Basically, it all came to me on my own.
I suddenly realized that the day the the spectrum of the mind was
so immense, it could literally take in take in anything.
On radio, it's never been better.
You know, the television is totally limited now.
It has to be words alone on television.
There's no miracle performances of abstract comedy at all.
But they certainly it was. We exploited it to its maximum.
They did have to search around for noises like Wanted a a
Whirlit Sir Organ playing I want to be Without the Seaside
changing gear and changing key at the same time, which is a
wonderful idea and sounded very funny when it was actually done.
The. Hello and welcome to Goon Pod.
I am Mr. Thin Leg of 1912 and joining me.
You only entered 1. You only entered one joining me.
You can hear him there. Remains to be seen.
It is Steven Hatcher back. Hello, Tyler.
Good to see you. Back, Bach, Not BACK.
Yeah, I didn't. I didn't.
I didn't apply the proper. Do you know why?
Because there's this, the opening scene of this episode,
because we're doing the mighty well.
It's it makes a lot of a lot of comedy out of the Welsh red box,
doesn't it? And so I consulted a Welsh
friend of mine because I had just read of a suspicion that
that might have been either an archaeism that wasn't used
anymore or it may just have been a bit of a bit of Anglo
stereotypical nonsense. And I was assured, no, no, my my
Welsh native speaking friend said no, no, to this day, French
people, French people, Welsh people, even not French people
do do do do Welsh people do use the word Bach, which means small
or little, and they use it as A to mean dear or darling.
And it's quite commonly used to this very day.
Bach. You revealed quite prematurely
the The Goon Show episode that we.
Talked I apologise I. Was going to build up to it, but
hey, it didn't matter because. Because The thing is, this is a
podcast which has the show's title.
When people download it onto their device, it's it's right
there. So trying to maintain an air of
mystery is is a redundant, is a fool's error.
Yeah. It rises up through the floor,
doesn't it? It does.
And Steve, this was this. This was not what we were going
to be talking about. Today we weren't, well, we were
going to what were we going to talk about?
We can talk about the the ink shortage, weren't we?
Is that what we were doing? Yeah, Yeah.
And we both had a bit of a listen to the what was some of
the great ink shortage? It's just called the Ink Show.
It's the the Virgin Goons, the vintage Goons.
Which is the Goon Show series that was broadcast at the time I
was born in in in late 1958, autumn 1958.
And I thought, I thought, Oh yeah, that'd be nice One from
the time when I was born. And, you know, they couldn't
even be bothered to put the word great in the title.
And, and I think that sums up the lack of how special that
particular episode is. We we both had a listen and and
and decided independently there's there's not a lot we
could do with this one. Not a lot to talk about.
It's one that I was very unfamiliar with because me too.
Yeah. I, I don't, I think it only got
broadcast actually on UK radio in 2008 from memory, because it
was never broadcast in the 50s or certainly up until 2008.
And I think I may have only got a copy of it around that time
and I've not really listened to it many times.
So it was, it wasn't that great. So we thought, no, that's some
but. If it wasn't bad, no Goon Show
is completely. No.
Devoid of something to to giggle at.
But it wasn't particularly lending itself to a proper
discussion, was it? There wasn't much we could latch
onto, unlike the mighty Whirlitzer, which which is quite
a lot to talk about. Well, the Mighty Whirlitzer, now
it's it's considered one of the sort of the classic goon shows,
although it was never issued on one of those BBC classic LP's,
but it was included in the first goon show.
Scripts. Well, that's where I first came
across it. I'd, I'd read the script before
I ever heard it. I was, I was given the script
book. I've got it with me here now,
the Goon Show scripts 1972. I had it for Christmas in 1972
when I was 14 years old and I had, like I said, I had it at
Christmas. It was first printed in October
and by, by the time this one was bought, it was November and it
was on its third impression. So it had done well, hadn't it?
It had done well. But do you know, do you know
that it's got the very distinctive yellow cover?
Isn't it the it's? The grey one, it's.
The grey Oh, you've got the hardback.
Of course you've got the Sorry, the when it came out in
paperback, right? It is, And that's a copy.
I've got a very distinctive yellow cover with Sellers
Milligan and Secum rendered in a cartoon esque.
Oh yeah, another cover. Yeah.
Now that do you know, do you
know the connection between that and Michael Caine?
I I guess it's not a lot of people know that, but go on,
tell me. Well, there's a film that
Michael a pretty unforgettable, No, I'll say that again.
A pretty forgettable film which I saw 40 years ago by accident.
I shouldn't have done because of nudity in it.
But it was a film in 1973, I think, called The Romantic
English Woman. Yes.
Is that Glenda Jackson? Glenda Jackson.
Yeah. She's married to Michael Caine.
And there's a scene where they're both in bed.
Not like that. They're both in bed reading.
She's reading like a letter from the gas board or something.
Right. And then the camera pans across
and what's Michael Caine reading very clearly in bed?
The. Good show scripts.
The good show scripts. Fantastic.
It contains an error. Now I'm interested because
you've got a later edition there, whether it's been
corrected by the by the later edition, because on the the
section devoted to this episode, the Mighty Word itself, it's got
it listed as the Goon show #146 series #15 transmission Tuesday
27th of December 1955. Now that's wrong, isn't.
It that is wrong, yeah. Because it was.
It was actually the 3rd of January 56 when when it was yes,
transmitted and recorded on on New Year's Day.
On New Year's Day, because it wasn't a bank holiday back then,
I don't think was it New Year's Day?
No, I don't think it was. No, no.
But in any case, it was a Sunday, so it would have been a
holiday anyway. But.
It was oh, true, that's true. But it is it's the 16th episode
anyway, or not the not the 15th. I didn't 15th.
I didn't check actually in the the paperback Goontro scripts
whether they had corrected that, but I would hope they had.
There we are. There we are looking, listening
to this and looking at various things around the episode.
I was, I was, I began under the misapprehension that it was an
end of 1955 story. But no, no, it's, it's the
beginning of 56. So there we are.
Right at the beginning of 56. Right at the beginning of 56.
And as I like to do, I like to before we sort of get into the
meat and potatoes of the conversation, I like to look at
what, what was going on, you know, when it was recorded, when
these shows were recorded and broadcast.
There are things that very much do impact on this, aren't there
because there's there's a lot of topical references that go for.
