The Seventh Python reunites with Fatso

In typical, deliberately obscure fashion, Neil Innes has embarked on a thirtieth anniversary reunion tour with a band that no one's heard of! The star of The Seventh Python, the acclaimed musical biopic from our pals at Frozen Pictures is on the road in the UK with Fatso, the house band from Rutland Weekend Television, his series with Eric Idle, on which the Rutles first appeared (and George Harrison appeared-- with Fatso-- as well). Rutle John Halsey and Rockpile legend Billy Bremner are also in the combo that played the Cavern Club in Liverpool last night.

Neil answered five questions from London's Metro:

Neil Innes is offten referred to as 'the seventh Python'. He was also a member of Beatles pastiche The Rutles and The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. His other group, Fatso, are now reunited after a 30-year break.

Rather than a Fatso tour, there was going to be another Bonzo tour. What happened?

The last Bonzo tour was enough. It was a happy bubble in a turbulent world. I'm proud of the CD we made last summer (Pour l'Amour Des Chiens), but seriously, folks: for me, the time has come to let sleeping dogs lie.

How have you managed to reunite such an far-flung combo?

Bassist Brian Hodgson has been the driving force behind the reunion. We're all really looking forward to it happening. I'm sitting here grinning just at the thought of it.

Will you be playing exclusively Fatso stuff, or will there be contributions from the repertoire of each band member?

There will be old favourites from The Rutles, Python and The Bonzos, as well as individual stuff. There'll be a certain amount of mucking about and dressing up, but we'll also be doing George Harrison's Beware Of Darkness and John Halsey [drummer] has promised us Summer Holiday.

Are there any plans for an accompanying album or DVD?

We'll be recording every night of the tour, for our own amusement as much as anything. Like The Bonzos, this is not a career move: it's purely for the fun of it.

After the tour, will you be returning to your solo work?

I'll be going back to Holland, where I'm producing a CD for a theatrical genius called Freek De Jonge. We've known each other for 25 years and if we don't do it now, we never will. I'll be getting on with my book and then thinking about solo work. I've just invested in [editing software application] Final Cut Pro, so I think I'll become a movie-maker.