Ginger Geezer: The Life of Vivian Stanshall. Chris Welch

“Equestrian Statue” I wrote the line, “It’s a sight to bring you joy, you feel so gay.” Well “gay” is a good word. It rhymes with “day” and it means cheerful. It was only just emerging at that time that “gay” meant homosexual. I had no idea that “speed” meant amphetamines. I suppose the Bonzo approach to things was quite puerile, but we were very young.’ Another popular novelty jazz number the Bonzos revived was ‘Ali Baba’s Camel’ (originally by Noel Gay with lyrics by Charles Gaynor): ‘You’ve heard of Ali Baba/Forty thieves had he/Out for what we all want/Lots of LSD’, or rather ‘lsd’, the pre-decimal abbreviation for pounds, shillings and pence. The forty thieves were after money, not psychedelic thrills.