BS: the goon show

Subject: the goon show
From: kendall
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 03:10 PM

I heard on NPR today that one of the originators of the Goon Show has died.Never having seen the show, or the mans name in print, I dont know how to spell it.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Justa Picker
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 03:11 PM

Check this thread out, Kendall.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Justa Picker
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 03:13 PM

And this one too.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: kendall
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 03:20 PM

I didnt see this one. The title probably did it. Harry Secomb was not a name I knew, so, wouldn't have opend that thread.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Bernard
Date: 14 Apr 01 - 05:06 PM

Great boiling buckets of bringe! Neddy's dead! (as Colonel Bloodnok would have put it - only, as he was played by Peter Sellars, he was already dead!).

Only Spike Milligan left, now - alias the Famous Eccles - and he's got his wish. He didn't want Seagoon singing at his funeral!!

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Fiolar
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 06:23 AM

Kendall - "The Goon Show" which originally was founded by Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine was initially a radio show. Of the originals as mentioned only Spike is now alive. The BBC were confused as the the pronounciation of it and insisted on calling it "The Go On Show." It ran from 1951 to 1960 and was far ahead of its time. An attempt to adapt it for television never really came off. It had and still has millions of fans.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From:
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 07:40 AM

As a highly esteemed member of alt.fan.goons, I'm trying to collate messages of condolence, to pass onto Myra (Sir Harry's widow). If you could take a few moments to send me a message at - [e-mail]

I'm in the process of combining them into one document to pass on to Sir Cumference's family.

Goon, but not forgotten.

Jock O'Knees Goon in good standing.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 12:40 PM

Please don't say that with your teeth out!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Alice
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 06:22 PM

I am listening to a recording of the Goon Show right now, broadcast on Billings, MT public radio, in memory of "Neddy".

Alice

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: GUEST,Bobby Bob, Ellan Vannin
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 07:13 PM

In mentioning The Goons, whose humour is as fresh now as it ever was, the name of Eric Sykes should not be overlooked.

Quite rightly, the name of Michael Bentine has been associated with The Goons, because he was certainly one of the first 'Crazy People,' but was sidelined essentially because Spike Milligan found him too challenging. Those who remember 'The Bumblies' and 'It's a Square World' will know how Bentine had a distinctive genius. The talents of Eric Sykes have, however, in this regard, perhaps been overlooked.

When Spike Milligan was suffering problems with a nervous breakdown, Eric Sykes was a key writer for The Goons. The fact that he became associated with later sit-com television fare perhaps diverted attention from the fact that he was also capable of the unexpected leaps of association for which The Goons were rightly revered.

The humour of The Goon Show was essentially timeless. Unlike so many present-day 'comedy' programmes which attempt to rely on up-to-the-minute, satirical comments for their humour, The Goon Show was Dada-esque, building on its own references to create a sense of a world which had its own rules, which were true to themselves, but which displayed a wonderful sense of the absurd, and also showed that real life actually wasn't that far removed from the world of The Goons in many ways.

Mish, lesh aittys,

Bobby Bob

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: sophocleese
Date: 15 Apr 01 - 07:23 PM

I've tried three times now to write something poignant and witty about the passing of Harry Secombe. I can't. All I can do is weep and thank whatever powers that be that I was able to hear him on radio and tape. He will be missed.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Fiolar
Date: 16 Apr 01 - 05:11 AM

To paraphrase Christopher Wren memorial "If you seek a monument, listen to a Goon Show."

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Peter Kasin
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 02:48 AM

"I now pronounce you man and wife, and I leave it to you to tell which one is which."

Back in the 70's my college roomate told me about The Goon Show. I came across the album "Goon But Not Forgotten" at the public library, and became an instant fan. The above is my favorite line from the album, delivered perfectly. My condolences go out to Harry Secombe's family.

Subject: RE: BS: the goon show
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 17 Apr 01 - 11:57 PM

G'day all,

I have one direct Goons / Folk link: Throughout the '70s and '80s, when I played regularly with a Bush Band (Australian Folk Music), it was an extensive collection of Goon Shows, 3 shows end to end on each C90 cassette, that kept me awake and aware driving home from gigs at ungodly hours of the morning.

Many musos crash their cars after spending hours setting up, playing and then packing everything away again, to drive for hours to get back home. I credit the weird zany humour of the goons with saving me from the soporific effects of late night 'easy-listening' music.

We will all miss Sir Harry - but, thank God, their shows are recorded ... and I have 109 of them to keep me sane in a crazy world.

Regards,

Bob Bolton