I stopped posting every day, so now I post on the weekends and sometimes on Thursdays and Fridays. On Thursday, I like out-of-the-box posts. And this one fits the bill. I’ve been re-reading a book on Keith Moon written by his former PA named Dougal Butler. I would recommend it to anyone; it’s called Full Moon or Moon The Loon, depending on which country you are in. Members of this band were discussed, so I had to revisit them.
I first saw them in Magical Mystery Tour with a song called Death Cab for Cutie. I always had a soft spot for this band, kinda like I have one for some Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. This 1968 single is the Bonzos at their most accessible and probably their most pop, or the closest thing to that. It was written by Neil Innes, the band’s Lennon to Vivian Stanshall’s mad McCartney. I’m the Urban Spaceman is a blast of optimism with a huge wink. To say this band thought “out of the box” is severely underestimating them.
The song is a satirical anthem for the then-Swinging London, mocking the hipster lifestyle while also kind of celebrating it. It walks the fine line between parody and pure joy. Though the Bonzos were always more a cult act than a chart band, Urban Spaceman briefly broke them into the mainstream. It peaked #5 on the UK Singles Chart in 1968, making it the closest thing they had to a conventional success. But conventional was never really the point of this band. The song was produced by Paul McCartney as “Apollo C. Vermouth.”
There’s a long British tradition of absurdist pop, the kind that runs a straight line from The Goons to Monty Python, with a few detours through The Kinks and Small Faces. And right there, hovering in that orbit is the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. Equal parts satire, whimsy, and dime-store psychedelia, they managed to twist vaudeville, trad jazz, and British music hall into something altogether different. In other words, “interesting” only scratches the surface. I think of the Marx Brothers because everything seemed irrelevant to them.
Viv Stanshall shared two things with Keith Moon. A friendship and the ability not to get embarrassed. A rare and dangerous thing in the hands of the wrong people.. Another similar friend of Keith’s in the Bonzos was Larry “Legs” Smith. One of the many stories was:
Smith went into a tailor’s shop where he admired a pair of trousers. Keith Moon came in, posing as another customer, and admired the same trousers, demanding to buy them. When Smith protested, the two men fought, splitting the trousers in two, so they ended up with one leg each. The tailor was beside himself. A one-legged actor hired by Smith and Moon came in, saw the split trousers and proclaimed, “Ah! Just what I was looking for.”
The song was on their third album, called Tadpoles, released in 1968. It peaked at #36 in the UK. They made 6 studio albums with their last one in 2007 called Pour l’Amour Des Chiens… French for For The Love Of Dogs. They were together from 1962 through 1970 but did reunite several times…in 1972, 1988, 2006-2008, and 2008 – 2019.
The members were Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes, Roger Ruskin Spear, Larry “Legs” Smith, Rodney Slater, Dennis Cowan, Vernon Dudley Bowhay-Nowell, Bob Kerr, Martin Ash, Ian Cunningham, Tom Parkinson, and Joel Druckman.
Neil Innes would go on to write songs for Monty Python and front The Rutles, cementing his status as a master of affectionate parody.
I’m the Urban Spaceman
I’m the Urban Spaceman, babyI’ve got speedI’ve got everything I needI’m the Urban Spaceman, babyI can flyI’m a supersonic guy
I don’t need pleasureI don’t feel painIf you were to knock me downI’d just get up againI’m the Urban Spaceman, babyI’m making outI’m all about
I wake up every morning with a smile upon my faceMy natural exuberance spills out all over the place
I’m the Urban SpacemanI’m intelligent and cleanKnow what I mean?I’m the Urban SpacemanAs a lover, second to noneIt’s a lot of fun
I never let my friends downI’ve never made a boobI’m a glossy magazine, an advert in the tubeI’m the Urban Spaceman, baby, here comes the twistI don’t exist
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