Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers

West Country band Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers are Gloucestershire's answer to The Wurzels; a humorous and fondly remembered band led by the inimitable and sadly missed Shag Connors. The band is still doing the business in the capable hands of Shag's son Mart, as Mart Connors & The Carrot Crunchers. Described as a 'country comedy musical act' singing ribald songs of country life such as Gloucester Calypso, Blame the Breathalyser and I'm Jealous of the Farmyard Cockerel; the The Carrot Crunchers were perhaps best known for their black cockerel, which Shag taught to drink beer from a pint glass, and which was an integral part of the act. Story has it that one night the band played at an army base, and after the gig a bunch of squaddies killed the cockerel! This might explain why the two pictures in the gallery show different coloured birds - obviously Shag trained up a replacement! Although Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers didn't achieve the UK chart success of Adge and The Wurzels, they were nevertheless in demand, appearing on various TV shows in the 1970s, including The Wheeltappers & Shunters Show, the David Nixon Show (7/5/73 and 22/4/74), the Sooty Show, and Opportunity Knocks, which would have put them in front of a massive national audience. Shag died in 1987 after a long fight against cancer - a sad end to a real gentleman. He is buried in Mayshill Cemetery. His son Mart (aka Martin 'Scarecrow' Connor) took over the reigns and the band still performs today.