It Yeah well specifically on the 1st of January 56th of the day
that this was recorded Blue Spade Shoes by Carl Perkins was
released in the US, which was a Seminole record and obviously
was, you know classic possession of heroin became a criminal
offence in the UK. So prior to the 1st of January
1956, you could stroll down the street with with a.
With a needle in your arm. Needle in your arm.
Yeah. And also in January 56, the case
of the Mckinney's battle horn was released.
Fantastic. Which we will be discussing on
this very show in a couple of weeks.
I would have seen that when it it came round with one of the
Python films didn't. It Holy Grail.
Holy Grail. Yeah, that's and I didn't know
what it was. I I was sitting in there waiting
for my dose of Monty Python to start.
And to my, I mean, almost orgasmic pleasure.
I was, I was given a dose of Goonery before Python came on.
It was. I couldn't believe my look.
Can you remember the the atmosphere in that cinema when
you saw that at the time? I'd I'd I'd be pushing it if I
said I could to. Be I just wondering if to be.
Honest, I was too busy being excited myself, you know?
I was just wondering if, you know, Python fans were sort of
disgruntled or confused or discombobulated by.
This in In those days you were used to watching a short before
the main film came on. You'd you'd go into the.
Cinema, you'd see the. The Pearlandine adverts, then
you'd see a short, maybe a newsreel, it's a tail end of
that. And then you'd you'd see your
main feature. So you wouldn't, you wouldn't.
You'd sit patiently and wait for your main feature to stop.
Yeah, no, but yes. So the mucky news battle horn
was was around this this this time.
Python fans would have enjoyed that, I'm sure.
Oh yes, yeah. As well as that, in January 56,
the The Lady Killers were still packing them in to rave reviews.
So Sellers is obviously, yeah, great.
And also plans were afoot at this time to produce what was to
become the The Idiot Weekly Price Tuppence on TV.
Fantastic. Yeah, Harry was was doing panto
still, I think. I think panto used to run till
about April back then. Or something ridiculous.
Well, of course, the, the, the three of them had been in the
theatre together immediately before this, because there's a
couple of points in in this book, in this episode where
there's a somewhat obscure reference to Coventry.
Absolutely. And and it's then it's not in
the script or it's not in the script in the script book
anyway. So whether that's an ad Lib.
But it turns out because I looked this one up as well, my
ears picked up a Coventry because I'm originally from from
Warwickshire where they were living in Derbyshire now.
And it turns out that they, the goons together, they, you know,
they used to tour around the country when they weren't, when
it wasn't Sunday. But from 31st of October to the
10th of December 1955, they were at the Coventry Theatre in
something called the 1955 Birthday Show.
That's right. I noticed a program for that
that recently come up for sale on on eBay.
So some lucky persons got hold of that along with Charlie
Chiroli, the clown who who was well known at the the Blackpool
Tower Circus. We'll talk about the Blackpool
Tower, I feel quite sure in a little bit.
So another Blackpool Tower connection coming up later.
Yes, so, so obvious. That's quite a long time. 31st
of October The 10th of December To be in Coventry at the best of
times. What brings you here to
Coventry? Money, money, money.
Quite seriously. First of all, what?
What are you doing here at the Coventry Theatre?
Well, we're we're doing a number of concerted terms.
But you don't normally travel away from a radio show.
You're not normally. No, we do an odd variety dates
together, but the first time we've been together as a team
over any length of time. And what is the show?
Commentary, birthday show or the comedy theatre, you know.
3910649. And what does the ACT consist
of? Silly twisted boy or.
Yeah, the ACT we do, we do individual acts I've heard
before and we do celebrated longest and stick dance and very
we're fine. Get the last from the people.
That's a big. Thing that's of course.
Yes, coming, Jim, every time. Beginnings play Blue Bottle, you
swine. Well, on there.
That's why we ought to leave them now to get on with their
show. Yeah, the Coventry here.
And 1955 in Coventry you're only 10 years after the Coventry
Blitz virtual destruction of the the city.
It couldn't have been the most pleasant places to.
Be in 250. 5. Well, yeah, see, I thought what
you were going to say was you've done some digging and you found
out about the infamous Coventry performance.
Oh. Do talents?
No, I didn't find that. No, go on.
Do talent which even to even in the 80s Milligan was referring
to and and and seek him fantastic.
And I always get confused because I'm not sure I could
ever pin down what because I don't know how many times in
total they appeared at Coventry or in Coventry.
But it's got to have been around this time because obviously
there's this reference, like you say, right at the beginning.
Secombe says tonight's play was written by that great homeless
author, lucky, smiling Jim Milligan, the darling of
Coventry. That's not in the script.
That's not in the script and it wasn't, I looked at the original
script, Spike's original script or photograph of it doesn't have
it. So it's it's it's been added.
OK, So what had happened was Spike was out doing a bit in
front of the audience and the audience was just, it was a bad
audience. They just weren't getting it.
And he he shouted something at them.
He was so frustrated by the audience, they shouted
something. This is up from memory, by the
way, something like, you hate me, don't you?
And they shouted back, yes. Or some a few of them shouted
back, yes. And then he said something like,
I hope you all get bummed again. And and and and stalked off to
his dressing room, locked the door, barricaded the door.
And the story is and you know, you know how these stories
change and all over time and memories.
Yeah, The story is that seek him and sellers, or seek him on his
own, or sellers on his, one of them or two of them, or
whatever, they managed to break the door down or get in, get
into his dressing room. And the story is that he was
there balancing on a chair, trying to hang himself with his
belt. Oh dear, Oh dear.
This story took a dark turn. Yeah, but it but it was, it
wasn't. I don't think it was an
intention. I think he was just doing it
more for effect and that's why Coventry was always a bit of a
sore point. I'll tell you his trumpet there
and said something rather strange.
Yes, he says. You hate me, don't you?
To the audience, Yes. And he was a bad night for
Million. It was a bad night for me and
even his comedy went bad, but he got the song at the end.
You did the old singing gym and you know, they've all got 2000s
of an inch of forehead this night, you know, and the
hairline started there and they, you can feel waves of hate
coming up. There's also a story, and again,
it's so difficult to pin these down.
That's that Sellers were so annoyed by the audience's
reaction to Milligan that Sellers went out onto the stage
and played a gramophone record on a on a.
Gramophone. Just sat and the audience
listened politely while he sat and listened politely.
And then they applauded at the end of the record anyway.
