Kosmik Radiation Radio - Jun 22, 2012 Playlist

CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
The Bonzo Dog Band "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse" 1968 (UK)

In the history of rock, comedy ranks pretty low on the totem pole compared to guitar solos, tight trousers and big hair. Sure Led Zeppelin or The Beatles might occasionally slip in the occasional witicism, but few have ever dared to base a career on it. Frank Zappa had a complicated relationship to "humour in music" -- one might complain that while his music was often great, the jokes were rarely funny -- indeed he's perhaps more of a satirist anyway (he's trying to make you think, laughter is merely a side effect). And then you've got your Weird Al Yankovic types (parody: the lowest form of art?) The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (their original full name) was the group that broke this mold. They come across like a combination of the Beatles' whimsical English psychedelic pop and Monty Python's subversive meta-conceptual lunacy. Indeed, the Bonzo's main songwriter Neil Innes appeared on the Monty Python TV show and collaborated with members of that gang on other projects, most memorably The Rutles -- an inspired Beatles parody in which Innes portrayed a John Lennon type to Eric Idles' McCartneyesque characterization. (That group was rounded out by some notable but unfamous musicians: "George" Ricky Fataar had replaced Dennis Wilson as drummer for the Beach Boys(!!) in the early 1970's, and "Ringo" John Halsey was the drummer for Timebox and Patto, while "Paul" Eric Idle lip-synched to studo performances by Ollie Halsel, another member of Timebox and Patto.)
The Bonzo's biggest break came in 1967, when they performed in the cabaret scene in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour -- the song "Death Cab For Cutie" also inspired a band of the same name decades later. Their only real hit single was Neil Innes' amusing "The Urban Spaceman", which was produced by Paul McCartney under the pseudonym "Apollo C. Vermouth". The B-side of that single was a psychedelic Elvis pastiche called "Canyons Of Your Mind". The band also appeared regularly on a TV show called Do Not Adjust Your Set, a surreal and subversive sketch comedy show which was a precursor to the infamous Monty Python's Flying Circus. Here's "Beautiful Zelda" performed in the days of black and white television. The psychedelic insanity hits a peak in this wacky clip of "11 Mustachioed Daughters", a track from this week's classic album as performed by a spinoff group called Vivian Stanshall's Big Grunt!

(N) = New Release

Artist	Song	Album	Year (label)	Country
Pond	Dig Brother	Beard, Wives, Denim (N)	2012 (Modular)	Australia
Tame Impala	Alter Ego	Innerspeaker (N)	2011 (Modular)	Australia
The Luck Of Eden Hall	Complicated Mind	Butterfly Revolutions Vol. 2 (N)	2011 (self release)	USA
Paul Messis & Jessica Winter	As Nightmares Turn To Dreams	B-side 7" single (N)	2012 (State)	UK
Baby Woodrose	Nothing Is Real	Third Eye Surgery (N)	2012 (Bad Afro)	Denmark
Dungen	Panda	Ta Det Lungt	2004	Sweden

The Bonzo Dog Band	We Are Normal	The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK
The Bonzo Dog Band	Postcard	The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK
The Bonzo Dog Band	Rhinocratic Oaths	The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK	1968	UK
The Bonzo Dog Band	Canyons Of Your Mind	Tadpoles	1969	UK
The Beatles	You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)	B-side 7" single	1970	UK

Peaking Lights	Cosmic Tides	Lucifer (N)	2012 (Mexican Summer)	USA
The Congos	Congoman (12" mix - CD bonus track)	Heart Of The Congos	1977	Jamaica
Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras & The Congos	Food Clothing And Shelter	Icon Give Thank (FRKWYS Vol. 9) (N)	2012 (RVNG)	USA/Jamaica
Dr. John	Ice Age	Locked Down (N)	2012 (Nonesuch)	USA
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band	Harry Irene (original version)	Bat Chain Puller (N - previously unreleased "lost" album)	1976 (2012 Zappa Vaulternative)	USA

Black Tempest	Invisible Moon (excerpt)	Ex Proxima	2010	UK
Cosmic Jokers & Sternenmädchen	So Beautiful / The Queen Of Sunshine / Meine Kosmische Musik	Gilles Zeitschiff	1975	Germany
Spectrum	The New Atlantis	Forever Alien	1997	UK
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO	Fellatioh's Dance Also Bitches Blow	Son Of A Bitches Brew	2012 (Important)	Japan

Earthling Society	Beltane Queen	Albion	2004	UK
Million Brazillians	Dance Into Your Dungeon (excerpt)	Dyngia Salon (N - cassette)	2012 (Psychic Sound Recordings)	USA

Meat Puppets	Up On The Sun	Up On The Sun	1985	USA
The Misteriosos	The Sun	The Misteriosos	2005	USA
James Last	Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles)	Beachparty 2	1971	Germany