Duffo

  • Duffo
  • Duffo (UK Beggars Banquet) 1979 
  • The Disappearing Boy (UK PVK) 1980 
  • Bob the Birdman (UK PVK) 1981 

Australian oddball Duffo — a wan-looking androgynous waif — relocated to the UK before finding a record company that would sign him. A good move, since he proved to be a witty writer/singer (if a bit smutty at times), poking impish fun at the music industry and other targets. His eponymous first album, which bears the legend “Maybe god’s a genius too!,” has hints of the Bonzos, Bowie (in his guise as Anthony Newley), Tubes and Kinks. Duffo sings well and invests the entire disc with a self-deprecating sense of absurdity. A facile backing quartet follows him neatly into a variety of musical styles to support the diverse songs.

[Ira Robbins]