“Hello Mabel” – The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Written by Holly
Where do I begin with the Bonzos? If you had hippie/artist/subversive parents like mine, you would know this is a great band for kids. But they also gave us picture books by Eugene Ionesco, so I don’t know if all parents would agree. It was no surprise to later find out that these guys were buddies of the cast of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. This was the only album we had by the group, and it was illustrated entirely in cartoon drawing with vibrant primary colors telling some kind of story about how the earth is a sexy trumpet player who played her trumpet so hard that a fire hydrant appeared, which then turned into robot, which then turned into meteors and made the earth very happy. Ahem. All I know is that we loved the album cover and the songs were hilarious and silly, but also brilliant. “Hello Mabel” sounds like a love song from the 1910s, complete with harmonies and full orchestration. But it also includes a tap-dancing solo, around which appear the sounds of farm animals building up until it’s a full-on cacophony. And without missing a beat, the Bonzos jump right back into the chorus on time and finish the song up with an ending as neat as a striped bow tie. The brilliance of this song and others of theirs, like “Tubas in the Moonlight,” are that they sound old-timey and sometimes like Big Band music, so it’s very accessible to any listener. They lure you in, and you’re following along in delight, and then they turn the whole thing on its head. This was the first time I encountered satire and got it.
TOMORROW sometimes one word can be the most powerful word.
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