Very Best of Goons

I am an old English geezer who listened to the Goon Show on Auntie Beeb when it was first airing. It corrupted a whole generation of children, mostly boys though, I think.

The disappointment with this album is that only two of the three CDs contain actual shows -- the third is a collection of songs and other idiocy by Spike Milligan. Not that I'm against idiocy, in fact I'm all for it, but I wanted the shows.

I'd say that at least two of the show episodes on this set are top notch, and the others average in quality.

Dick Jackson

In all fairness, I don't have this particular collection, but I have heard several of the radio shows on it. The Goons (The Goon Show, to give the radio show its proper title) were 1950's British radio comedians Spike Milligan (yes, that Spike Milligan), Harry Secombe (whom some of you may know as a talented Welsh tenor), and Peter Sellers (yes, that Peter Sellers) with occasional guest shots. The Goons were a good deal of the inspiration for Monty Python's Flying Circus, and the action is every bit as zany at times. Be warned (unless they've done a wonderful job of remastering) that these are 1950's radio shows recorded onto LP and transferred to CD, so you will get hiss and pop. Also, the accents can sometimes be a bit hard to get through. Listen to one show several times until you can make out the various voices -- Spike and Peter play about eight characters each. Also, being a 1950's radio show, they have requisite musical bits by harmonicist Max Geldray and singer Ray Ellington and his quartet -- sometimes eminently missable, sometimes worth listening to because Max and Ray get to join in the fun! For more details check www.thegoonshow.net .