The Alberts

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The Alberts were a British music/comedy troupe of the mid 1950s to mid 1960s, featuring brothers Tony and Dougie Gray and appeared with Bruce Lacey. They were influenced by music hall, 1920s jazz and surrealism. At times they would gather a larger troupe and perform as The Massed Alberts.

They appeared on several of Spike Milligan's television series [1] and were intended to be the first show on the BBC's second channel BBC2 on April 20th 1964. A power failure delayed the launch until the following day. The show The Albert's Channel Too also featured Ivor Cutler.

They had a residency at Peter Cook's Establishment Club in London. Lenny Bruce met them there and invited them to come and perform in the United States. They travelled across on the Queen Mary entertaining/annoying other passengers with their antics which included riding penny-farthing bicycles around the decks. They arrived in New York to find Bruce had been arrested.

In January 1963, together with Joyce Grant and Ivor Cutler, they presented An Evening of British Rubbish.

They have been cited as a major influence on Viv Stanshall and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Today, Tony lives in France, his brother, Douglas, in Norfolk.