Unapologetic graduates of the straw boater/starched spats school of wordplay and whimsy, scarce indeed was the light-hearted magazine programme of the 1970s and 1980s that didn’t call upon capricious ensemble Instant Sunshine to supply a full stop to a line-up of topical chat, consumer watchdoggery and cut-price cuisine. Erstwhile medical students Alan Maryon-Davis, David Barlow and Peter Christie had swapped their lab coats for blazers in the late 1960s, moving swiftly from college hops to the Edinburgh Fringe to cabaret supremacy. With Christie penning the tunes and new recruit Miles ‘Franglais’ Kington wielding double bass, the tantalising prospect of not one but four Richard Stilgoe’s waxing wry about everything from government subsidy (‘We’re awfully keen on the Arts’) to liturgical controversy (‘Who mowed the lawns of Eden?’) to package holidays (‘Los Peckham Ryos’) became a reality. They were covered by the King’s Singers. They were permanent fixtures in the grubby foyer of Pebble Mill at One. Their appeal spanned the ages from kids on Jackanory – semi-musical tales including ‘The Search for the Source of the M1’ – to remuneratively-challenged pensioners listening to Radio 4 (‘Financial review is long overdue/don’t let money stew – with profit in view/what you must do is tune to Money Box’). They were regulars on Robert Robinson’s Stop the Week for decades, slipped effortlessly between the world’s cocktail lounges and literary festivals, and outgunned and outpunned rival harmonisers Harvey and the Wallbangers ten to one. Side projects, including Alan’s stint climbing in and out of giant polystyrene capillaries on BBC1’s Bodymatters, failed to derail the ‘Sunshine’s state, though Miles eventually buggered off to do more newspaper columns about funny foreign accents. Thankfully they’re still going strong today, with David’s son Peter now on bass and the repertoire bolstered by ice-cube chinking winners like ‘Don’t tell the Abbot’, ‘Cucumber Sandwiches’ and ‘Conservation Conversation’. Scat’s the way to do it.
Arthur Nibble
August 14, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Were these gents also in ‘Oneupmanship’ (“.starring Richard Briers”)?
Nick
November 1, 2009 at 7:34 pm
David’s son Peter was(is) actually called Tom (Thomas Alexander). Just for completeness.
Keith
December 1, 2013 at 1:48 am
These blokes are simply screaming geniuses! Even though I’m a yank, my Brit pals turned me on to these guys decades ago, and I still laugh my {30e2395aaf6397fd02d2c79d91a1fe7cbb73158454674890018aee9c53a0cb96}@# off when I listen to them. Bottom line, there’s really nothing like good English tongue in cheek humor! If you have never heard their music, you owe it to yourself to get one of their cd’s……Same with the Spinners, loved them too……..Keith
Droogie
May 28, 2024 at 3:22 pm
There was a fair few posh slightly satirical comedy musical ects around in the 80’s – Instant Sunshine, Fascinating Aida, Kit & The Widow , Richard Stilgoe even. I remember all of these as being clever rather than especially funny.
Richardpd
May 28, 2024 at 10:33 pm
One of Victoria Wood’s earlier TV gigs was performing topic songs on That’s Life, which she wasn’t keen on doing for too long.
Droogie
May 29, 2024 at 11:53 am
I also recall a guy called Jeremy Taylor who did whimsical comedy folk songs.He briefly had his own show on BBC2. He also popped up on That’s Life doing his song Jobsworth which inspired their Jobsworth Of The Week feature
Glenn Aylett
May 29, 2024 at 6:47 pm
The BBC seemed to love these well spoken slightly amusing musical acts: they would flit quite easily from doing a topical song on Pebble Mill to appearing on a Radio 4 comedy show with a satirical ditty about the recession. They were OK in small doses on Pebble Mill, but shows like The Source Of The M1 were too much over 25 minutes.