Dave 'Bagpipes' Brooks was 72

Dave ‘Bagpipes’ Brooks –  an early member of alternative comedy group The Greatest Show On Legs – has died at the age of 72.

The musician also performed with other comedy figures including Arnold Brown, John Hegley and Keith Allen.

His son Charlie broke the news on Facebook, writing: ‘He passed away [at the] end of last week. They broke the mould when they made him. Here’s to all of you who played music with him, loved him, got exasperated with him(!) and had fun with him over the years.’

The Greatest Show on Legs, famed for its naked balloon dance, was set up by Martin Soan in the late 1970s, and with members including Malcolm Hardee became regulars at the Comedy Store after in opened in 1979.

Soan told blogger John Fleming: ‘Dave joined The Greatest Show on Legs very early on… I don’t know what year or indeed how we came to meet him in the first place, but he was a valued member and was a very funny man indeed.

‘He excelled on stage and personally made sketches of ours complete and perfect and, after he went his own way, we had to drop the routines he had made his own. The Human Scottish Sword Dance and Dirty Ol Men were his sketches  

"Going on tour with The Legs wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea: it was a hand-to-mouth existence and a lot of anarchy to put up with, but he fitted in without any trouble and sometimes led the way in outrageousness. 

‘His temperament was sunny and always even but also he was very educational (important when spending long hours in a van), He introduced Malcolm Hardee and me to garlic, which Malcolm hated… He knew what was happening politically and, of course, musically expanded our minds… 

‘Above all, I will always remember his wicked sense of humour and infectious laugh.’

His played bagpipes with several bands and at weddings  and other celebrations, and appeared in the West End version of Brigadoon. In 1996 he was fined over his habit of playing bagpipes on Hampstead Heath.

Charlie, who lives in Oregon, added: ‘With the coronavirus situation, we don’t know what will happen with the funeral at the moment.’

Read a full obituary, including details of the Hampstead Heath court case, on John Fleming’s blog, So It Goes.

Here are the Greatest Show on Legs – without Brooks  - on Chris Tarrant’s late-night 1982 show OTT:

Published: 13 May 2020