“The NME said, ‘There’s one of your Rutles songs on this Beatles bootleg album.’ I got them to play it to me over the phone. I said, ‘That’s me on Saturday Night Live!’” How prog were Neil Innes and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band?

Neil Innes.

His sharp wit helped shape the lyrics of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and earned him a place at Monty Python’s expanding table. He went on to form the satirical band The Rutles with Eric Idle, and in 2019 – the year of his death, aged 75 – he released a new studio album, Nearly Really. Just before the record was launched we asked: How prog were Neil Innes and The Bonzos?

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