Neil Innes has mentioned in interviews that the song is a celebration of individuality and a call to embrace one’s inner fool. However, he has also noted that he enjoys leaving room for interpretation, allowing listeners to find their own personal meaning within the lyrics.

Whatever (CD promo liner notes). Oasis. Australia: Creation. 1994. 661079 2. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) a b "Why were Oasis were sued over the song Whatever?". Radio X. 30 December 2019 . Retrieved 28 August 2020. During the same creatively-fertile 1968/69 period, Innes and the Bonzo Dog Band also appeared each week in both seasons of the British children's television series Do Not Adjust Your Set which also featured future Monty Python members Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam. [8] Although initially intended to appeal solely to children, the show's surreal and absurdist nature soon also attracted a large adult following. INNES made his name in the 1960s with the BONZO DOG DOO DAH BAND before diversifying in the 1970s into TV, Solo and other projects – including the famous and much-loved Beatles pastiche THE RUTLES.

Miscellaneous Tracklist

In 1998, Innes hosted a 13-episode television series for Anglia Television, called Away with Words, in which he travelled to different areas of Britain to explore the origins of well-known words and phrases. [15] Paul Abbott runs Hark! The 87 th Precinct Podcast , which takes a look at each of the books in series in turn, but usually turns quite silly. He also makes noises with his band in Liverpool, Good Grief, and spends the rest of the time thinking about Transformers, The Beatles, Doctor Who and Monty Python. Innes was born in Danbury in Essex. His Scottish father was a warrant officer in the British Army, and Innes spent his childhood in West Germany where his father was deployed with the British Army of the Rhine. He took piano lessons from age 7 to 14 and taught himself to play guitar. His parents were supportive of their children's artistic leanings, and his father also drew and painted. After returning to the United Kingdom, Innes received his formal education at Thorpe Grammar School, the Norwich School of Art and Goldsmiths College, London, where he studied fine art. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Goldsmiths in 1966. [1] [2] Career [ edit ] The Bonzo Dog (Doo-Dah) Band [ edit ] The album has never been reissued on CD in its original format and sleeve – until now! Cherry Red were working with Neil on this project prior to his tragic death.

With Idle moving to LA, Innes made his own BBC TV series called The Innes Book Of Records in 1979 before utilising his family-friendly image to move into children’s TV and books in the ‘80s and ‘90s, as well as literary travel series Away With Words. The Bonzos and The Rutles would re-emerge sporadically over the coming decades, with The Rutles most notably releasing a parody of The Beatles’ ‘Anthology’ entitled ‘The Rutles Archaeology’ in 1996, but Innes’ tendency for comic subterfuge would remained undimmed into the new century. In 2010 he formed The Idiot Bastard Band, a purposefully unrehearsed comedy song collective which would include Phil Jupitus, Adrian Edmondson, Roland Rivron and Paul Whitehouse across the next two years.When Neil Innes died unexpectedly in December 2019 the world lost more than just a singer and songwriter. Innes was an important nexus point between several of the most popular cultural phenomena of the twentieth century, chief amongst them being The Beatles and Monty Python. A de facto member of the latter – the ‘Seventh Python’– and an admirer, friend and participant in the world of the former, Innes has often been thought of as a cult figure, tied up in the worlds and stories of others. But he was always much more than that and his work as an individual, away from his megastar friends and the legacy of the marvellous Bonzo Dog Band, is a treasure trove of melody, comedy and pathos. The song opens with a lighthearted melody accompanied by playful lyrics that encourage listeners to let go of societal expectations and embrace their inner fool. It serves as a celebration of the childlike innocence and freedom that can be found in embracing our own individual quirks and eccentricities. Innes invites his audience to revel in silliness, to dance like nobody’s watching, and to find joy in the simple pleasures of life. A new reissue of Idiot , on Grapefruit Records, may help in getting people to rediscover its charms. Innes was known for his comedic work, and while Idiot does have its share of humor — most obviously seen in the album’s title — he wanted to take a broader approach on his first solo album. “I’m really working towards a situation where I don’t have to be funny,” he’s quoted as saying in the liner notes. “I don’t think any of the songs are particularly doomy or anything; they’re more in pastel areas, than red-nosed comedy.” But failed attempts to break America and the pressures of self-management caused them to split in 1970, reuniting briefly in 1971 to fulfil a contractual obligation with fifth album ‘Let’s Make Up And Be Friendly’.

Whatever (7-inch vinyl single liner notes). Oasis. France: Helter Skelter. 1994. 661079 7. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) Neil Innes is the Seventh Python". Theseventhpythonmovie.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2012 . Retrieved 27 September 2014. Michaels, Sean (6 October 2008). "Have Oasis plagiarised Cliff Richard?". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 September 2015. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol.11, no.5. 4 February 1995. p.36 . Retrieved 30 May 2020. Singlar – År 1995" (in Swedish). Topplistan. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016 . Retrieved 2 July 2019.Stewart Mason, reviewing the album for Allmusic, described it as "split between tongue-in-cheek parody and straight pop songs" and containing "solidly melodic Beatlesque pop", but was critical of the "unfortunate sterility to Innes' self-production". [1] Listinn Topp 40 (4.2 '95 – 10.2 '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 4 February 1995. p.20 . Retrieved 1 October 2019.

Commercial Coca-Cola: "Razones Para Creer" 2011 (Fullscreen HD) Whatever / Oasis". 18 January 2011. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021 . Retrieved 12 January 2012– via YouTube. Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1sted.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3. Whatever (MC single liner notes). Oasis. Australia: Creation. 1994. 661079 8. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link) Definitely Maybe (CD liner notes). Oasis. Europe: Helter Skelter. 1994. HES 477318 6. {{ cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) ( link)

On The Go

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) How Sweet to Be an Idiot is the first solo album by Neil Innes, formerly of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and was released in 1973. Their mix of wit, mayhem, outlandish costumery, musicianship, cut-out comic speech bubbles and mid-set tap-dancing extravaganzas made the band a hit on the London pub circuit and in the Northern working men’s clubs. As a result, Innes and the band made their first TV appearance in 196 on Blue Peter, performing a Dadaist ‘20s style take on ‘Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey’ featuring exploding saxophones, spoon solos and random gunshots.