''Captain Beaky & His Band (Not Forgetting Hissing Sid!!!)'', commonly shortened to ''Captain Beaky & His Band'' or ''Captain Beaky'', is the title of two

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s (volumes 1 and 2) of poetry by Jeremy Lloyd set to music by Jim Parker and recited by various British celebrities. The albums generated two books of poetry,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

shows, a West End musical, a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

(''Captain Beaky and His Musical Christmas'' performed by Twiggy, Eleanor Bron, Keith Michell and Jeremy Lloyd at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, in December 1981), performances by the National Youth Ballet of Great Britain and a gala in aid of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

performed by Roger Moore, Joanna Lumley, Jeremy Lloyd and the National Youth Ballet at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, London, in December 2011. The first album was released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

in 1977 and the second in 1980. Both were re-released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...

in 2002. Captain Beaky's band consist of Timid Toad, Reckless Rat, Artful Owl and Batty Bat. The title track from the first album, "Captain Beaky", was released as a 7 inch single with "Wilfred the Weasel" and "Blanche" on the B-side by Polydor in 1980; it reached Number 5 in the UK Singles Chart and number 36 in Australia. The song, sung by Keith Michell, informs us that: According to Jonathan Rowlands, the producer of both albums, when

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

disc jockey

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English businessman, and former television presenter, radio DJ, writer and producer. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK, pres ...

heard colleague Tony Blackburn play the record, "he grabbed it from his turntable, played it just once, and the result was that an atomic scientist who was on secondment with the British Museum, upon hearing the show and recognising that Captain Beaky's bete-noir Hissing Sid was not all that bad, wrote in o the BBCproclaiming "Hissing Sid Is Innocent Okay!". The character of Hissing Sid is a snake, mentioned in both "Captain Beaky" on the first album and "The Trial of Hissing Sid" on the second. The slogan "Hissing Sid is Innocent!" became a popular catch phrase, appearing everywhere including as a graffito on walls (sometimes as a modification for earlier " George Davis is Innocent!" graffiti, especially after Davis' second conviction), on

badge A badge is a device or accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath (e.g., police and fir ...

s, and on car stickers.

Track listings

Volume I

First released on vinyl in 1977. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014621) in 2002. # "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell # "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe # "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse",

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

# "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy # "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell # "Dilys the Dachshund", Harry Secombe # "The Snail", Twiggy # "Blanche", Keith Michell # "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd # "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell # "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe # "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy # "The Haggis Season", Peter Sellers # "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy # "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe # "Doreen the Duckling", The King's Singers (CD edition only) # Overture "The Orchestra"

Volume II

First released on vinyl in 1980. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014720) in 2002. # "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell # "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd # "Candle Tango", Keith Michell # "Fred and Marguerite",

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

# "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith # "Mandy the Mouse",

# "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell # "Stanley the Stork", Peter Skellern # "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe # "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern (with footnotes by

Lionel Blair Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...

) # "Browser Long", Penelope Keith # "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe (accompanied by Midori Nishiura) # "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd # "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers # "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark # "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds # "Camille", Matthew Vine # "Captain Beaky's Christmas Pantomime", Keith Michell # "Captain Beaky's Christmas Carol", Matthew Vine The original vinyl and cassette editions differ slightly from this track listing, omitting some tracks but including the additional "Doreen the Duckling", The King's Singers and with "Teddy's Tea Time" titled "Nearly Four".

Captain Beaky and His Band

Most of Volume I and Volume II, slightly re-ordered, issued as a cassette by Polydor. # "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell # "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe # "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse", Peter Sellers # "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe # "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell # "Dilys the Dachshund", Harry Secombe # "The Snail", Twiggy # "Blanche", Keith Michell # "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd # "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell # "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy # "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy # "The Haggis Season", Peter Sellers # "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy # "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe # Overture "The Orchestra" # "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd # "Candle Tango", Keith Michell # "Fred and Marguerite", Petula Clark # "Doreen the Duckling", The King's Singers # "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith # "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell # "Mandy the Mouse", Noel Edmonds # "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell # "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe # "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern (with footnotes by Lionel Blair) # "Browser Long", Penelope Keith # "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe (accompanied by Midori Nishiura) # "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd # "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers # "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark # "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds # "Camille", Matthew Vine # "Captain Beaky's Christmas Pantomime", Keith Michell

Books

* * * * * a collection of 28 poems illustrated by Keith Michell * a retelling of parts of the story of Jesus set in a woodland

References

External links

* {{Authority control Comedy albums by British artists 1977 albums 1980 albums