In the 1970s Jasper Carrot

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?