LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Vivian Stanshall
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Elvis Presley impersonation has become an obsession in recent years, but Vivian Stanshall was one of the first and best to mimic ‘The King’. Clad in a gold lame suit he amused and even outraged some punters at Bonzo pub gigs.
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![[Vivian & Keith]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/v/i/v/vivian-stanshall/i/000.jpg)
Vivian Stanshall was an accomplished showman, mime artist, mystic, painter, potter, sculptor, musician (vocals, tuba, trumpet, baconium, banjo, mandolele, jew's harp, ...), song writer and comedian. As a surreal humourist he has been rated alongside Peter Cook. He was "the court jester of the underground rock scene in the Sixties" (John Peel).
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Vivian Stanshall - Leader of surreal group 'The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band', who recorded at The Manor at the same time as Mike was recording Tubular Bells. Vivian was ... the creator of 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End', a surreal radio series about life in an English country house, which Stanshall wrote and read himself. Vivian died in 1995, aged 52, in a fire in his home.
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Stanshall was often called a "great British eccentric", but this was a label he hated: it suggested that he was putting on an act and he always insisted that he was merely being himself. However, it is not difficult to understand why he received the label. Neil Innes said of their first meeting: "He was quite plump in those days. He had on Billy Bunter check trousers, a Victorian frock coat, violet pince-nez glasses, and carried a euphonium. He ... wore large pink rubber ears."
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Stanshall was found dead on March 6th 1995 after a fire at his Muswell Hill flat, seemingly started by him falling asleep while smoking in bed. Fuelled by brandy fumes, the cigarette had set fire to his long ginger beard. (Although Vivian did indeed often set fire to his beard, the fire was begun by faulty wiring near his bed.)
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By the time the group recorded 'Sleepers', McGear and Stanshall had left to pursue other projects. All the other original members remained, and were joined by bassist Dave Richards (ex Plainsong), keyboardist John Megginson (ex Scaffold) and drummer Timi Donald (ex Quiver).
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Vivian Stanshall