The Bonzos
As Michael was best-known for his stage interpretation of the work of Bonzos frontman, Vivian Stanshall, it was only natural that sooner or later he would come to the attention of the late, great Neil Innes. Whether Neil's reaction would be positive or negative however, was unknown. Michael first met Neil when Neil attended the London premiere of Sir Henry at Rawlinson End in October 2011. Thankfully, his reaction was positive.
Neil suggested a joint performance of Sir Henry combined with his own one-man show which he titled 'How Nice to be in England!' These shows took place over 2 nights at Liverpool's Epstein Theatre in October 2012.
In 2015, Neil asked Michael if he would be interested in singing for The Bonzos on their upcoming tour. For Michael, this was a Roy of the Rovers moment.
The first show featuring Michael on vocals took place at Koko, London in 2015. This was filmed and later broadcast as a TV Special entitled I Should Koko.
Following this, further shows took place, including one at the London Palladium featuring Tim Brooke-Taylor.
During the tour, one of the band's founders - Rodney 'Rhino' Slater - suggested to Michael that once the tour was over, they convene to record an album. This project ended up being named 'Rodney Slater's Parrots' - in reference to the famous Bonzos song - and in 2017 the album 'Parrotopia' was recorded at Michael's studio, which was then situated in his garden shed. Aside from co-writing the album, Michael also produced it, and designed the artwork, aside from the cover, which was painted brilliantly by Tom Connell.
