Kick Up the Archives – January 2023 – The Goon Show Preservation Society

Happy New Year to all our readers!

Just when you thought it was safe to climb out from under your Christmas tree, here we are again with another selection box of gems from the depths of the internet, just waiting to satisfy your appetite for rare and hard to find goodies. So without further ado, off we go!

The Goon Show

We start with a brand new programme. This was on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday! Here it is, just in case you missed it. The first ten minutes are about…The Goons!
Archive on 4 – Annie Nightingale’s Age of Irreverence

A Profile on alchetron.com

Interesting collection of Goons-related records, discs and tapes
Go to www.6868.me.uk and search for goons

The Goon Show at GSMC Classics- Podcast – at www.listennotes.com

Advert: Florette Salad – Bags of Goodness Music: The Goons – Eeh! Ah! Oh! Ooh! (so that’s what Prince Harry does now)

Now welcome to crazy song version corner!

The Bee Gees Sing The Goons – The Ying Tong song

Not to be outdone, Yes lead singer Jon Anderson does his version

Finally its the turn of the Muppets (scroll through to clip 8)

Peter Sellers

A Tribute To Peter Sellers

A Tribute To Blake Edwards

Another former Sellers car goes under the hammer
at www.carandclassic.com

1968 portrait of Sellers

https://kinoimages.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/a-rare-portrait-of-peter-sellers-by-photo-journalist-peter-keen/

The Best of British Laughs – Peter Sellers with Barry Took

A Profile at alchetron.com

Peter Sellers according to John Hester – at www.theargus.co.uk

Balham Gateway To The South – transcribed – at lproven.livejournal.com

Merrie Spaeth on Peter Sellers in The World of Henry Orient – on Facebook

For those interested in The Kings Theatre Southsea, where baby Sellers was carried on stage, here’s an interesting Facebook page

George Martin – A Painter In Sound. A 4 CD set including some tracks by Sellers as well as Bridge Over The River Wye and some tracks by Milligan and Bentine, Unchained Melody and a clip from a Goon Show.

PG Tips – The very first chimps TV commercial featuring the voice of…
on Facebook

Peter Sellers BBC TV film trailers from Christmas 1982

For those wanting to know how to get hold of The Ghost Of Peter Sellers, here’s a download site. Although there was a DVD release in the USA, there’s no DVD release in the UK

Spike Milligan

Nice piece on Spike at www.irishtimes.com

A Profile – at alchetron.com

Michael Bentine

A Profile – at alchetron.com

A great collection of cards including Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine
at www.moviecard.com

Harry Secombe

A Profile – at alchetron.com

And Finally…

If you’re not a member of The Goon Show Preservation Society, where have you been?

For a ridiculously small annual subscription, you can join today and get access to the amazing Encyclopedia Goonicus, the only one-stop shop for all things Goon!
Simply open your wallet and say after me… “Help Yourself!”

Born in 1972 as a direct result of The Last Goon Show Of All, the society celebrated its 50^th birthday in 2022.

Finally, don’t forget to listen to the legend that is Tyler Adams’ GoonPod Go on… you know you want to!

Jet Storm (1959) – Goon Pod

Jet Storm, also known as Jet Stream or Killing Urge, is a British thriller directed and co-written by Cy Endfield and starring Richard Attenborough, Stanley Baker, Patrick Allen and Virginia Maskell. It is an early example of what would become the aviation disaster-film genre, preceding films such as Airport by more than a decade. Released in October 1959, it centres almost entirely on a transatlantic flight from London to New York and the psychological and moral crisis that develops among its passengers when one of them threatens to destroy the aircraft.And why are we covering it on Goon Pod? Because one of the passengers is Ned of Wales himself, playing a washed-up comic called Binky Meadows. Binky sits next to Dame Sybil Thorndike and despite the chaos going on around them during the flight the pair manage to amuse each other with some gentle ribbing and leg-pulling and Secombe, naturally, helps leaven the drama. The film was the fourth collaboration between Cy Endfield and Stanley Baker. Endfield had previously been blacklisted in America after being named as a Communist before the HUAC hearings and subsequently moved to Britain. His earlier American work had been marked by cynicism and social criticism, making the relatively hopeful view of human nature in Jet Storm particularly interesting. The film was made five tears before the pair's later and much more famous collaboration, Zulu.Joining Tyler to chat through it all is Martin Holmes, host of Vision On Sound in which he and his guests talk about old telly, but he’s got a real soft spot for British films of this ilk, particularly those featuring Baker. The pair talk about the obvious plot holes and some rather fruity performances but overall they were impressed. One to watch out for on TalkingPictures TV!

That’s all for now. Watch out for more A Kick Up The Archives Specials coming to a screen near you! Now wash your hands!