Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall (March 21 1943 – March 5 1995) was an English musician, writer, wit, and raconteur, probably best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, but also known for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End.

And...

From mid 1977 to early 1983, Vivian lived on The Searchlight - a houseboat purchased from Denny Laine of Wings and moored on the River Thames. Converted from a First World War submarine chaser, it was forever taking on water and eventually sank with all his possessions aboard.

Related Topics:
Denny Laine - Wings - River Thames

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Later, Vivian and his family lived and worked on the Thekla, a Baltic Trader, sailed 732 nautical miles from the east coast of England and then moored in the Bristol docks. His wife Ki Longfellow (on whom see below) had bought the Thekla in Sunderland, and converted her into a floating theatre called The Old Profanity Showboat. The ship saw the debut of Ki and Vivian's comic opera Stinkfoot. Vivian wrote 27 original songs for Stinkfoot, sharing some of the lyric writing with Ki. It was a huge success: people came from all over Europe to see it; some from as far away as America.

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Stanshall's remarkable and instantly recognizable voice won him several commercial voice-overs, including a campaign for Cadbury's Creme Eggs which involved a reworking of the Bonzos' song "Mister Slater's Parrot", under the title of "Mister Cadbury's Parrot".

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He collaborated on numerous projects including Robert Calvert's Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells where he is the voice breathily announcing "...and introducing Tubular Bells.", appeared with Grimms and The Rutles, as well as occasionally working with The Alberts and The Temperance Seven. He also wrote the lyrics for two of the songs on Steve Winwood's hit album Arc of a Diver.

Related Topics:
Robert Calvert - Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters - Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells - Grimms - The Rutles - The Alberts - The Temperance Seven - Steve Winwood

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He was married twice: in 1968 to Monica Peiser (they had a son, Rupert, in 1968, and were divorced in 1975); and in 1980 to the novelist Pamela Longfellow aka Ki Longfellow. Vivian dreamed her name was Ki, and as Ki she is now known. Ki and Vivian had a daughter, Silky, born 1979. Silky's birth was celebrated in song, "The Tube", on Vivian's second solo album Teddy Boys Don't Knit, made in 1981.

Related Topics:
Ki Longfellow - The Tube - Teddy Boys Don't Knit

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In 1991 Vivian made a 15-minute autobiographical piece called Vivian Stanshall: The Early Years, aka Crank, for BBC2's The Late show, in which he confessed to having been terrified of his late father, who had always disapproved of him. A later programme for BBC Radio 4, Vivian Stanshall: Essex Teenager to Renaissance Man (1994) included an interview with his mother in which she insisted that his father had loved him, but Vivian was mortified that he had never shown it.

Related Topics:
BBC2 - BBC Radio 4 - 1994

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Stanshall was found dead on March 6th 1995 after a fire at his Muswell Hill flat, seemingly started by him falling asleep while smoking in bed. Fuelled by brandy fumes, the cigarette had set fire to his long ginger beard. (Although Vivian did indeed often set fire to his beard, the fire was begun by faulty wiring near his bed.)

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A one-hour television documentary, Vivian Stanshall: The Canyons of his Mind, was broadcast on BBC Four in June 2004.

Related Topics:
Television - BBC Four - June 2004

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