And that would have been around this time because it was
Christmas time, because it was a Christmas.
It was while he starts Christmas LP.
Oh God, we could we could talk about this.
There's a little later in the in this show, in the mighty
Wulitzer, when Echols is there, he says, he says friends, Romans
and countrymen and those living in Coventry, that's plenty.
Your Ears 2 Coventry references Yeah, that's right.
No, not Toby Shakespeare. No, that's Hamlet.
No. Have you seen Richard the Third?
Oh no, he died before I was born.
Then he can't be. Only last week I saw him in a
picture. Oh, what might have been an old
one and old living in Coventry. In this show written by Spike,
he he joins together 3 sort of strands based on real life
events or people, doesn't he? You've got you've got the the
real life arms build up in the Middle East.
Very much so. Very much so, yeah.
I mean, one of the most significant events of the the
post war period was the Suez crisis of July to November 1956,
right? Egypt had been a British
protectorate following the war and there'd been a bit of a coup
d'etat and the hated king of Egypt, King Farouk, had been
invited to leave and take up exile in London and had been
replaced eventually by Colonel NASA, who was very much an
Egyptian nationalist and in it for his people and negotiated A
withdrawal by the British. But the British was sort of
holding back on doing their withdrawing properly and so NASA
decided that the only way to persuade them to do was there
were asked to do was to nationalise the Suez Canal and
and so on. And so the the the Brits now,
well, now what the the echoes are with current events, the.
Brits. Well, which I was going to say.
Sewers Crisis used to be shorthand for the worst sort of
military blunder. Yeah, Yeah.
I think that may have been overtaken.
In modern time, yeah. Yeah, because the British and
the French, and with the sort of tacit agreement of the
Americans, although the Americans.
Publicly. Well, the Israelis were involved
as well, weren't they? The Israelis, yes.
Well, they did because the British persuaded the Israelis
to attack Egypt and then used that as an excuse to send in
British troops to take the Suez Canal.
And it it. Yeah.
And the Americans were pretty much put in a position where
they had to to oppose the British there.
And it all went disastrously wrong for British Prime Minister
Anthony Eden, who was my parents MP at the time for for Warwick.
And Yep. And yeah, he had to resign the
following year with convenient ill health.
And yeah, and it's regarded as sort of the final nail in the
British Empire, isn't it? But when we meet Bit Pipe and
Moriarty, their scheme is to destroy Neddy's Wolitzer organ
in order to use the pipes as gun barrels to sell to Egypt.
Sell to Egypt, Yeah, Yes. So.
Absolutely. So you've got this real life
tension and the selling of arms to Egypt, which is very much in
the, you know, torn from the headlines.
Yeah. You've also got this theme in
the show of the breaking of a land speed record, which
obviously Sir Malcolm Campbell was well synonymous with.
Well, well, no, because I've looked this up a bit.
Yeah. Do you know how many times the
world land speed record was broken in the 1950s?
Yes, Yes. Let's see if it right.
It's OK the way you're saying that.
It's either going to be something ridiculous like 5000
times or never. Right, you got it.
It's 0. 0. Right Zero.
The the the the world land speed record was broken many times in
the 30s at Daytona Beach, which also gets a mention in this, and
then in the 1940's. The most recent breaking of the
world land speed record had been by a fellow called John Cobb who
was British, who had driven at 394.196 mph at Bonneville Salt
Flats in in the USA and that Bonneville Salt Flats was the
center of it. But despite numerous attempts
during the 1950's, the world land speed record wasn't broken
again until 1964. Donald Campbell in Bluebird.
Now I remember Donald Campbell being killed when he attempted
to to break the world water speed record.
Coniston Water. Was it Coniston Water?
Absolutely yes. Well, hang on.
Sorry. Was Malcolm Campbell the father
of Donald? Campbell yes, Malcolm was the
guy who was active in the 30s OK and Donald was the son who who
was doing it to break the world land speed record in 64 and then
was killed on that attempt on the the water speed record,
however, however, so it's sort of wasn't very.
In the topicals. But except, except, except in on
the 25th of September 1955, a guy called Johnny Allen yes,
broke the. Bloody good champ.
But I think he was American. But never mind he broke the the
the world Landsby record on a motorcycle and 25th of
September. That's my birthday, by the way,
1955, three years before I was born.
Yeah. So it's the motorcycle speed
record had broken then. And then it was broken three
times in 1956 by William Hertz and also again by Johnny Allen.
So that's the that's the world speed record that was in the
news at the time. There we are.
But it's but it wasn't like you say.
It's not like it wasn't front page news, whereas the.
Motorbike one might have been nice.
Yeah, maybe, but the arms build up obviously was and.
And then for some reason, Milligan decides upon the notion
of a word. It's a Rogan, of course.
OK, So we'll talk about Reg Dixon a little bit later because
obviously he's, he's like this is this word Wurlitzer, isn't
it? Because I think to the modern,
the modern type generation, the word Wurlitzer might not mean
very much, but it would absolutely people in 195556
would have absolutely known what this was about.
We'll talk in a bit about it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
So I'll give you or listers the synopsis, the actual synopsis
that's that appears in the Goon show scripts book.
It says a young Ned Seagoon, driven by a driving ambition to
become the world's greatest organ player, leaves his native
whales in order to pursue his musical studies in the Sahara.
They're racing across the sands in the cockpit of his fifty ton
brass bound Wurlitzer. Ned meets unscrupulous villains
Gridpipe, Thin and Moriarty scrap dealers by appointment and
purchases of arms for Egypt. They have other plans for the
mighty Willitzer however, which leads Nettie to a hair raising
race on Daytona Beach against ace organ pilots Crown and
Bannister in a desperate attempt to beat the land speed record
for Wurlitzer's. But it is a different record
that poor Nettie breaks dot dot dot.
So there you go. And the whole show begins with a
with a kind of a hangover from Christmas.
Because obviously this is the beginning of 56 where
Greenslade's still celebrating the festivities, isn't it?
BBC Home Service Oh, what fun we're having.
Listeners, will you excuse this breach of corporation
discipline? But well, it is the festive
season so whoopee. Whoo Mr. Greenslade, stop taking
most naughty elderly men get fit.
Hormones get murdered. The Welsh bum, a large bloated
type announcing gentleman belt, the back of that great fat
greasy Nutter, yours. Did you pick up on this?
