Blast from the past - remind us of a thing

[nicanary]

Sticks. said:

WrekinCrew said:

Comedy / novelty records by comedians and "non singers" eg
- Charlie Drake ("My Boomerang Won't Come Back")
- Terry Scott ("My Brother")
- Peter Sellers ("Goodness Gracious Me")
- Benny Hill ("Ernie")
- Alan Sherman ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh")

Also "kids' records" like "The Runaway Train", "The Ugly Duckling", "Sparky's Magic Piano".

Does anything like that still happen? (Weird Al parodies don't count!)

Saturday mornings, Junior Choice with Ed Stewpot Stewart. 'Hello darling'.

Way before that we had Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac) and many of the above, plus "I'm a pink toothbrush" and "barney the bashful bullfrog". When people began asking for modern pop records it all began falling apart. Now then, Two-Way Family Favourites anyone? Followed by The Navy Lark (left hand up a trifle) and best of all, the Kenneth Horne shows, Bona Antiques with Jules and Sandy, plus Rambling Sid Rumpo and Dame Celia Molestrangler.

[WrekinCrew]

There was also "The Clitheroe Kid" in the Radio 2 ("Light Programme") Sunday after-lunch slot.

[Roofless Toothless]

WrekinCrew said:

Comedy / novelty records by comedians and "non singers" eg
- Charlie Drake ("My Boomerang Won't Come Back")
- Terry Scott ("My Brother")
- Peter Sellers ("Goodness Gracious Me")
- Benny Hill ("Ernie")
- Alan Sherman ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh")

Also "kids' records" like "The Runaway Train", "The Ugly Duckling", "Sparky's Magic Piano".

Does anything like that still happen? (Weird Al parodies don't count!)

Round about 1968 popular music started taking itself far too seriously.

[DickyC]

nicanary said:

Way before that we had Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac) and many of the above, plus "I'm a pink toothbrush" and "barney the bashful bullfrog". When people began asking for modern pop records it all began falling apart. Now then, Two-Way Family Favourites anyone? Followed by The Navy Lark (left hand up a trifle) and best of all, the Kenneth Horne shows, Bona Antiques with Jules and Sandy, plus Rambling Sid Rumpo and Dame Celia Molestrangler.

There's a dung-hill in the middle of the yard.

[Abbott]

DickyC said:

nicanary said:

Way before that we had Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac) and many of the above, plus "I'm a pink toothbrush" and "barney the bashful bullfrog". When people began asking for modern pop records it all began falling apart. Now then, Two-Way Family Favourites anyone? Followed by The Navy Lark (left hand up a trifle) and best of all, the Kenneth Horne shows, Bona Antiques with Jules and Sandy, plus Rambling Sid Rumpo and Dame Celia Molestrangler.

There's a dung-hill in the middle of the yard.

Don't jump off the roof dad, you'll make a hole in the yard

[Doofus]

You lot appear to be old:

Do I remember a Goon Show where they were in gaol, and the governor decided to take the prisoners on a surprise holiday, by sailing the prison to the Isle of Wight, but at the same the prisoners were tunneling out of their cell and so the prison sank?

I ask because every time I've mentioned this in the past, people have lookad at me as if I'm insane.

[Super Sonic]

Roofless Toothless said:

Round about 1968 popular music started taking itself far too seriously.

Nobody told Keith Harris or his fugly punchyfaced ttting duck.

[Randy Winkman]

Roofless Toothless said:

WrekinCrew said:

Comedy / novelty records by comedians and "non singers" eg
- Charlie Drake ("My Boomerang Won't Come Back")
- Terry Scott ("My Brother")
- Peter Sellers ("Goodness Gracious Me")
- Benny Hill ("Ernie")
- Alan Sherman ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh")

Also "kids' records" like "The Runaway Train", "The Ugly Duckling", "Sparky's Magic Piano".

Does anything like that still happen? (Weird Al parodies don't count!)

Round about 1968 popular music started taking itself far too seriously.

Can you explain? There were loads of novelty records in the 1970s. Any, I'm not a real muso but I do know one and for him 1968 was the peak for pop music. And in a book I read about Syd Barrett, 1968 was picked out too.

[hidetheelephants]

Doofus said:

You lot appear to be old:

Do I remember a Goon Show where they were in gaol, and the governor decided to take the prisoners on a surprise holiday, by sailing the prison to the Isle of Wight, but at the same the prisoners were tunneling out of their cell and so the prison sank?

I ask because every time I've mentioned this in the past, people have lookad at me as if I'm insane.

Milligan did recycle plot devices so he may have used that one more than once, but "Tales of Old Dartmoor" involves Dartmoor prison being sailed to France for a holiday and it does sink due to ill-advised tunnelling activities.

[Doofus]

Ag pleez, Deddy
Won't you take us to the drive-in?
All six, seven of us
Eight, nine, ten

We wanna see a flick about
Tarzan an' the Ape Men
An' when the show is over you can
Bring us back again

[Doofus]

hidetheelephants said:

Milligan did recycle plot devices so he may have used that one more than once, but "Tales of Old Dartmoor" involves Dartmoor prison being sailed to France for a holiday and it does sink due to ill-advised tunnelling activities.

Thank you. My dad had a Goons LP, and that's where I remember it from, but the specifics are hazy, because I was very, very drunk.

[DickyC]

Doofus said:

hidetheelephants said:

Milligan did recycle plot devices so he may have used that one more than once, but "Tales of Old Dartmoor" involves Dartmoor prison being sailed to France for a holiday and it does sink due to ill-advised tunnelling activities.

