The Goon Show Page 2

Aaron, an appeal.

OK, you've voiced your bemusement of The Goons, but me being a life-long fan, I wonder if we could have a different photo for the header please?

Of course Michael Bentine was a founder member of The Goons, but there was some directional friction between him and Spike Milligan and he left after the first two series and none or few of those recordings exist as far as I know, besides I don't think they got into their stride and it became what it was until after Bentine had left.

I have never looked on Bentine as a Goon and would think it more appropriate if he wasn't included the header photo.
This would be my preference - there are many Goon type photos of the three of them, but there is a certain whimsical irony in this "sliding" facial expressions one I think :-

Bemusement of The Goons.

Someone who runs a British comedy guide is bemused by them?

That's very bemusing. Must be an age thing.

Call of the West this week being one of my favourites as everyone gets to read lines - even Wallace (more than usual), Ray (in his deep voiced part of the chief) and even the wooden Max, but the stars as always are the trio of idiots.

Peter excels as The Hern (with the long-range spittoon joke that never fails with me) and Spike is even more grovelling and obsequious as Count Jim "Knees" Moriarty at HGT's beck and call.
LOVE IT!

"The Scarlet Capsule" this week and one of my favourites. A spoof of the BBC TV "Quatermass and the Pit", which I remember watching from behind the settee, peering through my fingers - God! That was scary at the time.

"he was a scaffolder's knee wrencher" - dunno why, that just gets me every time I hear it, AND we get to hear Peter Seller's too little used Cynthia, the breathy vamp nymphomaniac lady's voice - SO, SO FUNNY!

The area around the UFO must be cleared of residents - Harry as Ned Quatermass knocks on Cynthia's door, and when she answers, he says "I'm sorry to knock you up so late...." (pause for the double-entendre to sink in), to which she replies: "They all say that..."

Ned "You're going to be evacuated"
Cynthia "Oh....."

I don't remember Cynthia.Mind you most of my Goon listening was when I was too young to appreciate THAT sort of humour.

Not surprised as she doesn't appear often enough sadly, and for sure it would have gone over my head too when I used to listen to them "live" with my Dad back in the 50s

Sellers was a genius at voices, and I think there are two or three female ones he does, which to me are so funny. Off the top of my head there's the one he does as Mrs Scratchit in A Christmas Carol.

You must dig out your tape/CD of this one and listen to it., OR listen to it hear :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbGcsNRJFkI

Eccles is particularly good, as is Ace newspaper reporter "Scoop Bluebottle" and Henry and Minnie - well, the whole thing is a riot of fun.

Thanks, I'm listening to it as we speak. I remember Tony Hancock doing a Quatermass spoof too, something in his neighbour's shed?

Will I never be free of them?.....Bloodnok

It's called The Horror Serial.
Been wiped, audio on YouTube but not good quality.

Quote: john tregorran @ 18th July 2019, 12:30 AM

Will I never be free of them?.....Bloodnok

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Curried eggs with Bombay chilli sauce...........oh dear, never again.

Too young to have listened first time around but discovered the Goons as a lad through a love of Milligan and Sellers - but particularly the genius that was Milligan. Any of the Goons appearances on Parkinson was always the highlight of my week.

And yes it is a generational thing - take Spike Milligan and Kieth Lemon - one is a unique, unpredictable, tortured, ground breaking, comedic genius and the other is Kieth Lemon.

Quote: playfull @ 18th July 2019, 9:39 AM

Too young to have listened first time around but discovered the Goons as a lad through a love of Milligan and Sellers - but particularly the genius that was Milligan. Any of the Goons appearances on Parkinson was always the highlight of my week.

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Yes, there was one Parkinson I seem to remember when The Goons were celebrating some anniversary (?) and Spike couldn't make it, being in Australia or ill or summat - I was a bit disappointed, but they did do some sort of link, with Harry and Peter in the studio.

Parkinson said (and I've heard this elsewhere) Peter hated appearing as himself and there was one where he would only come on dressed as a Nazi and do some very funny skit about Hitler being a better painter than Churchill.

The Gold Plate Robbery this week

Not a riot from one end to the other, but some beautiful corpsing by Harry and yet again, another female voice by Peter as Lady Lavinia Seagoon.
This doesn't sound much on paper (do they ever) but strangled posh voices of each are hysterical, especially when Spike explains why he has no chin...................

ROGER (Harry) SEAGOON: Thank you. Mother~ Mother~ Oh Mummy?

LADY LAVINIA: What is it Roger darling?

ROGER (Harry) SEAGOON: Oh Daddy, what are you doing at home?

LADY LAVINIA: I live here, and I'm Mummy not Daddy, you've got to know the difference some time.

ROGER (Harry) SEAGOON: Gad, this revelation makes me a man of the world, no more short trousers for me.

LADY LAVINIA: Excused shorts. Oh how proud your father would have been. Now tell me all about the fox-hunt.

ROGER (Harry) SEAGOON: It was wonderful mother. A beautiful spring morning, flowers blooming, and blood everywhere. Oh it's grand to be in England.

BAZIL (Spike) SEAGOON Hello mother, hello Rodney (Roger - mistake by Spike?)... by Jove, I'm dashed hungry.

LADY LAVINIA: Bazil darling, where's your chin gone?

BAZIL (Spike) SEAGOON I've never had one Mummy.

As I say, you need to hear it and I think it's hysterical.

There is an hour long film on TPTV at 9.15 am next Saturday (10 Aug) entitled "London Entertains", which is described thus:

"Starring Eamon Andrews and the Goons. A tour conducted by Eamon Andrews around the Battersea Festival to a BBC studio to hear The Goons of radio fame."

No idea what it will be like but could be worth a view?

Yes, although The Goons section is not enough, which is a bit frustrating. It's on this Renown DVD...........................

..................that I bought many moons ago, purely for the disappointing Goons bit, but did have the "pleasure" of the other two films - Michael Winners "Climb Up the Wall", which was only just worth watching for Jack Jackson and the Cardew Robinson masterpiece "Calling All Cars", which was ABSOLUTELY DIRE!!