He says Harry says something and then Green said says get nerked
little Welsh bum. Yeah, I, I don't, I, yes, I'm
not quite sure. Get well now this the script
book has printed in 72 says get knotted.
It does. He definitely doesn't say get
knotted, does he? He says no.
So you wonder whether that was the word knotted was blue
penciled by the producer, but bums.
OK, but you can't say knotted. Yes, who knows?
It's. Interesting, isn't it?
Yes, no, that's right. But it is, it is an odd little
thing. Greenslade is very, it's quite
lively, isn't it? Quite combative in that opening
scene there. Well also Greenslade really only
had the one voice, didn't he? And it would say he could do
French. He could.
But he does get an opportunity to well, he doesn't even attempt
to do a Welsh accent, but he does play a Welsh character.
Oh, the absolutely. And this and in the script book
it says in brackets English. Good evening, Mrs. Seagoon.
Bach. Look, you tis I, isn't it Bach?
And Seagoon says Who are you kidding?
Yeah, with this, with this precise BBC vowels.
Yeah. So we said about how Harry
introduces Spike as smiling Jim Milligan, the darling of
Coventry. And he says now living in a damp
leather Wellington boot off the coast of Highgate.
All right. And again, that wasn't
accidental because Wright smack bang.
During this period, Spike was in the process of moving from
Highgate to Finchley, and references to Finchley
proliferated from this point onwards in the Goon Show as
well. There's a lot of Blue Bottle.
References to Finchley wasn't there E Finchley, Yes,
absolutely. It begins in the in the Rhondda
valley. There was no reason for it to
begin in Wales. Is there other?
Than it's Harry. Other than it's Harry, but how
was was Harry? Seigun is Seigun's kind of meant
to be a stout hearted Englishman.
Isn't he? Yeah, You could have started
every June show in Wales if if that was the.
If that was. The rule wasn't it because it's
Harry. Yeah, so Ned's Ned's well, no,
because they call him Harry. His mother's in this played by
Sellers, yes, doing a doing a half decent Welsh accent,
although he doesn't seem to be pretty much effort into it.
I didn't think, but anyway. But he called it.
She calls him Harry, but it's Ned, isn't it?
Yeah, well, well, yes, Green says.
Sorry, Buck, Mrs. Seagoon, may I see you alone?
And Peter answers, Oh, you devil.
And my husband's still in the house too.
And. And he then says, Madam, I came
here to discuss Neddy, so he's calling him Neddy.
So they're not sure confusing, they're not sure what they're
doing there. Right, it doesn't.
It doesn't bear close scrutiny. The gunshot?
Well, of course it doesn't. But that's that's.
Part of the joy of it, isn't it? Actually, I've just worked out
why this is in Wales at the beginning, because Ned Harry has
been in the Chapel playing organ.
Oh, of course, yes. I think we could have played
that in anywhere. But anyway, it didn't matter and
that explains why half the congregation has changed their
religion. Eccles is taking talking lessons
and practising. Is Shakespeare?
Absolutely. Yeah.
Is that Richard the Third? Yeah.
No, it's Shakespeare. No, the other way around.
Is that Shakespeare? No.
It's like Hamlet. Yes, that's it.
Yeah, that's it. Yeah.
And then the villagers, I think Greenside's been dispatched by
the villagers with with money to send Nettie away.
Yes, that's right for musical lessons.
And they turn around to wave a fun goodbye to the to the
village. Hear that soundlessness?
For years we heard nothing from Neddy.
And then one day. We heard nothing from him again.
We put a light in the window. Nothing much happened except the
house burned down. And this, this, this week's
manufactured catch phrase never, never reappears.
Is Spike saying. Hear that soundlessness that
crops up a It does, a handful of times.
It does. It does without gain gaining any
traction whatsoever. None at all.
By the way, can I just say,
well, can I just ask, first of all, yeah, you read the script
book. So you read the script before
you ever heard the show? Yeah.
Did you then get? When did you first hear the
actual show? I think it must have been round
about as recently as maybe 10 years ago.
There's OK. I mean, out back in the early
70s, I was for a brief period to my shame, only to my shame, only
a brief period. I remember the GSPS and I sent
away and bought some some unreleased episodes on tape, but
I don't think this was one of them.
I've still got those tapes I should check.
I don't think this was one of them.
And then maybe no more than 10 years ago, 20 years ago, a
friend of mine gave me a disc with every extant episode of
that point on it. And.
And it was really maybe telling me that, yeah, yeah, I used to
do that in the early 90s. I used to send, I think it was
Mark Cousins at the time, friend of the show, guest of the show.
He used to be the guy that ran the tape library for the GSPS.
Oh OK. I think it was Mark.
Apologies if I've got that wrong.
But I would send, I think I would send a £5 note and I'd
get, I want to say 2 cassettes back which show on each side.
444. Shows 4 shows and I'd and I'd
dub them, make a copy of them and then send the original tapes
back. I, you know, it's so long ago.
I can't remember because, because I'm talking, I'm talking
7345 maybe something like that, yeah.
Yeah, well, I, I am, I am not as familiar with this show as I am
to many others. And I don't know why because I
listened to it a couple of times obviously preparing for this,
but it it wasn't as familiar to me and I'm trying to remember
why that was. I must have got it late in my
goon collecting period for some. Reason.
It was certainly never repeated. As far as I can tell, it was
never repeated in during any of those few repeat seasons in the
60s. I did look at it on Genome and I
couldn't find any reference to that and nor during the 70s.
Yeah, well, I never taped it because I used to take a load of
them off the radio and and Zed when I was a kid because they
repeated them on the loop, but this was never one of them.
So I must have got it from the GSPS library and for whatever
reason never listened to it a lot.
I mean as. As a show, it's it's not I mean
it, it is well thought of, isn't it?
But it's not absolute top of the tree goon show.
It's it's certainly funny. There's there's plenty to giggle
at, but it's not top of the tree stuff.
It, it gives a good chunk to all of our familiar pairings or
characters or whatever. There's a, there's a good mini
and Henry and mini scene. There's, there's, there's some
good Blue Bottle stuff, some good Echo stuff.
All the elements are there. That's it, That's it.
And they're all fine. They're all fine.
Absolutely. So getting back to it.
So Harry, Harry is is before he leaves the village, he, he
insists that one day he's going to be another, another Reg, the
Dixon or or another Dixon or another Sandy.
