Roger McGough - The Scaffold and Grimms

The Scaffold and Grimms

Returning to Merseyside in the early 1960s, he worked as a French teacher and, with John Gorman, organised arts events. After meeting Mike McGear the trio formed the Scaffold, working the Edinburgh Festival until they signed to Parlophone records in 1966. The Scaffold performed a mixture of comic songs, comedy sketches and the poetry of McGough. The group scored several hit records, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1968 with their version of "Lily The Pink". McGough wrote the lyrics for many of the group's songs and also recorded the musical comedy/poetry album McGough and McGear.

In 1971 Grimms was formed, originally as a merger of the Scaffold, the Bonzo Dog Band, and the Liverpool Scene. Group member Neil Innes said about the formation of the group, "I don't know what attracted the Scaffold to the Bonzos; we were incredibly anarchic, which was probably something shared by the Scaffold as well."