Thank you. My dad had a Goons LP, and that's where I remember it from, but the specifics are hazy, because I was very, very drunk.

Intriguing that Eric Sykes worked on some Goon Show scripts. He was a funny guy but his humour didn't seem as wacky as Milligan's. IIRC he and Milligan shared an office. Maybe Goonery was contagious.

[Nethybridge]

Sykes was interviewed about his career as a performer,
and more close to his heart, a comedy writer of some
repute. and he mentioned that the BBC were happy
with his Goon input but Milligan was less
than impressed, you could tell this still rankled even
after 40 years, and he proudly reeled off every comedy great
he'd written gags and routines for, Frankie Howerd,
Eric and Ernie, Bill Fraser, Hancock, Tommy Cooper.

[nismocat]

Doofus said:

You lot appear to be old:

Do I remember a Goon Show where they were in gaol, and the governor decided to take the prisoners on a surprise holiday, by sailing the prison to the Isle of Wight, but at the same the prisoners were tunneling out of their cell and so the prison sank?

I ask because every time I've mentioned this in the past, people have lookad at me as if I'm insane.

I was thinking the same thing about the old members here, which made me happy, but I also never watched the Goon Show and don't even remember it, which makes you probably older than me!

Just looked, it ended in 1960. No wonder I have never heard of it, I am an X Gen.

[motco]

nismocat said:

Doofus said:

You lot appear to be old:

Do I remember a Goon Show where they were in gaol, and the governor decided to take the prisoners on a surprise holiday, by sailing the prison to the Isle of Wight, but at the same the prisoners were tunneling out of their cell and so the prison sank?

I ask because every time I've mentioned this in the past, people have lookad at me as if I'm insane.

I was thinking the same thing about the old members here, which made me happy, but I also never watched the Goon Show and don't even remember it, which makes you probably older than me!

Just looked, it ended in 1960. No wonder I have never heard of it, I am an X Gen.

Waddya mean "watched" the Goons? I used to lie in bed listening to the Goon Show on my crystal wireless!

[jumare]

loskie said:

beambeam1 said:

BT phonecards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_cQ8eRSbCg

we got them for work in 92 or 93. Our days AI calls were planned around instructions got at local phone boxes.

I tell new colleagues that nowadays and they look at me as if I've pissed myself (again!).

Back in the days of dial up 1200 baud modems, I programmed the modem to use the phone card number, lots of delays to allow the exchange(?) to catch up. Used to be able to use them internationally as well.

[blueg33]

nismocat said:

I was thinking the same thing about the old members here, which made me happy, but I also never watched the Goon Show and don't even remember it, which makes you probably older than me!

Just looked, it ended in 1960. No wonder I have never heard of it, I am an X Gen.

Not sure you could watch the Goon Show - I thought it was a radio programme!

I was born in 1965 and have only heard a couple of episodes as a kid, my dad liked it.

I think Spike Milligan was brilliant in an unconventional way. His kids stuff is fantastic eg "The Bald Twit Lion", and "In the land of the Jumbly Joo"

Also of course his headstone which has on it the words he wanted. "I told you I was ill"

[DickyC]

motco said:

nismocat said:

Doofus said:

You lot appear to be old:

Do I remember a Goon Show where they were in gaol, and the governor decided to take the prisoners on a surprise holiday, by sailing the prison to the Isle of Wight, but at the same the prisoners were tunneling out of their cell and so the prison sank?

I ask because every time I've mentioned this in the past, people have lookad at me as if I'm insane.

I was thinking the same thing about the old members here, which made me happy, but I also never watched the Goon Show and don't even remember it, which makes you probably older than me!

Just looked, it ended in 1960. No wonder I have never heard of it, I am an X Gen.

Waddya mean "watched" the Goons? I used to lie in bed listening to the Goon Show on my crystal wireless!

The Telegoons.

As opposed to the Goons.

I can't remember which of the Goons it was talking in an interview but he said during the meetings at the BBC before any Goon material had been broadcast there were serious BBC executives sitting round trying their best to discuss the material, the concept, the characters and the actors and writers and attempting to treat it in the same manner as the Corporation's regular fare. The problem at one particular meeting was a typo in the heading and the meeting progressed with the straight-faced executives discussing the antics of the Go Ons.

- - - - -

ETA - Telegoons. There's quite a following on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/Hdayw_7Er5o?si=hnadG_AGsgN74cBt

Edited by DickyC on Monday 20th May 08:29

[Sticks.]

blueg33 said:

I think Spike Milligan was brilliant in an unconventional way. His kids stuff is fantastic eg "The Bald Twit Lion", and "In the land of the Jumbly Joo"

Also of course his headstone which has on it the words he wanted. "I told you I was ill"

It's written in Latin, a condition set by (I suspect) the church.

He also wrote a book of serious poetry, Small Dreams of a Scorpion.

[BigBen]

WrekinCrew said:

Comedy / novelty records by comedians and "non singers" eg
- Charlie Drake ("My Boomerang Won't Come Back")
- Terry Scott ("My Brother")
- Peter Sellers ("Goodness Gracious Me")
- Benny Hill ("Ernie")
- Alan Sherman ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh")

Also "kids' records" like "The Runaway Train", "The Ugly Duckling", "Sparky's Magic Piano".

Does anything like that still happen? (Weird Al parodies don't count!)

My first record on Vinyl was called 'all aboard - hits for kids' (or somesuch) and featured all of those except Alan Sherman. Nearly all classics apart from Sparky's magic piano as sparky sounded like a whiney little b*tch.