By GSPS Founder Mike Coveney
Part One
The Goon Show Preservation Society has its roots in the airmen’s lounge at R.A.F. Booker. As it is there that young airman Coveney was feeling annoyed at being on duty over the weekend. Turn on the radio to listen to Billy Cotton perhaps . . . no, something else was on, unidentified. It was a comedy programme, no not Life with the Lyons, not Ignorance is Bliss or Much Binding in the Marsh.
The Goons had burst upon me, like so many of my generation, in a shower of new sounds, new attitudes and a completely new style.
It was 1951, the Festival of Britain was in full swing, optimism was returning slowly, and obviously the timing of the Goon’s first series was exactly right.
Fast forward to 1972, a reunion of sorts in The Last Goon Show of All, the catalyst to firm into action thoughts I had long held of starting some sort of Goon club. My own recalls of the show were aided by a handful of shows on LP records, but perhaps getting together Goon buffs would enable us to pool our knowledge and resources, and most important of all, keep the old Goon Show fun going. By 1972 the optimism of 1951 had gone, and we certainly needed the Goon Show more than ever.
My fellow conspirator and I in the enterprise of setting up the Society was Linton Culver, a colleague at work. We met for a beer most Fridays and I advanced the idea to him.
His enthusiasm turned thought into action, but what to call ourselves. Many projects to save architectural gems were called Preservation Societies, so why not add this to our comedy gem and make it G.S.P.S.? And so it came to pass.
One or two friends at the Bank enthused (yes, bank officials do have a sense of humour) and we joined them to our embryo group with a little persuasion. Believe it or not, we had 10 members recruited in the first few weeks. What were we going to do, to say, to write?
It seemed first we had to expand to the wider world, and I boldly wrote to the BBC informing them of our proposals and kindly offering then my services in the form of an interview. Surprisingly enough, a phone call came through at once, inviting me to a studio to be interviewed for the ‘Today’ programme. In those days hosted by kindly John Timpson and astringent Robert Robinson.
I managed to waffle on during the five minute interview conducted by Malcolm Billings. It was not bad, and I mentioned that most important would be the search for more recordings of the Goon Show and to ensure none were lost or erased – the BBC was not noted for keeping all its archives intact. We sat back waiting for sacks of mail to arrive as a result of the broadcast, but all that arrived in the next week was a Water Rate demand, Bank Statement, and a circular from Readers; Digest that I had already won £10,000.
So, advertising perhaps? As first treasurer, I had £15.10s6d to spend, which went on a couple of classifieds in Private Eye. This did begin to produce enquiries and the whole project began to get off the ground. To have something to send to inquirers, I produced on an old duplicator a single foolscap page newsletter of the most basic kind, and as I look at it now it makes me squirm a bit, but these were the pioneering days, in any organisation the best time of all.
Gradually we picked up members by word of mouth, and as far as I can remember we had about 100 on the books at the end of six months. Regrettably, like the BBC, I did not keep all the early records of members, a great mistake. However we do now, in 2002, still have a handful of members from that first grouping and a pet idea of mine is to unite us all together one day!
It seemed to me we must produce a newsletter at least every quarter so, in addition to Treasurer I became Secretary, Newsletter Editor and general dogsbody, aided by my long-suffering family. They turned the duplicator handle, stapled the sheets together, addressed envelopes, held tongues out for stamp licking, and generally were very helpful.
Spike always hated bureaucracy, so my philosophy was to try and keep the Society simple. In this quest, I took on far too much myself. But of course that had to change. Watch for the next thrilling instalment and read how that change came about.
Part Two
We had got G.S.P.S. started, but what were we going to do with it. Membership was growing towards 300, which was some indication of the truth of the old line “the Highly Esteemed Goon Show”.
Well it seemed a good idea to have a meeting in London, so a letter was despatched to Peter Sellers, inviting him to suggest a date he could come and talk to us. His reply was that he was unable to give us a date “or any other sweets as he only ventured out under durex”. Nevertheless, we went ahead with a meeting in an Edgeware Road pub. Linton and I turned up at the appointed time… no one else came! Perhaps the newsletters had not gone out on time, or the lack of a speaker perhaps. It was very disappointing.
A bit later another meeting was arranged. This time at Graftons Pub in Victoria, birthplace of the Goon Show. Unfortunately, on the night, a live music group was there, and we had no private room, but at least we got a reasonable turn out this time. Roger Wilmut came to a subsequent evening at the same venue, to talk about his plans for the “Goon Show Companion”.
With the encouragement of the London area members, we went ahead with a much bigger event, also in Victoria. This time we managed to persuade John Browell, the sound man, later producer of the show, to talk and answer questions. We had a showing of “The Running Jumping” short film, which was very well received. A buffet was produced by Jean Coveney and Francis Coveney ran the raffle. It was a splendid evening, very well supported and made us feel we really were doing something worthwhile
By now, certain Goon Show buffs were appearing who wanted to help run the growing Society. The North East was proving a fruitful area for membership, and the Bill Horsman / Chris Smith duo appeared. It encouraged the idea of local groups of G.S.P.S, which has continued to this day. Overseas members were growing too, which gave me great satisfaction. I was still Secretary, and it always made my day to have a batch of letters from all quarters of the globe.
In deference to Spike’s well known hatred of bureaucracy, we did not organise ourselves very much. Someone said he was willing to be an archivist? Okay, he got the job. A newsletter editor appeared (though production remained in the attic of 7 Frances Gardens. Phew was it hot in the summer!) I know the newsletter had a better appearance and was usually four or five pages of A4.
One of our main aims was to get the BBC to start broadcasting the Goon Show on a regular basis. As usual we were patted on the head and told there were “no plans” for this. We did keep pushing however, and one day lobbied the BBC Radio controller at Broadcasting House. We had a procession via Trafalgar Square, where a political meeting was going on. Our motley crew of idiots nearly got arrested. I think John Repsch’s presence, dressed up as Bluebottle saved the day. He is thankfully still with us, still saving the GSPS.
Further episodes of this series were promised, but none appeared. At least I haven’t been able to find any. Get in touch if you know different.
The Goon Show Preservation Society 