A really silly name, but this well-loved comedian also had a
huge chart success with Funky Moped. Jasper was born Robert Norman Davis in
1945, and in 1969 started to sing folk songs for a living.
Then Jasper entered
the 1970s by developing his MC skills, in which he would start putting in a lot
of jokes and adlibbing to get the belly laughs from the audiences.
In 1973 he released an album called Jasper Carrot which includes
sketches from his act. One of the most famous was real insurance claim details,
which Jasper turned into golden comedy moments. This brought him more attention
by TV, and he became a school yard hero.
Jasper O.B.E. had a huge hit with Funky Mopped in 1975, but
although that was the record that was played on the radio non-stop, and it was
the record he would perform on BBC Top Of The Pops, it was not really that
record we were playing; it was in fact the naughty B side.
The B side was called The Magic Roundabout which was a rude
parody of the children’s animated series from France also called The Magic
Roundabout. The whole song contained Innuendo and cheeky jokes about the
characters within the series. It was especially amusing as it really made the
wholesome characters of the TV series something to really laugh about in the
school playground. Of course the radio stations at that time would never
mention it, and would stick totally to playing the A side. But we all knew
better didn’t we?