They make naps. Shall I, shall I just go into
that briefly? Yes, please.
Right. So Reg Dixon is probably the
most famous cinema organ player ever.
Yeah, he was most famous as the organist at the Tower Ballroom
in Blackpool, the place where they do the the strictly
Blackpool thing. And he was he was in in charge
there of the of the organ from 1930 to 1970.
He made and he sold more recordings than any other
organist before since he started his career as a teenager in and
around his native Sheffield and then played organs in
Birmingham, Dudley, Preston, Blackpool and from 1930 he was a
regular broadcaster on the BBC. By 1931 he was doing 545 minute
BBC broadcasts per week. He broadcast live to the Empire
and he did tours of cinema and concert halls in the winter.
In July 1939, with another organist called Horace Finch, he
performed on the new Opera House Wurlitzer, which was the last
new Wurlitzer organ to come to the UK.
And in the 1950s he was a regular on radio and TV and
appeared at the Royal Variety Performance, during which Queen
Elizabeth said to him, I listen to you organ playing quite
regularly. Mr. Dixon.
All words to that effect. So it's.
Like she's in the room. Like she's in the room, Tyler.
I know. Queen.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he was, he was, he was a busy
organ player. Now there are two other organ
players get mentioned as well. You mentioned Sandy the Mcnabs.
Well, that's, that's the stock. Yes, that's, that's a play on
the name of a whiskey Sandy Mcnabs.
The the Sandy in question is Sandy McPherson, who was a
Canadian born official organist to the BBC, the BBC theatre
organist. He's the official BBC One and
previous to that he'd been the organist at the Empire Leicester
Square. Right when the war started, the
BBC decided that it wasn't appropriate to be playing all
the light music they'd been playing because it was too
jolly. So they concentrated on almost
continuous organ broadcasts, if you can believe.
Wonder we won. It is from from September 1939,
he was broadcasting up to 12 hours a day on a show called
Happy Days Are Here Again, ironically.
Yeah. And then in the early 50s, in
the early 50s, he was doing a show called The Chapel in the
Valley. He retired from the BBC in 1963.
Thank God. Yeah, but it was apparently
this, this 12 hours a day organ playing in in September 1959.
They quite quickly realized that that was madness.
They were killing their organist and they were sending their
audience away in droves. So they they changed it.
Ina Barger also gets a mention or two.
Yeah, well, she replaced Reginald Dixon, the the, the
Blackpool when when he went off to do war things in 1940 to 45.
Now she had a long career as well and occasionally appeared
on film and TV. She's in Upstairs Downstairs in
an episode, an episode set in a Music Hall.
You can spot Ena Barga playing playing that.
And she was also in Richard Attenborough's film of Charlie
Chaplin, his film of Chaplin. She made an appearance in that,
again, unsurprisingly, as an organist.
So that's Ina Barker, who I hadn't heard of before.
No. Sandy gets mentioned in the
desert sequences, doesn't it? It's it's Sandy on holiday.
Yeah. Yeah, well, that's that's the
Sandy from McPherson. I want to correct you on a
slight point. Do so.
Because there's there's 2
Sandy's referred to in this show.
There's Sandy McPherson. Right.
That he when they talk about the desert being Sandy, the that's
the reference to Sandy McPherson that the organist.
But Secom says he says I'll be another one day with another
Reg, the Dixon, another Sandy, the Mcnabs.
Now he's not talking about an organ player because Sandy
McNabb I believe, no Scottish footballer.
OK, well, because I looked that up and and planned that Sandy
Mcnabs was a was a a brand of whiskey.
So perhaps some. Well the information I've got
and I haven't cross referenced but from what I understand he
was Also it was the name of a Scottish footballer as well.
OK, who? Whose name?
Whose surname became rhyming slang for crabs.
Oh dear. All right.
So if you've got, if you've got a touch of the Mcnabs, that's
that's what you've got. That's much more likely than the
whiskey is. Yeah, that is much, much more
likely. Yes, Sunday night and I. 1911 to
62. In my research, I read somewhere
somebody opined that the reason for this line about Sandy the
Mcnabs was it was Spike's idea that both Reg Dixon and and the
Mcnabs were attached to organs. Yep.
All right, OK. Here we go.
Yeah, you've, you've absolutely convinced me about that one.
Yeah, we're next in the Sahara. We meet Grip Pipe and Moriarty
have. We have, we have.
We had that line about Greek Kern.
Is that? Well, coming to that, we're.
Coming to that, Yeah, yeah. Yeah, All right.
I just want to give it, I just want to, you know, give a, give
a sort of an overview of the the sea.
So Thin and Moriarty are arms agents for the Egyptians, as we
said. And they're they're scouring
North Africa for old abandoned, derelict tanks.
And they see Neddy at this point driving his weerlitzer at speed
because he doesn't want people copying his technique.
So he keeps moving. And as you said before, grit
pipe realizes that the organ pipes would make good gun
barrels for the tanks awaiting shipment to Egypt.
And the two friends convinced Neddy that he will never become
a great organist. But if he became the first man
to break the world's land speed record in a Weerlitzer, he'd
make Red Dixon green with envy. Moriarty and myself were
searching the North African deserts for old derelict tanks
and gardens. I'm.
Walking backwards for Christmas across the IED sea.
Stop the car. Stop the car.
I thought I saw a Greek urn buried in the sand.
What's a Greek urn? It's vase made by Greeks for
carrying liquids I. Didn't expect that answer.
Neither did quite a few smart aleck listeners drive on
mariate. No, wait.
Listen. By the great sweaters of
Sabrina. Did you see that grid pipe?
And yes, a man driving a cinema organ at speed.
Yes, I can't understand it. The nearest Odin is the Clapham.
The poor devil must be lost. Lost Sir Pristine Ebolas, what's
the cinema organist doing in the Sahara Desert?
It might be Sandy on holiday. It's always Sandy on holiday in
Sahara. Good look.
He's turning around and he's coming back.
We hear a snatch of Spike does a bit of I'm Walking Backwards for
Christmas and that was the first time that had been heard on a
Goon show that June. It had been heard in December.
Sellers had a special half hour show called The Listening Room
in which he did some different characters and played some
records and things, including characters like Henry Crown, for
example. And he played supposedly a
record of Spike singing I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas.
