TRIVIAL BITS:

THE HIT SINGLE: released November 1968 - "I'm The Urban Spaceman"/"Canyons Of Your Mind"
Liberty Records/LBF-15144 (U.K.) - with Picture Sleeve. (This was the Bonzos biggest hit!)

CREDITED BAND MEMBERS: Rodney Slater, Neil Innes, Roger Ruskin-Spear, Vivian Stanshall, and"Leg" Larry Smith.

UNCREDITED MUSICIANS:Dave Clague (Bass, Coronet, and "Fuzz Guitar" on "Humanoid Boogie"): contributed to the following songs, recorded at this time: "I'm The Urban Spaceman", "Beautiful Zelda", "Hello Mabel", "Humanoid Boogie", "Trouser Press", "Rockaliser Baby", "Shirt", "Monster Mash", "Little Sir Echo" and "Canyons of Your Mind". Dave was still considered a "sessions" musician, even though by now he had replaced Vernon Dudley Bohay-Nowell full-time. Dave's picture appears on the sheet music for "The Equestrian Statue", the "I'm The Urban Spaceman" Single sleeve, the "Television Times" advertising "Do Not Adjust Your Set", and on the sleeve for the "Beastiality Of The Bonzos" LP. (He's the one in the newspaper suit!). Dave was, for reasons unspecified, dropped from the band without warning, and was replaced with Joel Druckman. Dave lives in the U.K., and was responsible for the release of the brilliant Bonzo C.D. "Anthropology" on his own label: DJC Records. (He also reissued Roger Ruskin-Spear's first two albums on C.D.)

Joel Druckman (Bass & Voices): contributed to the following songs, recorded at this time: "We Are Normal", "11 Mustachioed Daughters", "Trouser Press", "My Pink Half Of The Drainpipe", "Rockaliser Baby", "I'm The Urban Spaceman", and "Canyons Of Your Mind". Joel is most notably heard as The Interviewer on "We Are Normal", as the Introductory voice to "Trouser Press", saying "Raw Meat!" before "My Pink Half of The Drainpipe", and saying "I don't remember too well, but I think John Wayne was in it.", on "11 Mustachioed Daughters". Joel is pictured on the album sleeve, left hand corner, holding a bell and wearing highly attractive purple stockings! Joel eventually left the band after a falling out over
"Little Lord Echo". (see more below). He was eventually replaced by Dennis Cowan. Joel currently lives in Sunny Southern California.

CAN WE HAVE SOME CREDIT PLEASE?: Joel Druckman has been called the "missing U.S. Bonzo", when in truth, Joel and Dave should be called, "The Uncredited Bonzos" (you will note, nowhere on this album are there credits for a Bass Guitar)......and at this moment in time, we shall all wag our finger at the other Bonzo-Boys and say "Bad Bonzo! Bad Bad Bad!", for not giving these lads, credit where it was due!

DIS-CREDITED & DIS-AVOWED MUSICIANS: Vernon Dudley-Bohay Nowell, was dropped from the band shortly after "Gorilla" was released. Sam Spoons was also dropped from the band with Vernon, leaving all percussion now in the hands of "Legs".

SONGS THAT DIDN'T MAKE IT ON THE ALBUM: Among the Bonzo's repertoire at this point were: "Little Sir Echo", "Mr.Hyde In Me", "Monster Mash", "Shirt", "I Want To Be With You", "Give Booze A Chance", "We Were Wrong", and "Tragic Magic"
(the working title for the song later named, "Keynsham").

A SHOT OF VERMOUTH: Once again The Beatles give the Bonzos a hand. The single "I'm The Urban Spaceman" was produced by Sir Paul McCartney under the pseudonym "Apollo C.Vermouth". Paul, a keen follower of the Bonzos, wanted to give producing a try, and this was the opportunity. It is said Paul was the one whom figured out how to record the unique sound at the end of the album.
(Its a garden hose, with a funnel in one end, being swung around over Vivian's head.) Paul figured if they placed a circle of microphones around the studio, they'd capture this eerie sound...and it worked!

MORE OF THE BEATLES: Funnily enough while accepting the help of Paul, the band were taking a poke at John Lennon & Yoko Ono with a song called, "Give Booze A Chance", which they performed on the John Peel radio program. Also at this time, Rodney Slater was seen in many pictures wearing a shirt reading "Lump It John", a reaction to John Lennon's constant "whining" in the press.

THE AMERICAN VERSION OF THINGS: Yes....once again the U.S. release had to be different from the U.K. release. The U.S. market has to be sold by a "Hit" single, so at the last minute "I'm The Urban Spaceman" was added as the first track of Side 1.(followed by "We Are Normal" and the rest of the LP). It really throws the concept of the album askew. (The album was originally released as "Urban Spaceman" in the U.S.)

SPEAKING OF SINGLES: You may well wonder why "I'm The Urban Spaceman" wasn't on the U.K. album. At this point in time many artists released singles, that never appeared on albums, except in "collections" or "best of" albums. (The Beatles did this quite a lot.)

THE HORROR OF LITTLE SIR ECHO!!: "Little Sir Echo" was a silly song that Vivian & "Legs" both enjoyed. On stage it was performed as a ventriloquist act, with Vivian as the ventriloquist and Roger, dressed as a schoolboy, sitting on Vivian's knee, as the dummy.  Eventually it was decided that Joel Druckman was to be the new Little Sir Echo, which didn't suit him at all. Joel described it as "humiliating", and after arguing his point, found himself dropped from the band. Oddly enough...."Little Sir Echo" was also dropped from the act.

WHO ARE YOU CALLING "NORMAL"?? : Many people have wondered how the "We Are Normal" interview segment got so many weird responses from passerbys.....well here's how and why: Joel Druckman was standing on a busy street corner, with his microphone, dressed in a letterman sweater, while across the street was Vivian.....wearing only his underpants and a hat with rabbit ears! He was also, I might add, hopping! Just another typical day in Swinging London.

TWO CANYONS! : There exists two versions of "Canyons Of Your Mind"....one with Vivian's intro: "Tis the B-Side of our platter sports fans...",and an alternate mix without the intro. (The "Cornology" Set contains the latter of the two.)

WHAT'S IN A NAME?: The title of this album is often credited to Michael Palin! While working on "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with the Bonzos, Michael had made up the jokey term, "The Doughnut In Granny's Greenhouse"....it was supposed to be a euphemism for an outdoor toilet. This so delighted Vivian, he borrowed it for the album title.

BOYS ON FILM, PART 2: Filmed around this time, and occasionally shown on British College campuses today, was the little seen film "The Adventures of the Son of Exploding Sausage". This film was basically the Bonzo's and all their gear, set up at a farm yard, and filmed ad-lib. It is mostly instrumental versions of a handful of their songs. Neil Innes said he specifically remembered a pony that would nod its head along to "Rockaliser Baby". There is also a sequence about the Ruskin Spear family all sitting down to dinner, and eating nuts and bolts and things, since they all turn out to be robots!