![Cornology [3CD Set]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000006TDV.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg)
Release Date: 30 June, 1998
Audio CD
Tracks
- Cool Britannia
- Equestrian Statue
- Jollity Farm
- I Left My Heart in San Francisco
- Look Out, There's a Monster Coming
- Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Narcissus
- Intro and the Outro
- Mickey's Son and Daughter
- Big Shot
- Music for the Head Ballet
- Piggy Bank Love
- I'm Bored
- Sound of Music
- We Are Normal
- Postcard
- Beautiful Zelda
- Can Blue Men Sing the Whites?
- Hello Mabel
- Kama Sutra
- Humanoid Boogie
- Trouser Press
- My Pink Half of the Drainpipe
- Rockaliser Baby
- Rhinocratic Oaths
- 11 Moustachioed Daughters
- Hunting Tigers Out in "Indiah"
- Shirt
- Tubas in the Moonlight
- Dr. Jazz
- Monster Mash
- I'm the Urban Spaceman
- Ali Baba's Camel
- Laughing Blues
- By a Waterfall
- Mr. Apollo
- Canyons of Your Mind
- You Done My Brain In
- Keynsham
- Quiet Talks and Summer Walks
- Tent
- We Were Wrong
- Joke Shop Man
- Bride Stripped Bare by "Bachelors"
- Look at Me, I'm Wonderful
- What Do You Do?
- Mr. Slater's Parrot
- Sport (The Odd Boy)
- I Want to Be With You
- Noises for the Leg
- Busted
- My Brother Makes the Noises for the Talkies
- I'm Going to Bring a Watermelon to My Girl Tonight
- Alley-Oop
- Button up Your Overcoat
- Mr. Apollo
- Ready-Mades
- Strain
- Turkeys
- King of Scurf
- Waiting for the Wardrobe
- Straight from My Heart
- Rusty (Champion Thrust)
- Rawlinson End
- Don't Get Me Wrong
- Fresh Wound
- Bad Blood
- Slush
- Labio Dental Fricative
- Re-Cycled Vinyl Blues: Take Good Care of My Baby/White Christmas/Caroli
- Trouser Freak
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Rating 5.0
Magic theater, not for everybody!As one reviewer mentions below, the Bonzos had a very special sensibility that's not necessarily what you'd call accessible, especially to those who are not that into trippy stream-of-consciousness and esoteric cultural references. In that sense the Bonzos were much closer to the Firesign Theatre than the Pythons. For those who are unfamiliar with the Bonzos or aren't quite sure they're ready to make a commitment to them, the "History of the Bonzos" set might make a better purchase. But for those who love the Bonzos there are so many delightful rarities in this one that you won't be able to live without it, and you shouldn't. What especially sold me is the presence of "Death Cab for Cutie," the "lost" Bonzo number from the "Magical Mystery Tour" soundtrack, and the sardonic, unexpectedly eerie cover of "The Monster Mash." Who but the Bonzos would have thought of replacing Bobby "Boris" Pickett's puerile faux Karloff vocals with those of a genuine mad Englishman?delightfully dotty dada stuffThis set has almost everything you'll need by the Bonzos, an anarchic, daft, dotty, and hugely enjoyable set of art students who made a handful of albums and some memorable live performances in the late 1960s and early 1970s before they split and went their separate ways. This set has all their five albums, although the remixing is sometimes a bit odd (Tadpoles notoriously mixes Monster Mash into Urban Spaceman, and ditches the 'sequins' version of Canyons for a different one). You'll find 'Gorilla', 'The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse', 'Tadpoles', 'Keynsham', and 'Let's Make Up and Be Friendly', as well as the A and B sides of their first two singles from 1966 and some post-Bonzo solo work from Vivian, Neil, and Roger.
This is seriously good stuff, whether the jaunty pop stuff Neil Innes was so keen on (particularly coming to the fore on 'Keynsham'), or the slightly more edgy stuff which tipped from the increasingly unhinged mind of the multi-talented Viv Stanshall - together they were a fabulous combination to front a memorable band. Buyer Beware: contents may baffle the uninitiatedA basic problem with reviews found here is that they are clearly not a sample from a cross section of "objective" listeners. Nostalgia reigns where "vintage" recordings are concerned. I could see myself waxing equally poetic over any number of personal favorites, but here I will be a voice of dissent. Twenty five years ago at my alma mater's FM broadcast station I was briefly exposed to the Bonzos. "The Intro and the Outro" was one of the funniest pieces of whacked out musical humor I had heard (then, or since). Upon seeing the rave Amazonian reviews for this BOX set (of late, the only CD collection available) I couldn't resist. But I should have. I've listened to the entire set three times now and must conclude that "I just don't get it." I'm a sincere fan of British humor (Python, Fawlty, Good Neighbors, Butterflies, The Young Ones, Red Dwarf, The Rutles ... I.E. - pretty wide ranging stuff) but the Bonzo boys leave me truly baffled. Be particularly careful of assuming that if you love Monty Python you will feel the same about BDB. While a few Bonzo bits are as accessible as, say, "The Lumberjack Song", Python was a comedy troupe, anchored in absurdist humor, which occasionally expressed itself musically. BDB are a strange mix of musical miscreants (I mean that in a nice way) who seem to yearn for a simpler time (the era of vaudevillian entertainment parlors) but the targets for their satiric skewers seem oddly mundane. Python's hit & miss humor was generally executed with sledge hammers - the Bonzo's lampoons seem to be of a far more subtle (?) nature. Also keep in mind that BDB precedes Python by almost a decade. There are some pure music tracks here, stuff that was anacronistic then, and now, and this set is ripe for sampling if you do a radio show, produce commercials or just have a "thing" for oddities. If you're a fan, then by all means buy the box. While not exhaustive, the supporting materials seem to adequately document the history of BDB, and the overall quality of the sound and packaging is very good. But, for the novice, think twice before diving in. If I ever figure out what they were on about, perhaps I'll rebut myself. |
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