THE BIG MUFFIN SERIOUS BAND
The Big Muffin Serious Band have
been performing conspicuously since 1983.
A busking band par excellence and recognized New Zealand wide and long.
They have 2 CDs for sale:
For those who have stumbled upon
this site by accident or in ignorance some explanation may be in order.
The Big Muffin Serious Band (the BMSB) formed in Hamilton, New Zealand in
1983 as a 3 piece busking group incorporating a simple but lasting format.
The ukulele was one of their instruments
of choice, the other being the one string tea-chest bass.
With this lethal combination no popular music was safe from their attention,
especially when reinforced with such time-honoured instruments as the child's
plastic saxophone (the blue ones are best), hedge clippers, elephantophone,
carrot kazoo and with snare drum and brushes for a bit of drive.
The 3 members shifted from instrument to instrument, especially when any one
showed signs of becoming too good at it- there is nothing like a good dose
of musical virtousity to kill entertainment value dead.
The repertoire was chosen simply on the basis of tunes which were ironically unsuited to the instrumentation (punk, R&R etc) or great tunes of the past which were long forgotten, but deserved not to be. The music was tight, energetic and above all rather funny.
By 1986 the band had added a 4th
member to the group, who performed various non-musical roles and who was referred
to as 'go-go dancer' not least because that is what he did.
The tight musical combo was now visually enhanced and with this line up they
toured Universities, Polytechnics, Folk Clubs, Music Festivals, main streets
etc. extensively and exhaustively throughout the '80s.
Line-ups changed, the formula stayed the same. A spell of busking in Britain, twice performed seasons of 'The Eggplant That Ate Chicago', a humorous multi-media show (the first in '87, well before the word meant anything) incorporating music, drama and shadow puppetry, and latterly performing the busking show on stilts, several feet higher than expected with props and instruments exaggerated as well.
To glean more background don't be afraid to go to our random photos site or our sister group The Serious Ukulele Ensemble page, or check out reviews of recordings.
Still want more? Try the Spot the Differences competition.
If you want more information contact us now. Or at least soon.