Ben messaged me in the middle of last week to pass on the news of Bill Oddie's departure. "If your blog isn't full of The Funky Gibbon for the whole of the week, then that's disrespectful."
Sadly, Sam and I were in Birmingham for most of last week, so this is the first chance I've had...
But there's much more to Bill than just the Gibbon. Just ask his feathered friends...
That'll have cleaned out your lugholes.
Before the Goodies, Bill was a musician with an eccentric catalogue, including a version of the Yorkshire Anthem sung in the style of Joe Cocker...
A tribute to a beloved crooner-turned-DJ...
And a song about knitting...
Apparently he also did a version of the Andy Pandy theme tune in the style of Wilson Pickett, but I can't find that anywhere.
Perhaps most famous of all though, Bill appears in a infamous mondegreen in Madonna's 1992 hit Erotica...
Bill Oddie,
Bill Oddie,
Put your hands all over my body...
Unfortunately, he never made it into a Half Man Half Biscuit, unlike that other famous celebrity birdspotter, Phil Cool. There's always someone cooler than you.
Nice tribute, Rol - I was sad to hear this news. Like many I grew up with him as a Goodie and then a Springwatcher, fond memories of both. And of course, if you ever see some of those small heron-like wading birds, he provided us with a great and memorable quote: "Egrets, I've had a few". (Granted , that one may not get a lot of use.)
ReplyDeleteI need to hear that Wilson Pickett Andy Pandy!