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Thread: Black Bonzo

  1. #1

    Black Bonzo

    I got "Sound of the Apocalypse" several years ago. I guess almost a decade now. Good album. They seemed poised to be one of prog's leading torch bearers for the millennium....heard next to nothing about their follow-ups.

  2. #2
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickenbacker View Post
    I got "Sound of the Apocalypse" several years ago. I guess almost a decade now. Good album. They seemed poised to be one of prog's leading torch bearers for the millennium....heard next to nothing about their follow-ups.
    They changed direction and call themselves Gin Lady now (or something close)

  3. #3
    Member emperorken's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    They changed direction and call themselves Gin Lady now (or something close)
    Man, I didn't know that. I always liked Black Bonzo.

  4. #4
    Member PixelDelirium's Avatar
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    I don't know what the full story is but essentially "Black Bonzo" became "Gin Lady". They released a couple of albums (one this year) and are more retro-rock/pop than retro-prog. They did release one more album, "Guillotine Drama", as Black Bonzo before Gin Lady though. If you like their other two albums "Guillotine Drama" is well worth checking out (as is the Gin Lady material for that matter).

  5. #5
    Member TheH's Avatar
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    There is much worse stuff than this, but I liked the proggy Black Bonzo better


  6. #6
    Old man of prog
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    Yeah just took new Gin Lady off my ipod after one week. WEAK!

  7. #7
    Member LASERCD's Avatar
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    Gin Lady doesn't hold a candle to Black Bonzo.

  8. #8
    Member nosebone's Avatar
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    Those first two Bonzos are great.

    If they were released in 1973 , they would have blew Uriah Heep right out of the water.
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

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    Estimated Prophet notallwhowander's Avatar
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    To be fair, the first BB album, Lady of the Light, is basically Uriah Heep spruced up with generous doses of King Crimson, The Beatles, and Queen. So they had an edge over the original Heepsters.
    Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.

  10. #10
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Music makes strange bedfellows. Black Bonzo and Moon Safari are from the same small town in northern Sweden (Skelleftea) and have known each other & jammed together for many years. Wonder what they sounded like as a composite band.

    I will always remember the adversity that BB faced the first (and only iirc) time they came to the states. The day before Rosfest, they had ALL of their analog equipment and some instruments stolen from their truck at another gig. When they played Rosfest, they still put on a killer show with some borrowed equipment plus what they had left. There was a collection taken for them to help with their losses and almost $1000 was raised & given to them.

    Had a very nice time with a few of BB at one of the Rosfest after-parties.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by progeezer View Post

    I will always remember the adversity that BB faced the first (and only iirc) time they came to the states. The day before Rosfest, they had ALL of their analog equipment and some instruments stolen from their truck at another gig. When they played Rosfest, they still put on a killer show with some borrowed equipment plus what they had left. There was a collection taken for them to help with their losses and almost $1000 was raised & given to them.
    That sucks! I was not able to make it to ROSfest that year but I was at their gig the day before ( I believe) in Vienna, Va.. They were really good and I enjoyed them.

  12. #12
    Member old school's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nosebone View Post
    Those first two Bonzos are great.

    If they were released in 1973 , they would have blew Uriah Heep right out of the water.
    I disagree Black Bonzo are good but heep is better in my opinion.

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    Quote Originally Posted by notallwhowander View Post
    To be fair, the first BB album, Lady of the Light, is basically Uriah Heep spruced up with generous doses of King Crimson, The Beatles, and Queen. So they had an edge over the original Heepsters.
    That is spot on. I absolutely love the first two BB albums, and their Rosfest show will always be one of my favorites I've witnessed there in 9 years. Sad that they've morphed into Gin Lady, but I'm grateful I got to experience them live. Their drummer was monstrous...truly Bonzo...much more so than on the recordings.

  14. #14
    [QUOTE=Rickenbacker;177848] They seemed poised to be one of prog's leading torch bearers for the millennium...[QUOTE]

    I don't think so.

    But they were more than solid at what they did accomplish within the specific realm of heavy proto-prog. Their first two albums were good.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Rickenbacker View Post
    They seemed poised to be one of prog's leading torch bearers of the new millennium.
    I don't think so.

    But they were more than solid at what they did accomplish within the specific realm of heavy retro-prog. Their first two albums were nice.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

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