[1] Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde art, the Bonzos came to public attention through appearances in the Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour and the 1968 ITV comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set.

Trumpeter Roger ('Happy' Wally) Wilkes and banjo-player Trevor Brown were the founders of this loose conglomerate at the Royal College of Art, although the lineup is thought to have been exceptionally fluid and constantly revolving, consisting of as many as forty to fifty rotating members if Stanshall's later recollections are to be believed.

Innes has spoken often about his first meeting with Slater and Stanshall in a London pub—Stanshall walked in wearing a Victorian frock coat, checked trousers, pince-nez glasses and large rubber false ears on his head whilst carrying a euphonium under his arm.

With his interest in sculpture and the manufacture of early electronic gadgets, objets d'art, and sound-making systems, and having already recently played in a one-off impromptu scratch band with Slater and Innes, Spear also soon became a member of the Bonzos.

Stanshall had long had designs on somehow insinuating his erstwhile drinking companion—Smith was a notorious bon viveur—into the band despite his lack of any apparent musical talent, with a view to exposing the world to Larry's undoubted charisma.

While Smith's musical input at this point was, by his own admission, limited, he still brought a keen sense of showmanship to the Bonzos; strongly influenced by the movie The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, Larry adopted the name 'Legs' and took up tap-dancing, a skill he developed to such an entertaining level that it would later earn him a solo 'tap-dance extravaganza' spot in the band's stage show.

It was around this time that the band were approached by budding show business impresario Reg Tracey, who offered to manage them and introduce them to the dubious but lucrative delights of Northern England's working men's club circuit.

Thanks to Tracey's contacts, the band made their TV debut in February 1966, performing "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" on the children's show Blue Peter, introduced by John Noakes.

[1] Around this time they were also hired as the resident band on Do Not Adjust Your Set, an afternoon children's television comedy show notable for starring several future members of Monty Python (Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin), Denise Coffey, and David Jason in the cast.

Vernon had spent much of the year ill and had missed numerous recording sessions as a result, while Sam Spoons' musical ability in the studio had now been judged unsatisfactory according to Stanshall's increasingly perfectionist criteria.

All this hard work began to pay off when the group achieved a Top Five hit single in October with Neil Innes' "I'm the Urban Spaceman", produced by Paul McCartney and Gus Dudgeon under the collective pseudonym "Apollo C. Vermouth".

The same year, the Bonzos recorded their second album at Morgan Studios, with The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse (the title being a euphemism for an outside toilet), released that November, showcasing a marked change in musical direction from Gorilla.

After an introductory series of straight-faced street interviews with bewildered pedestrians (conducted by current bassist Joel Druckman and featuring the public's reactions to Vivian Stanshall cavorting about wearing only his underpants, shoes and a papier-mache rabbit head) self-proclaimed 'breezy opener' "We Are Normal" soon launches itself towards a faintly terrifying Zappa-esque psychedelic crescendo.

Their manager Gerry Bron, however, thought they should be consolidating their success in England before rushing off to conquer The States, and this difference of opinion led to a parting of the ways (although the two parties amicably retained their publishing and agency deals).

Gerry Bron's misgivings were revealed to be well-founded, however, when Smith proved to be out of his depth, and The Bonzos' first American sojourn was so badly organised and promoted that the promised 'tour' ended up amounting to little more than the Fillmore appearances and a few scattered low-profile club dates, with much twiddling of thumbs in between.

In August they appeared at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival where tap-dancing drummer "Legs" Larry Smith was an onstage hit with his lubricious footwork, camp 'showbiz superstar' persona and rapport with the audience.

It was at this point the stress of managing the group's affairs, while simultaneously writing half of their material and performing front of stage, began to take a serious toll on Stanshall's physical and mental health.

True to bad form, the trip was cut short after Roger Ruskin Spear suffered a personal family tragedy and shockingly no-one from the UK office saw fit to inform him or the others about it until well after the event.

Initially the band attempted to fulfill the remaining dates without him, but the tour really began to derail after a rancorous press interview where Stanshall and Innes complained about recent events and the general lack of support and promotion from their record company.

When Stanshall also began displaying signs of a complete nervous collapse under the strain of his duties as front man and manager, he and the band quickly decided to cut the tour short at great expense to their future ambitions.

In the advertisement, which was of great length, Horace Batchelor, inventor of 'the amazing Infra Draw method', would spell his postal address of K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M for those listeners who wished to purchase his secret.

However this only becomes even slightly apparent to the listener once they have read Vivian Stanshall's original liner notes (which unfortunately are usually omitted from reissues of the album), although there are a few clues to the theme in the short linking passages between songs.

The edition of the Bonzo Dog Band that made the Friendly LP featured only Stanshall, Innes and bassist Dennis Cowan from the "classic" earlier line-ups, although Roger Ruskin Spear appears on one track, and "Legs" Larry Smith on two.

Neil Innes, "Legs" Larry Smith, Roger Ruskin Spear, Rodney Slater, Bob Kerr, Sam Spoons and Vernon Dudley Bowhay-Nowell appeared.

The various Stanshall impersonators included Stephen Fry, Ade Edmondson, Phill Jupitus and Paul Merton (who needed to read the words to "Monster Mash" from cue cards at the show).

A countrywide tour, with Ade Edmondson and Phill Jupitus, followed during November 2006, starting in Ipswich and ending with two nights at the Shepherd's Bush Empire, where Paul Merton and Bill Bailey joined in for a handful of songs.

[citation needed] Whilst Vernon allied with Bob Kerr to play as 'Bonzomania', Roger, Rodney and Sam remained together and joined up with pianist David Glasson (ex Whoopee Band) and performed as Three Bonzos and a Piano.

[10] In 2009, Angry Penguin Ltd published the first history of the band, Jollity Farm, written by Bob Carruthers and edited by David Christie, with comprehensive interviews with all the core members of the group.

The following were members of the group from their first single "My Brother Makes The Noises for the Talkies" in 1966 to their break-up in 1970: Stanshall and Innes were the band's principal songwriters, with occasional contributions from Spear and Smith.

Additional musicians over the years included: "Borneo" Fred Munt, Chalky Chalkey, Aynsley Dunbar, Jim Capaldi, Anthony 'Bubs' White, Andy Roberts, Dave Richards, Dick Parry, Hughie Flint, Tony Kaye, and Glen Colson.