And it would be heard in full in the goon show The Tuscan Salami
Scandal the following month. And of course it was released as
a single later in 1956. But this is the first time I
believe that you hear I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas
in a Goon show in any form. But yes, you mentioned Greek
urn. Why was that?
Well, because there's that old joke, isn't there?
What's a Greek? And about 15 Bob a week.
Yes. And and they they give the
feeder line and of course all the audience start thinking to
themselves, they're going to hear that old joke again.
And they just don't play that. They go, hey, here a Greek.
And it's a receptacle invented by Grecians for putting water in
or, or something. That's right.
Yeah. So they under they under quick
expectations quite nicely. They they the audience bring a
goon show. Audience is going to expect them
to go for the cheap laugh and they don't.
They do a variation of that in. I'm just thinking off the top of
my head now. I think it's the Child Harold
Reward, which is from the ninth series.
I think it's that. Could you help me to get this
sword loose? Well, I'll hold it.
And when I nod my head, you hit it.
Let's get this right. You hold it.
When you nod your head, I hit it.
Yeah, OK. Right.
Hands up all those who thought I was going to hit him on the nut.
Now there's also mentioned in this sequence about have a
statue of George the third I, but no, no, the only statue of
George the third that I think is at all famous is the one that's
in Weymouth, right? I've absolutely no idea if
that's what they're talking about.
Oh no, I don't think. I think it's just a random
because I have a photograph of Queen Victoria.
Of course they used to say. I think it's just a whatever.
But there is a statue of George the Third in Weymouth if people
want to go. And take.
There's probably more than one. Statue of George.
Well, he wasn't. He wasn't that noticeable for
losing the American colonies, was he?
And and and being a bit potty. And also the star of that Alan
Bennett. Played Yeah, the The Madness of
King George. Yeah, which they called The
Madness of King George in America.
In America. Well, I think that that was his
official title anywhere, because they didn't want Americans to
think that there were two prior films that they'd not seen.
That's right, yeah. Yeah.
Bless him, bless him. Now Moriarty, Yeah, in surprise
at seeing Seigen at the wheel of a mighty organ.
Yeah, says by the great sweaters of Sabrina.
Submarina that you must have discussed, Sabrina.
We have, of course, we. Have so yeah, bless her.
So again, one of those cultural icons.
Short lived cultural icons. Norma Ann Sykes, 1936 to 2016.
Glamour model, actress and TV star.
Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe.
Worked extensively with Arthur ASCII and his show before your
very Eyes rarely spoke on television.
Famous for having large presumes.
Yeah, but conical. Comical, not comical.
Comically large bazoo. In the script, so, so in the
show, Moriarty says by the great sweaters of Sabrina in the
script, Spike's written bursting sweaters.
That's right. But that's obviously got again,
blue pencil. That's that's slightly too
right. Too.
On the nose or thereabouts. There is some of of its time
dialogue here as well, including.
The. Including the C word, not the,
you know, the C word. Not well, there's There's talk
of the name of the hotel in. In Carico the W word.
The W word and then he talks about how he talks about that.
He talks about securing an overdraft at the Bank of
Jerusalem. No mean feat in itself.
Basically a a a nasty little piece of anti-Semitism to go
with the to go with the W word that had been thrown in earlier.
But it's all to get. It's all together in the script
so it's easy to clip it all out you.
Can just lose that bit. Yep, of course you can.
Well now what was the thing with the C word?
I sort of must have missed that. Rhymes with goon.
Oh, yeah, that is there, isn't it?
Yeah, OK. Yeah, yeah.
Well, you know, we're talking about the, the, the, those
times, the, the when they played in Coventry, we were saying that
I noticed that preceding them in the Coventry theatre was an all
Negro musical fresh from Broadway.
So this, this wasn't unusual, was it?
This sort of, no, this sort of attitude.
Oh. Absolutely you don't.
I mean. But it's not, it's not excuse to
excuse it, but. The thing is, you know, people
forget that as as recently as, I'm sure there's more recent
examples than that even, but as recently that I can think of as
the young ones in the early 80s, there are racial slurs.
I know they were being used to prove a point or make a point,
but Even so, we're still kind of acceptable.
Never mind the young ones, in this century you've got What's
it a Little Britain doing? Black.
Yes. Yeah.
Well, that's yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
But hey, we've moved on. We've moved.
On I hope we have. They they reference Harry's
recent chart success as well. So he had a single in the charts
called On With the Motley. Oh, that's isn't it?
That's from ipadiachi. I'm not sure, but I do know I
know that the B side of the single was strange harmony of
contrasts. Do you know what that's from?
I don't. That was from Tosca, apparently.
OK, And the the record, the orchestra accompanying Harry was
conducted by Wally Stott. Of course, he was credited as
Walter for some reason. I don't know why.
Right. And so, yeah, on with the model
is the common English translation of Vesti La Juuba,
renowned tenor Aria from Rogero Leon Cavallo's 1892 opera E
Patiachi. Of course, because you're, I'm
forgetting that. I mean, I know you're looking at
Wikipedia. There, I have a look at you are,
you are a quizzer, aren't you? You are a bit of a I'm a.
Quizzer I'm a quizzer and I'm mostly an Italian speaker, so.
Oh, wow. OK, OK, but but on with Motley
Harry's record had a little bit shut up had a lot of airplay on
on Housewives Choice. Jolly.
Good. And if you remember, I don't
know if you remember, in the Green State story, which had a
few shows earlier, John Snag had threatened to ban Harry's record
from Housewives Choice. And I noticed there was a record
review in the in the Sunday Mirror a couple of weeks before
the show went out of Harry's record and it was reviewed by,
of all people, Ricky Fulton. Oh, yes, yes, yes.
Does Ricky Fulton mean any Scottish?
Comedian. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and he, he reviewed Harry's and I'll just quickly
read this out because it's interesting, Ricky Fulton said.
I went along to the Philips office to hear the latest
recording of one of our artists, one of our artists.
The artist was there when I arrived.
I stuck out my hand, he took it and, clasping the rest of me
tightly, danced me around the office.
His name? Harry Secombe, in tremendous
voice, he sings on with the motley and strange harmony of
contrasts. I know, I know that these
operatic choices, so suitable for Harry, may have a limited
appeal among the fans whose enthusiasm put a disc among the
best sellers. But I would choose this as my
record of the week in tribute to the great guy and a wonderfully
versatile artist. Fantastic.
