Douglas Gray at home with his cat 2013- 2014-04-21 19-20

The Alberts were a British music/comedy troupe of the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, featuring brothers Anthony "Tony" and Douglas "Dougie" Gray, along with

Bruce Lacey Bruce Lacey (31 March 1927 – 18 February 2016) was a British artist, performer and eccentric. After completing his national service in the Navy he became established on the avantgarde scene with his performance art and mechanical constructs. He ...

. They were notable for their surreal performances.

Career

Educated at the Oratory School (Kensington), they were evacuated during World War II to

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

. They left school after the war and performed their National Service in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. They appeared on several of

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...

's television series. They intended to inaugurate the fledgling

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

on 20 April 1964, but a power failure delayed the launch until the following day. For almost the entire year of 1963, beginning January 1963, in the West End, The Alberts, along with

Joyce Grant Joyce Grant (23 January 1924 – 11 July 2006) was a UK-based South African actress known for her comedic roles. Grant was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa and her father encouraged her to move to London to study acting. When she returned to ...

Ivor Cutler Ivor Cutler (born Isadore Cutler, 15 January 1923 – 3 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, singer, musician, songwriter, artist and humorist. He became known for his regular performances on BBC radio, and in particular his numerous sessions recorde ...

Michael Codron Sir Michael Victor Codron (born 8 June 1930) is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. He has been honoured with a Laurence Olivi ...

and

William Donaldson Charles William Donaldson (4 January 1935 – 22 June 2005) was a British satirist, writer, playboy and, under the pseudonym of Henry Root, author of '' The Henry Root Letters''. Life and career Son of Charles Glen Donaldson (1904–1956) an ...

, presented ''An Evening of British Rubbish'', which

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

attended twice, and which was released on an

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and a ...

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

, head of

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

at the time.George Martin: ''All You Need Is Ears'' (1983), p. 99. St. Martin's Press, New York. Several members of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band have publicly said they were hugely influenced by The Alberts. The Gray brothers appeared in several films directed by

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

, including ''

Dante's Inferno ''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, gui ...

'' and ''

The Music Lovers ''The Music Lovers'' is a 1971 British drama film directed by Ken Russell and starring Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson. The screenplay by Melvyn Bragg, based on ''Beloved Friend'', a collection of personal correspondence edited by Cathe ...

''. They toured the world with the Royal Opera house with non-singing roles in

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

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'' and released a single in May 1962, produced by George Martin at

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although ''Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly re ...

, called "Morse Code Melody", with "Sleepy Valley" on the flip side. Another single, "Goodbye Dolly (Gray)" / "Blaze Away" and credited to The Massed Alberts, an expanded version of the group again featuring Bruce Lacey, was also released on Parlophone in July 1964 but similarly failed to chart. The Alberts (including Lacey) adapted

Alexandre Dumas père Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

's novel, ''The Three Musketeers Ride Again!'', at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

, with Rachel Roberts,

Valentine Dyall Valentine Dyall (7 May 1908 – 24 June 1985) was an English character actor. He worked regularly as a voice actor, and was known for many years as "The Man in Black", the narrator of the BBC Radio horror series '' Appointment with Fear'' ...

Colin Phillips Colin Phillips is a British psycholinguist who is the director of the Maryland Language Science Center at the University of Maryland. He is an elected fellow of the Linguistic Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of ...

Alexei Jawdokimov Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin Al ...

and Jill Bruce in the cast, directed by Eleanor Fazan. Anthony "Tony" Gray (22 December 1927 – 14 April 2014) died at age 86 in the UK. He was twice married and had six children. Douglas Gray (28 September 1930 - 18 June 2020) died aged 89 in Norfolk. He had two children, Pandora and Gideon, a musician. In later, life Gray turned up for the service at his local church every Sunday dressed as a Cossack.

Discography

* ''

The Alberts, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Temperance Seven ''The Alberts, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Temperance Seven'' is a singles compilation album released in 1971, notable for the first time both sides of the first two Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band singles were released in stereo. Track listing ...

'', singles compilation album, 1971 * '' By Jingo It's British Rubbish'' (1998 CD: HUX 015), singles compilation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberts British comedy musical groups British surrealist artists Surrealist groups Musical groups from London