Pop Culture Safari!: Underrated pop groups of the 60s: The Bonzo Dog Band

They had a single produced by Paul McCartney and had a cameo in "Magical Mystery Tour." But do you ever hear any of their tunes on the oldies station? Nope.

But the radio surely would be a lot more fun if you did.

Starting out as a trad-jazz novelty band specializing in music of the 20s and 30s, the Bonzos eventually transformed into sort of surrealist/comedy/novelty band taking their cues from British radio's The Goon Show (featuring skits by Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and others) and setting the stage for Monty Python.

In fact, leading Bonzo Neil Innes eventually became a Python associate, appearing on the troupe's TV show and in their movies and eventually teaming with Eric Idle in the Beatles parody project, The Rutles.

But the Bonzos true frontman was the eccentric and hilarious Viv Stanshall, whose mock upper-class speaking and singing voice adorns many of the group's best tunes.

Anything went on the Bonzos albums: remakes of 30s novelty tunes, send-ups of then-current pyschedelia and out-and-out surrealist nonsense. All great, funny stuff.

The group disbanded in 1970 but reunited a coupe of years later for the Let's Make Up album. They shouldn't have bothered, as it didn't come close to matching the imagination and humor of the band's 60s albums.

Stanshall went on to record comedy for the BBC and lent his voice to Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells. He died in a house fire in 1995.

The Bonzos, including Innes and fellow original members "Legs" Larry Smith, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Bob Kerr, Sam Spoons and Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell reunited for a series of shows in 2006, augmented by celebrity performers including British actor/writer Stephen Fry.

The reunited band's recorded a new studio album, Pour l'Amour des Chiens (For the Love of Dogs) and their original albums were reissued in remastered/expanded form the same year.

Bonzo Dog Band CDs