What is a review? They may purport to be many things, but at the base all it is, is one person’s (hopefully) objective and informed opinion. We all like different things, and while one person may love Marmite others may well feel it is the most disgusting spread put on toast. It can therefore be argued that reviews are meaningless but given I have been publishing them for the best part of 40 years my desire has always been that readers use them as some sort of guide and then make up their own minds. When I was a teenager, I used to devour anything written by Geoff “Deaf” Barton as I knew he had similar tastes to my own, while for years I have had a very high regard indeed for anything written by my good friend Olav Martin Bjørnsen as we often enjoy the same styles. But we don’t always agree, as we are quite different people and have different likes and dislikes, but we both do our best to provide our honest opinions.

There are times when I have wondered whether there is any point in writing a review on something, and to be honest that is where I am with this new collection from Madfish. To put it simply, this is the most comprehensive and important compilation of material by the Bonzo’s ever released, but if you are willing to pay the (justified) high price then no review will put you off, and if you are not already a huge fan, then how could one review change your mind? There are two different editions of this set available, the Standard Edition features 17 CDs and three DVDs plus a hardback coffee table book featuring a new essay by Chris Welch, archive writings, memorabilia and photographs, and a detailed chronology of the band. The Special Edition release also includes a shellac 78 rpm record, an etched, one sided 7″ single featuring a previously unreleased version of ‘Boo!’, reproductions of early promotional posters and booklets, plus an exclusive signed print of the box set artwork by artist Dan Abbott. So as you can see, there is a lot to get through.

I was sent the music digitally, so have the equivalent of the 17 CDs, 292 songs, 14 hour and 24 minutes of music. The CDs are as follows:-

• Remastered stereo versions of all of the band’s original albums (‘Gorilla’ (1967), ‘The Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse’ (1968), ‘Tadpoles’ (1969), ‘Keynsham’ (1969), ‘Let’s Make Up and Be Friendly (1972)).
• Mono remastered ‘Gorilla’ and ‘The Doughnut In Granny’s Greenhouse’.
• A newly compiled remastered CD of all the band’s singles.
• Two discs of demos, rehearsals, and outtakes.
• One disc of backing tracks.
• Three discs of BBC Sessions.
• Two live discs.

I made the decision to listen to the complete set, all 292 tracks, before committing fingers to keyboard, so what was it like?

I am not purporting to provide a biography of the band here, there are plenty of places you can find detailing that, but in short this was a project from a group of art rock students, formed in 1962 by Vivian Stanshall and Rodney Slater. They morphed through different styles and line-ups as they brought together elements of music hall, trad jazz, psychedelia and surreal humour, coming to the attention of The Beatles who included them in the film ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ as well as performing in the infamous ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’, where they worked closely with other comedians, including Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin who soon formed Monty Python, with whom Bonzo Neil Innes later became a major contributor, often referred to as ‘The Seventh Python’. British Sixties comedy saw a huge change in the silliness of what was acceptable, often being delivered by intellectuals, many of whom took their cue from ‘The Goon Show’ (Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine). This led to satirical shows such as ‘That Was The Week That Was (TW3)’ and ‘Do Not Adjust Your Set’ which launched the careers of the Pythons, Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker, David Frost, David Jason and so many more.

Listening to this material is like being taken back in time, and unless you are interested in the comedy style of any of those mentioned it is unlikely you will enjoy this. Also, this is designed for the completist, the one who wants everything they can lay their hands on, which means we get nine versions of “I’m The Urban Spaceman” (their only hit single, produced by Paul McCartney), but in the context of this release it is exactly the right thing to do. That was the only material I really knew heading into this, but I soon fell deep inside the strange and anarchic world of the Bonzos.

Take “The Intro and the Outro”, which features Adolf Hitler on vibes, Princess Anne on sousaphone, Harold Wilson (then British Prime Minster) on violin, Eric Clapton on ukelele, Count Basey Orchestra on triangle, Quasimodo on bells and so many more. This is typical Python, surreal, unreal, twisted in a way that one wonders how they ever came up with the concept. “Can Blue Men Sing The Whites” is a belting trad electric blues number which musically is spot on which makes one wonder what a full “sensible” album of that type would have sounded like, but that is soon followed by the wonderfully anarchic and unhinged “Trouser Press” where Roger Ruskin Spear plays a solo on an actual trouser press. Death Cab For Cutie actually took their name from a piano and horn-led number from the debut when Vivian does his best Elvis impression. The only way to listen to each disc is by immersing oneself inside their world and be ready for anything – the reason it all works together so very well indeed is that everyone involved was an excellent musician, and they all had an innate sense of melody whatever style of music they were playing, from trad jazz to blues, pop to calypso, theatre to vaudeville, which then allowed them to get away with the strangeness they were often portraying. One of my favourites is “My Brother Makes the Noises for the Talkies” which could have come straight from George Formby, while the Presley-style “Canyons of Your Mind” which includes the classic lines “And I kiss, yes I kiss your perfumed hair, The sweet essence of giraffe” is essential. Makes me smile each time I hear it.

The Bonzos broke up in 1970, being forced to reform in 1971 by their label who told them they were owned another album, and over the years there were a few half-hearted reunions and odd recordings until in 2007 they released their final album, ‘Pour l’Amour des Chiens’ which featured many of the original band, but Stanshall died in 1995, and I am convinced that is the only reason it is not included here, as it would have been wrong to do so. It is strange to think that many more people will have heard Stanshall than they realise, given he was the Master of Ceremonies on ‘Tubular Bells’.

Here we have a truly wonderful definitive boxed set of one of our greatest comedy bands. The set was in the making for seven years, and all band members (Roger Ruskin Spear, “Legs” Larry Smith, Rodney Slater, Vernon Dudley Bowhay Nowell, Sam Spoons and Neil Innes) were involved in defining the original concept. Titling the set ‘Still Barking was Neil’s idea, but sadly Neil, Sam and Vernon passed away before it was completed. If you are a fan of the band then this is indispensable, but if you have not come across them before this why not check them out. Stephen Fry says, “For me the Bonzos fulfilled every single feeling for comedy and music” while Paul Merton says, “That combination of music and comedy is really quite powerful, it’s multitasking”.

I may hate Marmite, but I love this.

Rating: 10/10

Links:
https://madfishmusic.com/