 | Bill Oddie: Encyclopedia II - Bill Oddie - Comedy and music
Bill Oddie - Comedy and music
After attending King Edward's School, Birmingham, Oddie studied English Literature at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he appeared in several Cambridge University Footlights Club productions, one of which, A Clump of Plinths, was so successful during its run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that the revue was renamed as Cambridge Circus, and transferred the revue to the West End in London, and then later took the revue to New Zealand and Broadway. While still at Cambridge Oddie wrote scripts for TV's That Was The Week That Was.
His first television appearance was in Bernard Braden's Braden Beat in 1964. Subsequently, he was a key member of the performers in the cult BBC radio series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (ISIRTA; 1965), where many of his compositions were featured. Some were released on the album Distinctly Oddie (Polydor, 1967). He was possibly one of the first performers to parody a rock song, arranging the traditional Yorkshire folk song "On Ilkla Moor Baht'at" in the style of Joe Cocker's hit rendition of the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends" (released on John Peel's Dandelion Records in 1970 and featured in Peel's special box of most-treasured singles), and singing "Andy Pandy" in the style of a brassy soul number such as Wilson Pickett or Geno Washington might perform. In many shows he would do short impressions of Hughie Green.
In one song on I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, Oddie performed "What a Wonderful World" with a voice fully reminiscent of Louis Armstrong. During the course of the song, the rest of the cast attributed the gravelly quality of his voice to a bad cold. In the background, during the rest of the song, it is possible to hear the cast call for a doctor, the arrival of the doctor and his decision that Oddie should go into hospital, the trip to hospital in an ambulance, and the operation extracting his tonsils. After this, the sound of his voice changed to a sound closer to that of Harry Secombe. He thanked the cast for curing him.
On television Oddie was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Jonathan Lynn. Later, he was co-writer and performer in the comedy series Broaden Your Mind with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, for which Oddie became a cast member for the second series).
Oddie co-wrote many of the episodes of the television comedy series Doctor in the House with Graeme Garden. He also appeared as the hapless window cleaner in one of the two films made of Eric Sykes' comedy story The Plank.
Oddie was a member of 1970s BBC TV trio The Goodies, in which he starred with ISIRTA colleagues Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor (also veterans of Cambridge Footlights). He portrayed the rebel, to Brooke-Taylor's conservative and Garden's boffin, with long hair and a poster of Che Guevara in his corner. The Goodies also released records, including "Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me"/"The In-Betweenies", "Do The Funky Gibbon", and "Black Pudding Bertha", which were hit singles in 1974-5. They reformed, briefly, in 2005, for a successful 13-date tour of Australia. The three have worked together since the demise of the Goodies, including the 1983 animated television series, Bananaman, that parodied comic super-hero adventures. Oddie voiced the characters of "Crow", "Chief O'Reilly", "Doctor Gloom", "Eric" and "the Weatherman".
He was the compere of a daytime BBC gameshow, "History Hunt" (2003); and has featured in a Doctor Who audio drama.
He plays the drums and saxophone and appeared as Cousin Kevin in a production of The Who's rock opera Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre, Finsbury Park, London on 9 December 1972. He has also contributed vocals to a Rick Wakeman album, "Criminal Record".
In the fictional world of comedy character Alan Partridge, Oddie is an unseen presence in Alan's life, bothering him with prank phone calls, and buying him gifts like dressing gowns.
Other related archives16 October, 1941, 1962, 1964, 1970, 1970s, 1972, 1983, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 9 December, British Birds, Alan Partridge, Andy Pandy, Australia, BBC, BBC Two, Bananaman, Bartley Reservoir, Bernard Braden, Bill Oddie Goes Wild, Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife, Birding with Bill Oddie, Birmingham, Britain Goes Wild, British Naturalists' Association, Broaden Your Mind, Broadway, Buckingham Palace, Cambridge Circus, Cambridge University Footlights Club, Channel 4, Che Guevara, DVD, Dandelion Records, David Bellamy, Delia Smith, Doctor Who, Doctor in the House, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, English Literature, English National Opera, Eric Idle, Eric Sykes, Finsbury Park, Geno Washington, Gilbert and Sullivan, Graeme Garden, Hughie Green, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, Joe Cocker, John Peel, Johnny Morris, Jonathan Lynn, July 7, King Edward's School, Birmingham, Lancashire, London, Louis Armstrong, MA (Cantab.), Michael Palin, New Holland Publishers, New Zealand, OBE, On Ilkla Moor Baht'at, Pembroke College, Peter Scott, RSPB, Rick Wakeman, Rochdale, Seven Natural Wonders, Springwatch with Bill Oddie, Stephen Moss, Terry Jones, That Was The Week That Was, The Goodies, The Mikado, The Plank, The Way We Went Wild, The Who, This Is Your Life, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Tommy, Twice a Fortnight, University of Cambridge, West End, West Midland Bird Club, What a Wonderful World, Who Do You Think You Are?, Wild In Your Garden, Wilson Pickett, With a Little Help from My Friends, Yorkshire, animated, author, bipolar disorder, bird baths, birdwatcher, bumble bees, comedy writer and performer, comic opera, conservationist, drums, gameshow, miscarriage, nest boxes, ornithologist, parody, psychiatric care, saxophone, television, television presenter, television series, the Beatles, wild birds, wildlife
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Comedy and music", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |
