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The Goons
''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1951, was titled ''Crazy People''; subsequent series had the title ''The Goon Show''. The show's chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan, who performed the series alongside Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and (for the first two series) Michael Bentine. The scripts mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. There were also light music interludes. Some of the later episodes feature electronic effects devised by the fledgling BBC Radiophonic Workshop, many of which were reused by other shows for decades. Elements of the show satirised contemporary life in 1950s Britain, parodying aspects of show business, commerce, industry, art, politics, diplomacy, the police, the military, e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comic songs, and became known to a worldwide audience through his many film roles, among them Inspector Clouseau, Chief Inspector Clouseau in ''The Pink Panther'' series. Born in Southsea, Sellers made his stage debut at the Kings Theatre, Southsea, when he was two weeks old. He began accompanying his parents in a variety act that toured the provincial theatres. He first worked as a drummer and toured around England as a member of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA). He developed his mimicry and improvisational skills during a spell in Ralph Reader's wartime Gang Show entertainment troupe, which toured Britain and the Far East. After the war, Sellers made his radio debut in ''ShowTime'', and eventually became a regular perfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of The Goon Show Episodes
The following is a list of ''The Goon Show'' episodes. ''The Goon Show'' was a popular and influential British radio comedy series, originally produced by the BBC from 1951 to 1960 and broadcast on the BBC Home Service. Availability of ''The Goon Show'' episodes Lost episodes Many of the earliest radio episodes no longer exist. When the first episodes were broadcast, recording technology was still expensive and primitive by later standards. Audio tape was not in general use, and any recordings were made directly on to acetate discs. These could be played back, but tended to wear out quickly and did not survive unless further processed to create a master disc, which was only done for recordings intended for sale. Only one episode from the fourth series was preserved in the BBC Sound Archive (as a tape dub from an acetate disc). Other episodes from Series 2–4 have survived, sometimes in incomplete form, as off-air recordings of varying quality. Four episodes from Series 4 wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Transcription Services
The BBC Transcription Services started life in the mid-1930s as the London Transcription Service to license BBC Radio programmes to overseas broadcasters who were authorised to broadcast the programmes for a set period, usually two or three years. The programmes sold to overseas broadcasters in this way covered every part of the BBC's output, including all types of music, drama, religious and children's programmes and comedy. It is now called BBC Radio International. Whilst the BBC destroyed most broadcast recordings it produced for its various outlets, BBC Transcription Services often retained their copy and many of the surviving radio programmes from the 1940s onwards owe their survival to the fact that Transcription Services issued the material. The original releases were in the form of 12-inch 78 rpm discs. Each of these discs contained no more than three or four minutes per side and so a radio operator would have needed to cue the start of many discs as the previous one f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce Incidental music, incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electronic music and music technology, as well as its popular scores for programmes such as ''Doctor Who'' and ''Quatermass and the Pit'' during the 1950s and 1960s. The original Radiophonic Workshop was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, London. The Workshop was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. Its members included Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, David Cain (composer), David Cain, John Baker (Radiophonic musician), John Baker, Paddy Kingsland, Glynis Jones (composer), Glynis Jones, Maddalena Fagandini, Richard Yeoman-Clark and Elizabeth Parker (composer), Elizabeth Parker, the last to leave. History The Workshop was set up to satisfy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music And Sound Effects
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of music vary widely in substance and approach. While scholars agree that music is defined by a small number of specific elements, there is no consensus as to what these necessary elements are. Music is often characterized as a highly versatile medium for expressing human creativity. Diverse activities are involved in the creation of music, and are often divided into categories of composition, improvisation, and performance. Music may be performed using a wide variety of musical instruments, including the human voice. It can also be composed, sequenced, or otherwise produced to be indirectly played mechanically or electronically, such as via a music box, barrel organ, or digital audio workstation software on a computer. Music often plays a key r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surreal Humour
Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causality, causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surreal humour tend to involve bizarre Juxtaposition, juxtapositions, incongruity, Non sequitur (literary device), non-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations, and expressions of nonsense. Surreal humour grew out of surrealism, a cultural movement developed in the 20th century by French and Belgian artists, who depicted unnerving and illogical scenes while developing techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. The movement itself was foreshadowed by English writers in the 19th century, most notably Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. The humour in surreal comedy arises from a subversion of audience expectations, emphasizing the ridiculousness and unlikeliness of a situation, so that amusement is founded on an unpredic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Comedy
Radio comedy, or comedy, comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketch comedy, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some simple dialogue. Radio comedy began in the United States in 1930, based on the fact that as most United Kingdom music hall comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel progressed to silent films, they moved to cinema of the United States, Hollywood and fed the radio comedy field. Another British music hall comic, George Formby, stayed in the British movie industry, and in 1940 joined the Entertainments National Service Association to entertain British World War II troops. UK radio comedy therefore started later, in the 1950s. Background and history Radio comedy began in the United States in 1930, and got a much later start in the United Kingdom becau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Ellington
Henry Pitts Brown (17 March 1916 – 27 February 1985), known professionally as Ray Ellington, was an English singer, drummer and bandleader. He is best known for his appearances on ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 to 1960. The Ray Ellington Quartet had a regular musical segment on the show, and Ellington also had a small speaking role in many episodes, often as a parodic African, Native American or Arab chieftain (but also often, with no attempt to change his normal accent, in counter-intuitive roles such as a female secretary or a Scotsman). Early life Ellington was born Henry Pitts Brown, at 155 Kennington Road, Kennington, London, England, the youngest of four children. His father was Harry Pitts Brown (c.1877–1920), an African American music-hall comedian and entertainer, his mother was Eva Stenkell Rosenthal (b. c.1879), a Russian Jew. His father died when Brown was four years old. Ellington was raised as an Orthodox Jew and attended the South London Jewish School (1924–3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Geldray
Max van Gelder (12 February 1916 – 2 October 2004), professionally known as Max Geldray, was a Dutch jazz harmonica player. Best known for providing musical interludes for the BBC radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'', he was also credited as being the first harmonica player to embrace the jazz style. Geldray was born in the Netherlands and played jazz in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and his home country, before settling in Britain at the outbreak of the Second World War; he was wounded during the Invasion of Normandy. He appeared in nearly every episode of ''The Goon Show'' from 1951 until the end of the show's run in 1960, providing one of the musical interludes and the closing music for each programme, as well as sometimes taking brief speaking roles. After ''The Goon Show'' series ended, Geldray settled in the US, where he worked as an entertainer in the Reno casinos alongside performers such as Sarah Vaughan and Billy Daniels. Moving to Palm Springs, he ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stompin' At The Savoy
"Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City. History and composition Although the song is often credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar Sampson, and Andy Razaf, it was written and arranged by Sampson, Rex Stewart's alto saxophonist. Sampson wrote the song when he was with Stewart's orchestra at the Empire Ballroom in 1933. It was used as the band's theme song until the band broke up, after which Sampson joined Chick Webb's band, taking the song with him. Webb’s recording rose to number ten on the charts in 1934. Famously, on Webb's 1934 version (Columbia 2926) the tenor saxophone hits a wrong note after the introduction, however, Columbia did not cut another take. Two years later, the piece charted with versions by Ozzie Nelson and Benny Goodman. Both Webb and Benny Goodman recorded it as an instrumental, Goodman's being the bigger hit. Goodman first recorded Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crazy Rhythm
"Crazy Rhythm" is a thirty-two-bar swing show tune written in 1928 by Irving Caesar with music by Joseph Meyer and Roger Wolfe Kahn for the Broadway musical ''Here's Howe''.Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra at The Red Hot Jazz Archive Performances ''Crazy Rhythm'' was first recorded for Victor by and His Orchestra in New York City in April 1928 with singing the chorus:[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alte Kameraden
"" ("Old Comrades") is the title of a popular German military march by Carl Teike. It is included in the ''Armeemarschsammlung'' as HM II, 150. History The march was written around 1889 in Ulm, Germany, by military music composer Carl Teike. Teike wrote many pieces for the marching band of Grenadier-Regiment König Karl (5. Württembergisches) No. 123. When bringing his newly composed march to the regiment, the ''Kapellmeister'' Oelte simply told him: "We've got plenty enough of musical marches, put this one in the stove!" This episode eventually led to Teike taking his leave of the band and naming the march as "Alte Kameraden". A publisher purchased the song from him for 25 German Goldmark. In 1895, the Nowaweser Kapelle Fritz Köhler premiered the march. Alte Kameraden later became one of the most popular marches in the world. It was played in 1937 at the coronation ceremony for English King George VI. The march can also be heard in the film ''The Blue Angel'' (1930). Teike ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
