Although this eccentric ensemble was initially viewed as a 20s revival act, similar to the already established Alberts, they quickly developed into one of the pop era's most virulent satirists. Formed as the Bonzo Dog Dada Band in 1962 by art students Vivian Stanshall (b. Victor Anthony Stanshall, 21 March 1943, Shillingford, Oxfordshire, England, d. 5 March 1995, Muswell Hill, London, England; vocals, trumpet, devices) and Rodney Slater (b. 8 November 1941, Crowland, Lincolnshire, England; saxophone), the unit also included Neil Innes (b. 9 December 1944, Danbury, Essex, England; vocals, piano, guitar), Roger Ruskin Spear (b. 29 June 1943, Hammersmith, London, England; props, devices, saxophone) and "Legs" Larry Smith (b. 18 January 1944, Oxford, England; drums). Various auxiliary members, including Sam Spoons (b. Martin Stafford Ash, 8 February 1942, Bridgewater, Somerset, England), Bob Kerr (b. 14 February 1943, Kensington, London, England) and Vernon Dudley Bohey-Nowell (b. 29 July 1932, Plymouth, Devon, England), augmented the line-up; the informality was such that no-one knew which members would arrive to perform in the band's early shows.
In 1966, two singles, "My Brother Makes The Noises For The Talkies" and "Alley Oop", reflected the band's transition from trad jazz to pop. Gorilla, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band's inventive debut album, still showed traces of their music-hall past, but the irreverent humour displayed on "Jollity Farm" and the surrealistic "The Intro And The Outro" ("Hi there, happy you could stick around, like to introduce you to . . .") confirmed a lasting quality that outstripped that of contemporary "rivals", the New Vaudeville Band, to whom Kerr, and others, had defected. A residency on the British television children's show, Do Not Adjust Your Set, reinforced the band's unconventional reputation and the songs they performed were later compiled on the Tadpoles album. The Bonzo Dog Band (as the unit was now known) was also featured in the Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour, performing the memorable "Death Cab For Cutie", and in 1968 secured a UK Top 5 hit with "I'm The Urban Spaceman", which was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym Apollo C. Vermouth. Further albums, The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse and Keynsham, displayed an endearing eclecticism that derided the blues boom ("Can Blue Men Sing The Whites?"), suburbia ("My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe") and many points in between, while displaying an increasingly rock-based bent.
Newcomers Dennis Cowan (b. 6 May 1947, London, England), Dave Clague and Joel Druckman toughened the band's live sound, but the strain of compressing pre-war English middle-class frivolousness (Stanshall), whimsical pop (Innes) and Ruskin Spear's madcap machinery into a united whole ultimately proved too great. Although a reconvened line-up completed Let's Make Up And Be Friendly in 1972, this project was only undertaken to fulfil contractual obligations. The Bonzo Dog Band had disbanded two years earlier when its members embarked on their inevitably divergent paths.
The original line-up, minus the deceased Stanshall, held a reunion concert at the Astoria, London, on 28 January 2006. Special guests including comedians Stephen Fry, Ade Edmondson, Phill Jupitus and Paul Merton stood in for Stanshall. A national tour, featuring Edmonson and Jupitus, followed at the end of the year. Suitably inspired by the response to the tour, the members returned to the studio to record a new album, which was released in December 2007 under their original moniker, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
