THE Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band was a vital cog in the explosion of musical talent that dominated Britain in the 1960s before spreading to the rest of the world.
A ground-breaking combination of rock, pop, jazz, comedy and psychedelia, its members possessed an 'anything goes' mentality that left indelible marks on the British music scene.
One of the band's key members was Roger Ruskin Spear, its clarinet player and technical wizard, who would build miniature robots and other mechanical playthings that shared the stage with the Bonzos.
Born in Chiswick, Roger was a west London native through and through, studying in Hammersmith before going on to Ealing Technical College and Art School, which was later to become Thames Valley University.
Though he had originally signed up for more technical courses, Roger ended up studying art after being seduced by the creative and free-spirited atmosphere generated by Ealing's art students.
In the mid-60s he was introduced to other members of the Bonzos and the rest, as they say, is history.
Our story picks up with the band entering the studio in 1968 to write and record its best-known single, I'm The Urban Spaceman, which was produced by none other than Paul McCartney of The Beatles.
Speaking about his experiences with the legendary musician and songwriter, Roger, now 67, said: "He was very good, very enthusiastic but he didn't know much technically.
"At one point he was trying to describe how we should play a bassline but the only way he could do it was actually show us, so he picked up a bass and started playing.
"He played this fantastic bassline and all the engineers in the studio dropped what they were doing to come and listen to it. They all said 'Christ, you've got a hit record on your hands'.
"But Paul changed his mind and said we couldn't use it. In the end, he played ukelele on the song - that was his biggest contribution.
"Him and Neil Innes [founder member of the Bonzos] were stood playing in the corridor to get a nice sound."
I'm The Urban Spaceman was in the charts for 14 weeks, reaching number five. McCartney produced it under the pseudonym Apollo C Vermouth.
The band went on a US tour with The Who in the late 60s before returning to the UK and splitting up in 1970. They released an album in
1972, but only due to a contractual obligation to their record company.
By this time, Roger had moved on to teaching and came full circle as he began giving art lessons at a college in Hammersmith.
Among his pupils was Mick Jones, who would go on to find fortune and glory as a member of west London punk pioneers, The Clash.
Although Mick's talents as a musician and songwriter have been rightly praised, Roger has slightly less kind things to say about his abilities as a pupil.
"He was hopeless," said Roger. "At one point he was supposed to do a drawing of a piano but he would just be lying around saying 'what? What d'you want me to do?'."
As the 70s progressed, punk rock was setting the country alight and Roger was lucky enough to be at the epicentre of the cultural phenomenon. Not only that, he also supported legendary punk outfit the Sex Pistols.
"It was one of their first gigs, at the Nashville Rooms in West Kensington," he said. "Originally, the idea was that they were going to be supporting Viv [Stanshall, the Bonzos' lead singer]. He couldn't
make it, so I was sent instead.
"I took one look at the band and their fans and thought 'my god, look at all these guys'. They were throwing up and peeing everywhere and I knew there was no point in me going on after the Sex Pistols, so I went on before.
"It was quite an experience. I wouldn't say the crowd were deliberately hostile, they were just very energetic. As a result, that energy could be misinterpreted as hostility. I do, however, remember Sid Vicious throwing up on my robots.
"Punk was a whole new phenomenon to us. By that time, it had gotten so big that the only thing you could do was stand back."
From that time onwards, there was hardly any activity from the band as a whole. Singer and founder member Stanshall died after a fire in his north London flat in 1995, making the chances of a reunion even more unlikely.
But the story does have a happy ending. In January 2006, most of the band's surviving members played a reunion concert at The Astoria in London.
Viv Stanshall was 'replaced' by a one-night-only revolving door of top-shelf British comic talent, including Stephen Fry, Ade Edmondson, Phil Jupitus and Paul Merton.
Members also played another concert at The Shepherd's Bush Empire in 2008.
Now, Roger is going on stage with other Bonzo alumni Rodney Slater,
Sam Spoons and pianist David Glasson as Three Bonzos And A Piano, performing reinterpretations of the band's songs on a UK tour.
Roger said: "It's great to be performing again. Had he lived, Viv wouldn't have been up for it, but we're able to do this as a tribute to him.
"It's strange seeing so many people fall by the wayside. They're all dropping off. Viv is gone, as is half of The Who and half The Beatles. All you can really do is take life one day at a time.
"I do wonder what Viv would be doing right now. I can imagine him watching us from above and shaking his head."
Having officially retired 10 years ago, Roger is not only able to keep playing but also able to enjoy watching his sons - both of whom are involved in music - continue the family legacy of creativity.
He loves being able to revisit his former band's songs.
"Ten years ago, if you'd told us we'd still be doing this we'd have given you a funny look and said 'no, it's dead and buried'.
"But people still care about this band and these songs, so it's wonderful to be able to play them again."
Three Bonzos and a Piano will be performing tonight (Friday) at The Tropic in Ruislip, the opening gig of their tour.
To book tickets call 020 8707 2256 or visit the website www.tropicatruislip.co.uk.
