Screaming Lord Sutch

[Limehouse]

Oh please Graham, you're a lovely bloke, don't turn into one of those PC-bashing rabids. There are too many of them on the Obama thread over in Pub Talk!

[Graham]

I saw the Bonzos quite a few times, and their act was never the same two nights running.

One time I took a girl to see them at Aston University, Birmingham, and she actually damaged her diaphragm laughing. They were without any doubt the funniest act ever, but poor old Viv Stanshall turned into a tragic figure, eventually. I always felt sorry for him in his post-Bonzo days. I think the only Bonzo who really made it was Neil Innes, who was about the only accomplished musician of the lot of them.

Ah, happy daze, never to be repeated in this sad, conforming PC world of ours...

Cheers,

Graham

[Limehouse]

I'm a huge Bonzos fan as I used to be in a band that was always being compared to them in terms of silliness.

I knew Dave Sutch a little and it was such a shame when he died. I first met him at a public event and he was, frankly, a total arse. Awful. However, I met him again two years later at a film showing and we both arrived early and went for a coffee. The real man was lovely. He was quiet, friendly, chatty and clearly lacking in confidence. I really took to him and retrospectively it's not all that surprising to understand why he took his own life after his mum died.

I've got a photo of me and him with Honey Lantree of The Honeycombs from 1991. I used to be a huge Joe Meek fan once upon a time (their producer, the English Phil Spector to those who don't know the name).

PHILIP

Joe Meek was a beautiful, sad, mad but hugely talented producer. I was a virtual tot in the 60s when his music was always topping the charts but I can still remember my brother and I banging wooden spoons against saucepan lids in time to the drum beats in the chorus of "Have I the Right'

A couple of years ago, I saw a play in the West End called Telstar. It told the story of Joe and his recording studio in his flat above a shop in Holloway Road. Linda Robson played his much-loved but ill-fated landlady. It was a terrific play but of course, there could be no happy ending. Poor Joe.

My husband absolutely ADORES the Bonzos. I think it's a male thing because, although the music is OK, I can't stand the humour.

[Observer]

Hi Graham

They certainly couldn't have got 25 people on the stage in the poky little hole I was referring to in my previous post, I doubt whether there was 25 in the audience.

all the best

Observer

[Graham]

As you probably know Graham the Bonzo's appeared on the kids comedy programme "Do not adjust your sets", You can get a DVD of all the episode's on Amazon. I havn't watched it for a while, but off the top of my head ther's 8 episode's with a song by the bonzo's in each episode.

all ther best

Observer

I certainly do remember "Do Not Adjust Your Set". But that was the 'small', the 'respectable', Bonzo Dog Band. I can go back to the sunny days when no Bonzo concert was complete without at least 25 performers on stage.

I'm all about!

Graham

[Observer]

On second thoughts skip that Philip, I'm thinking of someone else, Mr Meek was English. Now who was I thinking of? If I remember rightly he worked with the Kinks and was Americam

all the best

Observer

.

[Observer]

Hi Phil

Was it true that when Joe Meek came over to Britain he wasn't exactly truthfull about his experiences in the recording studio?

all the best

Observer

[George Hutchinson]

I'm a huge Bonzos fan as I used to be in a band that was always being compared to them in terms of silliness.

I knew Dave Sutch a little and it was such a shame when he died. I first met him at a public event and he was, frankly, a total arse. Awful. However, I met him again two years later at a film showing and we both arrived early and went for a coffee. The real man was lovely. He was quiet, friendly, chatty and clearly lacking in confidence. I really took to him and retrospectively it's not all that surprising to understand why he took his own life after his mum died.

I've got a photo of me and him with Honey Lantree of The Honeycombs from 1991. I used to be a huge Joe Meek fan once upon a time (their producer, the English Phil Spector to those who don't know the name).

PHILIP

[Observer]

As you probably know Graham the Bonzo's appeared on the kids comedy programme "Do not adjust your sets", You can get a DVD of all the episode's on Amazon. I havn't watched it for a while, but off the top of my head ther's 8 episode's with a song by the bonzo's in each episode.

all ther best

Observer

[Observer]

Hi Bill

I discarded most of my albums years ago, and bought the cd's but am slowly but surely buying the Bonzo's Lp's back, it's costimg a fortune, I paid a tenner for a battered copy of I'm the Urban Spaceman, on the Sunset label only last week.

Hi Graham, a pleasure to meet a fellow Bonzo fan. As I said a freind of mine met Viv and the boys back in the 60's when they were performing at a club where he played the double bass.

They were virtual unknowns at the time. The managment were not too enamoured with Viv when instead of sayimg Haloo Haloo Haloo at the end of Little sir Echo he replied F*** off F*** off F*** off.

Do you own Viv's solo album "Teddy Boys don't knit", one of my favourite songs of all time appears on it, namely "Terry keeps his clips on".

all the best

Observer

[Graham]

Hi all.

It would seem that Lord Sutch spread his net wide indeed. This month's issue of Ripperologist (#91 May 2008) has an article by Jennifer Pegg and myself about a survey we did among Ripperologists and one of the questions we asked was "What sparked your interest in the field?" and one of the people we interviewed cited the Screaming Lord Sutch record. Indeed, the answers to that question were quite varied and very interesting.

We also asked, as a fun question, what a person's favorite song was and while these answers were also diverse (from opera to nu metal) no one named any of the Ripper songs out there.

Don.

It goes without saying that the Bonzo's humour was somewhat above such sleaze as common mass murder in the 19th century - there were tigers to be hunted out in Indiah for a start!

Good health,

Legs

[Supe]

Hi all.

It would seem that Lord Sutch spread his net wide indeed. This month's issue of Ripperologist (#91 May 2008) has an article by Jennifer Pegg and myself about a survey we did among Ripperologists and one of the questions we asked was "What sparked your interest in the field?" and one of the people we interviewed cited the Screaming Lord Sutch record. Indeed, the answers to that question were quite varied and very interesting.

We also asked, as a fun question, what a person's favorite song was and while these answers were also diverse (from opera to nu metal) no one named any of the Ripper songs out there.

Don.

[Graham]

Hi Bill

Nice to meet you. You're correct, Freddie Fingers Lee was the original keyboard player, Nicholas being a replacement. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing Sutch, and his band play live, a friend of mine saw them on several occasions, he playing the double bass for a number of resident bands. He reckons the Bonzo's were as bizarre as Such.

all the best

Observer

Hi Observer.

Well, I did have the pleasure of seeing Sutch live, and he scared me - and I'm seven foot eight and 37 stone. His Jack the Ripper stuff was really, er, moving. (Like it moved me out of the hall to the nearest bar).

With regard to the Bonzo Dog Band, I am one of England's authorities on this great act. I even perform some of their stuff if the pre-act whip-round produces sufficient cash for vodka. Screaming Lord Sutch and the Bonzos are not to be compared - the Bonzos were light years ahead. Funnier, wittier, and infinitely more accomplished. And they had a good banjo-player, too.

Cheers,

Viv Stanshall's Angry Spectre

[Sergt Bill Tawyer]

Observer,yeh another great band,unfortunately I never got to see them,got a few albums though ! Bill.

[Observer]

Hi Bill

Nice to meet you. You're correct, Freddie Fingers Lee was the original keyboard player, Nicholas being a replacement. I didn't have the pleasure of seeing Sutch, and his band play live, a friend of mine saw them on several occasions, he playing the double bass for a number of resident bands. He reckons the Bonzo's were as bizarre as Such.

all the best

Observer