I'd add a couple of things. First, it's true that John Lennon adopted some counterproductive attitudes toward Art in the latter half of the Beatles' career. Luckily, something in him knew better than to completely follow through with them. His solo work contains wordplay and quirky musical touches, even if he thought or at least claimed to think that they shouldn't.
Also, the "We are normal and we want our freedom" line apparently comes from Marat/Sade. Love was actually the first band to make use of it, in their song "The Red Telephone".
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Urban Spaceman was the title of the album you remembered as The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse - apparently a refence to a lavatory according to wikipedia's article about the title. Isn't it funny you can find some of the most obscure trivia in wiki which also talks about the Marat-Sade connection. Of course, the bland remarks on wiki didn't come close to the snark provided by 'altrockgirl', particularly about John Lennon. It's all true he and Yoko together made for some pretentiousness - the 'bed-in' staged in Montreal was memorable.
When I think about the creative breakthroughs that happened in the 60s what I often recall is that the wackiness expressed by the Bonzos didn't just appear out of nowhere. Music Halls were very popular in England for a long time and then there were always (and perhaps still - maybe not) pub sing alongs. There were musicains famous for being funny - Spike Milligan, Lonnie Donegan, Spike Jones, and who could forget Screamin Jay Hawkins. It occurs to me that things are rather staid nowadays despite tattoos, piercings, and odd hair colors.. and other stuff. We are normal... aren't we?
Apparently "Urban Spaceman" was the album's title in the States, because "I'm the Urban Spaceman" had been a non-album single in the UK but was added to the album in the US. In place of "11 Mustachioed Daughters" it seems. I tend to agree with altrockgirl that "Daughters" wasn't much of a loss. It seems like a parody of 60s occult records, but they're so silly as to be beyond parody. John was a genius, of course, but unlike Paul he didn't always appreciate his own work.
Ivor Cutler, a Scottish poet and singer, was another great eccentric of the time, and I suspect he was an influence on the Bonzos, especially Viv. No, Screamin' Jay Hawkins couldn't be forgotten. In fact, people like Alice Cooper have admitted a large debt to him. Tattoos, piercings, hair dye, etc. are both social signifiers and consumer products. People want to appear like they're standing out from the crowd. Actually standing out from the crowd is a whole 'nother matter.
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