Roger Ruskin Spear

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Roger Ruskin Spear
Fenklup1968BonzoDogDooDah9.jpg
Spear in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band in 1968.
Born (1943-07-29) 29 July 1943 (age 82)
Alma mater Ealing Technical College and School of Art
Father Ruskin Spear
Musical career
Genres Rock, pop
OccupationMusician
Instrument(s)Saxophone, clarinet, trumpet, piano, guitar
Member of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Roger Ruskin Spear (born 29 June 1943 [1] in Hammersmith, London) is an English sculptor, multimedia artist and multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Contents

Early life

Spear was born in Hammersmith as the son of the satirical artist and lecturer Ruskin Spear (1911-1990). He grew up in Chiswick before attending Ealing Technical College and School of Art. [2]

Career

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

After Spear dissolved his jazz band New Jungle Orchestra at the end of 1964, he joined the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. He wrote such songs as "Shirt", [3] "Tubas in the Moonlight" and "Trouser Press". [4] [5] He is known for his robot creations, [3] and the theremin part in "Noises for the Leg", amongst other tunes.

Later works

After the Bonzos parted company, Spear was a member of the short-lived band biGGrunt, with Vivian Stanshall. He also toured with his solo show "Roger Ruskin Spear and his Giant Kinetic Wardrobe" (a.k.a. "Giant Orchestral Wardrobe"). In 1979 Spear formed Tatty Ollity with Dave Glasson (a former member of Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band), Sam Spoons and Dave Knight. The band released a single, "Punktuation", on Rough Trade. In 1982 Spear took part in The Cut Price Comedy Show, a weekly confection of corny sketches and ironic end-of-the-pier jokes. Produced by ITV region TSW and screened on the then-new Channel 4, it ran for ten programmes and was then dropped. [6]

In 1985 Spear and Dave Glasson formed the Slightly Dangerous Brothers, producing a single, "Let's Talk Basic", with a video featuring some of Spear's robot creations. In 1991 Spear played saxophone in Vivian Stanshall's show Rawlinson Dog Ends at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London. Spear had also played on Stanshall's album Teddy Boys Don't Knit (1981 Charisma CAS 1153).

Spear appeared on albums such as Go Man Gorman (1977), a solo outing for John Gorman of the Scaffold. He was also a member and co-founder of Bill Posters Will Be Band.

Until 2014, Spear performed regularly with Three Bonzos and a Piano, [7] which is made up of Rod Slater and Sam Spoons, both former members of the Bonzo Dog Band, together with Dave Glasson on piano and, often, Andy Roberts – formerly of the Liverpool Scene and the Scaffold – on guitar.

Spear later played with an amalgamation of Bill Posters and Bonzo musicians called BonzoBills, [8] involving Sam Spoons, Biff Harrison, Dave Glasson, Megs Etherington, Chris Lowe and Jim Heath (a former member of Harry Strutters Hot Rhythm Orchestra).

In addition to his musical activities, Spear taught 3D design part-time at the Chelsea College of Art.

Discography

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Albums

TitleYear
Gorilla 1967
The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse 1968
Tadpoles 1969
Keynsham 1969
Let's Make Up and Be Friendly 1972
Pour l'Amour des Chiens 2007

Singles

A-SideB-SideYear
My Brother Makes the Noises for the TalkiesI'm Going to Bring a Watermelon to My Girl Tonight1966
Alley OopButton Up Your Overcoat1966
Equestrian StatueThe Intro and The Outro1967
I'm the Urban Spaceman The Canyons of Your Mind1968
Mr. ApolloReady-Mades1969
I Want to Be with YouWe Were Wrong1969
You Done My Brain InMr Slater's Parrot1970
SlushMusic From Rawlinson End1972
SlushSlush1972
SlushKing of Scurf1972
No Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets InNo Matter Who You Vote For, The Government Always Gets In1992

Solo

TitleRelease TypeYear
Rebel Trouser Extended play 1971
Electric Shocks Long Play 1972
UnusualLong Play1974
Electric Shocks Plus Compact Disc 2002

References

  1. "Roger Ruskin Spear Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic . Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. "Retro: Roger saw the sixties up close and personal". MyLondon . 13 September 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 Unterberger, Richie (29 March 2010). "Roger Ruskin Spear: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  4. "Songs about musical instruments". BBC. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
  5. Glancey, Jonathan (29 August 2007). "Classics of everyday design No 27". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2006.
  6. "BFI | Film & TV Database | The CUT PRICE COMEDY SHOW". 20 August 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  7. "three bonzos and a piano, etc". Threebonzosandapiano.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  8. "Bonzo Bills set to wow audiences at the Bull's Head". Richmond and Twickenham Times. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2021.