And of course Ricky Fulton gets referenced in the In the Goon
show in the Wisting, Spy, Enigma all.
Right to see. I'm not sure, I can't think of
the context now, but he does get referenced.
You mentioned John Snag. He was a pigeon fancier.
John Snag? Oh, didn't know that.
Well, yeah, the reason I know this is because when I was, I
would have been a teenager, maybe my mum's cousin, who we,
you know, we were friends. We were close with.
He kept pigeons and one day a strange pigeon turned up in his
pigeon loft with with a strange pigeon.
He looked at the pigeon's ring as it were, and, and, and phoned
the the owner of this pigeon that has gone astray and it was
none other than John Snagg. And, and he returned, He
returned the pigeon to John Snagg who was very grateful and
very pleasant by all accounts. An absolute gentleman.
John Snagg, there we are. Could you imagine phoning John
Snagg? The how?
Hello, this is the BBC. Bizarre.
That would be that conversation. Yeah, yeah, particularly if
you're used to watching the boat race.
Yeah, yeah, yeah as well. Oh, and and we get the
introduction to Neddy of Moriarty.
This is reference to top of the show.
He's He's introduced as Count Fred Moriarty Crack Leather
bouquet player and voted Mr. Thin Legs of 1912.
That was changed bouquet at the in the first reference, wasn't
it? It was.
Because the the book bouquet is mentioned in the first scene and
it's changed to something else, I'm just trying to find it.
It's, I haven't got it to hand, but you're right, I know it was
changed. Yeah.
Yeah, I can't remember, but yes, it was changed on in the
broadcast version, Yeah. What does bouquet mean?
I don't know that word. Do you know I was relying on
you? You're looking at me around on
me, right Boucane? BU spell it for me B.
UCAINE as in Michael. Caine, as in Romantic English
woman. Boucane, yeah, OK.
Well, now then, Boucane Bupivac boopivacaine hydrochloride is a
potent, long acting amidotype local anesthetic used for
infiltration anesthesia, nerve blocks, and epidural anesthesia.
Yeah, it blocks nerve impulses. So it's a painkiller.
It's. Yeah.
Well, that's interesting, isn't it?
It's not very funny, is it? No.
Not massively, but of course. Yes, Moriarty corrects Brett
Pipe and says Mr. Thin leg of 19.
That's it. Because I only entered one and
and I made me wonder. I was thinking, because we know
that that Peter Cook was a huge fan of the goons.
Do you think Peter Cook might have?
Might have? Mr. Spigot for the role of
Tarzan. Well, she wrote for Kenneth
Williams originally, didn't he? I think.
It well, it was in, yes, I think so.
But then Williams didn't use it and then because Spigot is very
much a Williams type name, isn't it?
And then it was used in in beyond the beyond the fringe.
It was in Beyond the Fringe and then it was done again for I
think it was done again for not only but also, but he also crops
up because I watched it just the other day as it happens in the
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore version of the Hand of the
Baskervilles. It certainly does, which it is
shamelessly, shamelessly. No, I love that film.
I love it, but covered it. Oh yeah.
But the Tarzan, the Tarzan thing is shamelessly shoehorned into
that where it's got no business being, but it's brilliant for.
To see it done. We covered it a couple of years
ago now. And I I remember there is a
reason it was, it was a yeah, like you say, it was shamelessly
crowbar. And I think, I think from memory
on the insistence of the producer or the director anyway,
I might be wrong, but I, yeah, I would direct listeners to that
show. We did it on hand of the
basketball. And I would say watch the film
as well because it's brilliant. That's not it's got kind of
Williams in it, actually. It's got, it's got Spike in it
very briefly. He's.
Great. And it says that in the credits,
doesn't it? I'm, I'm, I'm very brief.
Fleetingly. Spike Milligan.
Yeah. I really enjoyed the
introduction to Max Galtrey as well.
Max is here to play his perforated Arab neck, Twig and
Steam Boot. Well, now, now you mention Max,
who is his usual brilliant self here.
Yeah. Where's where's Ray?
Where's Ray? Because it introduces the Ray
Ellington Quartet, and he's not there.
He's been very quiet. It's what we get is a guitar
solo with no vocals. Well, we know, but I know.
But that happened occasionally. I think Ray plays some some sort
of instrument. I guess it's not.
It's unusual though, isn't it? Because we haven't, we normally
get racing in perhaps a sore throat or something.
Yeah, they've travelled to Daytona for the record attempt
and hire the great military organ engineer, Major Blood
Knock. Moriarty bribes Blood Knock to
loosen all the nuts and bolts so that the organ falls to pieces
once it reaches speed. Bludnock recognizes echoes as
his old Batman, and they reminisce the second Feel free.
Glad we'll come back to that just then.
Just then, Minnie and Henry driving the festival organ
prepare for an attack on the land speed record.
OK, so the stand out scene or line or sequence in this bit is
is with Eccles and Blood Knock Eccles.
Major. Private Eccles Meow, Batman, you
Remember Me, Major Blood. No, I remember you major blood
knock. You must remember the good times
we had. Remember the good times we
heard? Remember that Nappy Bird?
You. Remember that Nappy Bird?
What was her name now? Filthy Gladys.
Her name was Filthy Gladys. Of course you were too young to
enjoy it but me and the lads, we had a wonderful time with her.
You and Allah you had a wonderful time with.
Her. I wonder what became of old
filthy Gladys. I married her 4.
Weddings used a variation of. Their wedding and also whatever
happened to the like of that where they're reminiscing about
a coach trip they did when they were at school and they go on
about how they were each of them was snogging in the back of the
coach with this this woman and this girl and how she was.
Everybody had had a go and turn on her at some point.
Oh, whatever happened to her? And then one of their other
friends sitting there said I married her.
Yeah, Yeah. So.
There So it's obviously I mean I'd love to think it was that
gag if you like was invented in this show, but it's probably
it's probably probably goes back to bloody it's.
Musical, isn't it? Yeah, yeah.
Filthy Gladys. I'm afraid I just giggled at the
name Filthy Gladys from it I. Mean.
It just conjures up such an image, doesn't it?
And then the the sequence of Minnie and Henry souping up this
festival organ organ, with Henry getting enraged by Minnie's
increasingly sinful, sexy, crazy American type rhythm singing.
And a couple of references to people, one which will confuse a
casual listener. A reference to Jim Davidson, but
it's not that one. Not that one.
