spear (b.1943 06 29, Hammersmith, London, England) (kazoo, jew's harp, saxophone, devices, explosions), Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell (b.1932 07 29, Plymouth, Devon, England) (guitar), and Sam Spoons (born Martin Stafford Ash 1942 02 08, Bridgewater, Somerset, England) (percussion). This configuration made the debut album, Gorilla, released in October 1967 (February 1968 in the U.S.) and appeared in The Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour (shown on U.K. TV December 26, 1967).In 1968, The Bonzos were featured on a 13-week U.K. TV series, Do Not Adjust Your Set, after which Spoons and Bohay-Nowell left and Dennis Cowan (b.1947 05 06, London, England) (bass), David Clague, and Joel Druckman were added. Paul McCartney produced a single, "I'm the Urban Spaceman," which was a U.K. Top Ten hit in December 1968. That month, the group also released their second album, The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse (released in the U.S. with a different track listing in June 1969 under the name Urban Spaceman). 1969 brought the release of Tadpoles (on August 1) and Keynsham (the latter not released in the U.S. until May 1970), after which The Bonzos broke up in January 1970. The group was reformed by Stanshall, Innes, and Cowan in 1972 along with Bubs White (guitar), Andy Roberts (fiddle, mandolin, guitar), Dave Richards (bass), Dick Parry (flute), and Hughie Flint (b.1942 03 15, England) (drums) for the April release of Let's Make Up and Be Friendly (their only album to chart in the U.S.). Then The Bonzos broke up again, with Stanshall going solo and Innes working with Monty Python and its various members, notably on The Beatles parody, The Rutles. ~ William Ruhlmann