Keynsham
"I've found the men Sir. God I wish I hadn't..."
Of course those of us that have seen any footage of the Bonzos performing on Do Not Adjust Your Set will forever associate the songs here with the bizarre visuals that accompanied them on the TV show. From brilliant multi-instrumentalist Roger Ruskin Spear waltzing around the studio floor with a tailors' dummy, to Rodney Slater riding a kid's tricycle and wearing a sign saying 'I'm not dressing up this week' (all the rest of the band were in hunting outfits if memory serves me correctly) while playing his saxophone, if you were really lucky you may even have had 'Legs' Larry Smith tap dancing across the stage blowing kisses at you...
Then there's the unarguable evidence that The Bonzos always had a much darker and slightly disturbing side and with Keynsham they perfected the sound of one of the great comedy bands falling to pieces. That said, it also underlines what is often overlooked when considering The Bonzos, which is how good they were musically. They could do pop, hard rock, jazz and traditional arrangements and each member of the band was a capable musician in their own right.
At this point in their careers Bonzo mainmen Neil Innes (later to work with Monty Python before becoming a member of The Rutles) and wayward genius Vivian Stanshall were pulling in different directions and it shows.
Individually they were as strong as ever, with "Tent", "We Were Wrong" and "Sport (The Odd Boy)" being among The Bonzo's finest moments, but as the album jumps between the work of the two writers, it can become disorientating after a while. Yes it's diverse, but it's diverse at the expense of dynamics and natural flow.
This creative split proved permanent and the band were on borrowed time, sadly Keynsham would be their last 'proper' album. Contractual obligations however declared otherwise.
Of course those of us that have seen any footage of the Bonzos performing on Do Not Adjust Your Set will forever associate the songs here with the bizarre visuals that accompanied them on the TV show. From brilliant multi-instrumentalist Roger Ruskin Spear waltzing around the studio floor with a tailors' dummy, to Rodney Slater riding a kid's tricycle and wearing a sign saying 'I'm not dressing up this week' (all the rest of the band were in hunting outfits if memory serves me correctly) while playing his saxophone, if you were really lucky you may even have had 'Legs' Larry Smith tap dancing across the stage blowing kisses at you...
Then there's the unarguable evidence that The Bonzos always had a much darker and slightly disturbing side and with Keynsham they perfected the sound of one of the great comedy bands falling to pieces. That said, it also underlines what is often overlooked when considering The Bonzos, which is how good they were musically. They could do pop, hard rock, jazz and traditional arrangements and each member of the band was a capable musician in their own right.
At this point in their careers Bonzo mainmen Neil Innes (later to work with Monty Python before becoming a member of The Rutles) and wayward genius Vivian Stanshall were pulling in different directions and it shows.
Individually they were as strong as ever, with "Tent", "We Were Wrong" and "Sport (The Odd Boy)" being among The Bonzo's finest moments, but as the album jumps between the work of the two writers, it can become disorientating after a while. Yes it's diverse, but it's diverse at the expense of dynamics and natural flow.
This creative split proved permanent and the band were on borrowed time, sadly Keynsham would be their last 'proper' album. Contractual obligations however declared otherwise.