Martin Ash (8 February 1942 – 27 September 2018) was a British performer, percussionist, artist and art lecturer better known to many by his stage name Sam Spoons, the percussionist of

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as the Bonzo Dog Band or the Bonzos) was created by a group of British Art school, art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic music, psychedelia with sur ...

Early life and education

He was born on 8 February 1942 in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

but moved to

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

when he was 12. He was the first student to gain an A-Level in art at Barnstaple Grammar School, before moving to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

to study illustration (NDD Honours). From 1963 to 1966 he studied

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

Career

Musician

He joined The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in early 1964, leaving in December 1967, and rejoining in 2006. Ash was also a member of Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band recording with the band on their eponymous LP. Credited as Sam Spoons, Ash appeared on all the early Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band singles and debut album ''Gorilla'' (1967). He was co writer and arranger of "Jazz, Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold", which formed part of the '' Guest House Paradiso'' (1999) film soundtrack. In 2006, Ash and other surviving members of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band reunited - along with Stephen Fry, Ade Edmondson and Phill Jupitus - for a reunion tour.

Artist and lecturer

He worked as a senior art lecturer at Chelsea School of Art from 1972 until retirement. A posthumous solo art exhibition, which Ash had been working on, was presented by White Moose gallery at Tapeley Park in Instow, from 14 October to 16 October 2018, titled ''KerbArt : A Solo Exhibition by Martin Ash (AKA Sam Spoons)''.

Death

Ash died on 27 September 2018, aged 76, from cancer. His funeral was held at North Devon Crematorium in Barnstaple.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash, Martin 1942 births 2018 deaths British percussionists British artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art People from Bridgwater