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

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

s (volumes 1 and 2) of poetry by Jeremy Lloyd

Jeremy Lloyd

Jeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:...

, set to music by Jim Parker

Jim Parker (composer)

Jim Parker is a British composer.After graduating as a silver medallist at the Guildhall School of Music, Parker played with leading London orchestras and chamber groups as well as being a key part of The Barrow Poets for whom he provided both original instrumental music and music to accompany the...

 and recited by various British celebrities. The albums generated two books of poetry, BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 shows, a West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 musical, a pantomime

Pantomime

Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

 ("Captain Beaky And His Musical Christmas" performed by Twiggy

Twiggy

Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....

, Eleanor Bron

Eleanor Bron

Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author.-Early life and family:Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin...

, Keith Michell

Keith Michell

Keith Michell is an Australian actor, particularly noted for his television and film performances as King Henry VIII of England.- Early life :He was born in Adelaide and brought up in Warnertown, near Port Pirie...

, and Jeremy Lloyd at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London in December 1981) and performances by the New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...

. The first album was released on vinyl in 1977 and the second in 1980 and both were re-released on compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 in 2002.

Captain Beaky's band are called 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 pop charts

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

. The song informs us that:
According to Jonathan Rowlands, the producer of both albums, when United Kingdom disc jockey Noel Edmonds

Noel Edmonds

Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...

 heard colleague Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn

Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....

 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 [to the BBC] proclaiming "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

Graffito

Graffito is the singular form of the Italian graffiti, meaning "little scratch".Graffito may also refer to:*Graffito *Graffito...

 on walls (sometimes as a modification for earlier "George Davis

George Davis (armed robber)

George Davis is an ex-armed robber in the United Kingdom, who became widely known through a very successful campaign by friends and supporters to free him from prison after his wrongful conviction in March 1975 for an armed payroll robbery at the London Electricity Board offices in Ilford on 4...

 is Innocent!" graffiti, especially after George Davis' second conviction), on badge

Badge

A badge is a device or fashion 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 , a sign of legitimate employment or student status, or as a simple...

s, and on car stickers.

Volume I

First released on vinyl in 1977. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014621) in 2002.

1. "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell
   Keith Michell
   Keith Michell is an Australian actor, particularly noted for his television and film performances as King Henry VIII of England.- Early life :He was born in Adelaide and brought up in Warnertown, near Port Pirie...
   
   
2. "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe
   Harry Secombe
   Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...
   
   
3. "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse", Peter Sellers
   Peter Sellers
   Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
   
   
4. "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy
   Twiggy
   Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
   
   
5. "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell
   Keith Michell
   Keith Michell is an Australian actor, particularly noted for his television and film performances as King Henry VIII of England.- Early life :He was born in Adelaide and brought up in Warnertown, near Port Pirie...
   
   
6. "Dilys the Dachshund", Harry Secombe
7. "The Snail", Twiggy
8. "Blanche", Keith Michell
9. "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd
10. "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell
11. "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe
12. "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy
13. "The Haggis Season", Peter Sellers
14. "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy
15. "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe
16. Overture "The Orchestra"

Volume II

First released on vinyl in 1980. Re-released as a compact disc (EAN 5032796014720) in 2002.

1. "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell
2. "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd
3. "Candle Tango", Keith Michell
4. "Fred and Marguerite", Petula Clark
   Petula Clark
   Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
   
   
5. "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith
   Penelope Keith
   Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
   
   
6. "Mandy the Mouse", Noel Edmonds
   Noel Edmonds
   Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
   
   
7. "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell
8. "Stanley the Stork", Peter Skellern
   Peter Skellern
   Peter Skellern is an English singer-songwriter and pianist.-Career:Skellern attended Derby Grammar School and studied piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He later joined pop groups called 'Harlem' and 'March Hare'...
   
   
9. "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe
10. "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern
11. "Browser Long", Penelope Keith
12. "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe
13. "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd
14. "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers
15. "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark
16. "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds
17. "Camille", Matthew Vine
18. "Captain Beaky's Christmas Pantomime", Keith Michell
19. "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.

1. "Captain Beaky", Keith Michell
2. "Harold the Frog", Harry Secombe
3. "Jacques, a Penniless French Mouse", Peter Sellers
4. "Desmond the Duck", Harry Secombe
5. "Wilfred the Weasel", Keith Michell
6. "Dilys the Dachshund", Harry Secombe
7. "The Snail", Twiggy
8. "Blanche", Keith Michell
9. "My Best Friend", Jeremy Lloyd
10. "The Ginger Cat", Keith Michell
11. "Nathaniel Gnat", Twiggy
12. "Ronald the Rat", Twiggy
13. "The Haggis Season", Peter Sellers mp3
14. "Dennis the Dormouse", Twiggy
15. "Herbert the Hedgehog", Harry Secombe
16. Overture "The Orchestra"
17. "Jock the Flea", Jeremy Lloyd
18. "Candle Tango", Keith Michell
19. "Fred and Marguerite", Petula Clark
20. "Doreen the Duckling", The King's Singers
21. "Helen the Hippo", Penelope Keith
22. "The Trial of Hissing Sid!!!", Keith Michell
23. "Mandy the Mouse", Noel Edmonds
24. "Fanshaw the Fly", Keith Michell
25. "Kenny the Koala", Harry Secombe
26. "Daddy Long Legs", Peter Skellern
27. "Browser Long", Penelope Keith
28. "Enrico the Canary", Harry Secombe
29. "Teddy's Tea Time", Jeremy Lloyd
30. "Wendell the Worm", The King's Singers
31. "The Bumble Bee", Petula Clark
32. "Dotty the Cuckoo", Noel Edmonds
33. "Camille", Matthew Vine
34. "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

External links

• Captain Beaky official web site
• Karen Rayner's Captain Beaky fansite — A Usenet post by Mike Lyle outlining the case for the Defence