Apollo C. Vermouth

About

Under the pseudonym “Apollo C. Vermouth”, Paul McCartney produced “I’m the Urban Spaceman“, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s most successful single, released in 1968.

You produced the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah band as APOLLO C VERMOUTH.

Yes. I loved the Bonzos: I’d been to see their show and they’d been in Magical Mystery Tour, in the strip scene at Raymond’s Revuebar. Viv Stanshall used to go to the clubs a lot, like I did, and we’d often meet all the guys late-night, chatting over a drink. He said that they really needed a single to establish them and I said, “Well what have you got? I’ve seen your act and you haven’t really got singles there.” Viv then asked if I’d produce them and I said “Yes, if you get something together.” So they sent a demo and I showed up at Chappell Studios one afternoon, talked to the engineer and got them a good sound, a bit of compression, a bit of this and that, and produced it. Within two or three hours they’d cut the track, ‘I’m The Urban Spaceman’, which turned out to be their only hit. I said “Just put me down as anything” and Viv made up the name Apollo C Vermouth. A lot of people still don’t know that I produced that track – they say “What – you produced the Bonzos? Never!” And it was fun session. I still like Viv a lot, and I loved the radio show he did.

Paul McCartney – Interview with Club Sandwich N°62, Spring 1992

Last updated on March 28, 2022