Vivian Stanshall (born Victor Anthony Stanshall; 21 March 1943 – 5 March 1995) was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet, wit, and raconteur, best known for his work with
The Bonzo Dog Band, and for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in
Sir Henry at Rawlinson End and for narrating
Mike Oldfield's
Tubular Bells. Stanshall was often called a "great British eccentric", but this was a label he hated: it suggested that he was putting on an act. Instead, as he himself always insisted, "…he was merely being himself." …
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