And a reference to Paul Fenylle, did you?
Were you aware of? Either of these, no, I didn't
get. I didn't get those, didn't get
those two. So Minnie says, remember what
Jim Davidson said, get modern in six weeks or get out now.
That exact reference I don't get in reference to this Jim
Davidson because Jim Davidson had been a bandleader, but more
importantly for the goons, he was ABBC producer and he he was
assistant head of variety. He was an Aussie, very blunt
speaking, speaks as he finds type, you know, and he could
deal with Spike on very much equal terms.
And I think Spike knew better than to push him too much.
And he was the guy who he appointed people like Roy Spear
as Goon show producer. And he had many dealings with
the Goons as assistant head of light entertainment.
And also he produced a historic Beatles concert in the Royal
Albert Hall in April 1963. And Paul Fennulay, because Henry
says you can't talk to me like that.
I'm a friend of Paul Fennulay. Paul Fennulay was a trombonist,
A trumpeter and a French horn player, and he was also an
arranger and conductor, and he'd played with band leaders such as
Jack Hilton, who is regularly referenced in the Gun Show.
At least his music is and he eventually became He was
conductor of the BBC Variety Orchestra and he it was the
conductor of the variety orchestra in the now lost
episode of the Goons. It's a crossover episode Archie
in Goonland from 1954. So he so he has technically Paul
Fennule has appeared in a Goon show of sorts and he also gets
referenced briefly in the Goon show 1985 clusters I may
remember. But again, it just seems like 2
random names in in joke names if you like.
I've heard I've. Heard 1985 fairly recently
because couple of years ago I did a, a, a a watch through of
all the works of Nigel Neil that survive on television,
Quatermass onwards. And I'd also listened to the
three goon shows as part of that as well that are derived from
Nigel Neil stories. Nigel Neil TV Yeti and Scarlet
Capsule in 1985. Yes, yeah.
So yeah, so I've heard. That recently?
Well, he was. He was, and Nigel Neil was a
sort of a friend of Spikes as well, yes.
Yes, and and he and he enjoyed those those parodies on the Goon
show as well. It's he was a famously grumpy
man, but, but but he made an exception where it when it came
to the Goon show. My ambition is to be the the
second Nigel Neil in terms of being a famously grumpy man, not
in terms of not in terms of the talent.
The I love the all the Minnie and Henry arguing with the the
arguing is punctuated by brief. Moments of silence.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. It stops.
It stops and you can't understand a word they're
saying, but here's the other stop.
And then it starts. Again.
And then if that's it, and then of course you hear the the the
mighty sound of the organ, which took them a while to to do, but
they managed to do a really good job of making it sound like a
convincing vehicular whirl it so.
Whatever that would sound like. Yes, and as as the show sort of
reaches its its end, we have Blue Bottle and Neddy discovers
that Cren's organ is faster than his just so to speak, and he he
pays blood not to put a bomb in Crun's organ.
Yeah, there's there's an attempt to get Blue Bottle to do it
isn't the first because they bribe him with a picture of
Sabrina to to to come down and. Yeah, and.
Even then he won't do it and blood neck ends up doing it.
Yeah, he's being, he's being bribed by Neddy with cardboard
Brandy ball, Yes, which you can imagine such a thing.
And he and he has this brief little reverie blue bottle where
he thinks with these sweets, my my prestige will increase at
school. If I gave one of them to Winnie
Hemp, it might act like a love filter.
And when he the moment he says seller says Winnie Hemp, you
hear this reaction of the audience, don't you?
Think with these types of sweets, my pristine will
increase at school. Yeah, thinks again.
If I gave one of them to Winnie Hemp it, it might act like a
love filter on her and then. Yeah, like you say, there's a
there's a picture of Sabrina again.
And then and then when Sabrina's mentioned, blood knocks
excitedly and and there's a line that I can't work out what it
means, but it gets a laugh, says Segan, says blood knock, throw
that sofa away and then carries on talking.
But there's but that line Got a laugh.
No idea. Now, I know if you were to say
that in 2026 with reference to JD Vance, yeah, then, then, then
I can understand why that might get a laugh.
But in 1956, blood not can. So I don't know.
It's just, it's a word. Felt in the Goon show, isn't
that that that got yes. Got past the sensors, yes.
Yes. But listeners, if anyone can
throw shine a light on that, please let me know.
And of course the the show ultimately ends on an explosion
which and has a nice tie up ending where Neddy he doesn't
win the world speed record but he he sets the world at altitude
record. Organs for organs now.
Also, there's a there's a difference in the the show as
broadcast and the script as it finishes as well, because the
the script as published in back in 1972 has has Blue Bottle
repeating Greenslade's closing announcements, doesn't it?
Yes, That's not in the in the show as broadcast or show us as
as it's come down to us anyway. No, it it, it was in the
original script. It's obviously reprinted in the
Goon show script. Blue Bottle does do that in a
Goon show now. Do you know what I should have
checked? I'd never thought to check.
It don't matter. There might be the fair of
wages, but in the Goon Show Scripts book, there is a line
that Spike Milligan has added in 1972.
He's added a line that wasn't in the original show or original
script, OK? And I can only think it was
because it was a favorite line of his that he would trot out
frequently in the Q series and the like, OK, there's a bit in
the script where you hear a cash register.
And then. But in this in the script book,
Spike has blood knocks saying, oh, the old Jewish piano, IE
cash register. Yeah.
We're not good. No, but that wasn't in the
original script or anything, so Spike's just added that, yeah.
Yeah, it's not in the script book, is it is.
It it's in script book I'm. Just looking now.
I can't. Oh, yes, sorry.
You're quite right. FX Till blood knock.
Oh, the old Jewish piano. Yeah.
OK. Another one.
Yeah. Spike enjoyed that.
Line. Great.
Well done, Spike. Yeah.
OK. Should I just say a word about
Willitzer? Because the title is the Mighty
Willitzer and you might think that's a bit of a spikism, the
mighty this and the other but but these organs were known as
the Mighty Willitzers. That's what they were known as
Wurlitzer Theatre Company, founded in 1853 by Rudolf
Wurlitzer of Cincinnati, OH and the first their first theatre
organized organs rather were introduced in 1910.
Now this is, this is the time of silent films when you'd, when
the cinema started, they had somebody sitting tinkling on a
piano at the front to provide a compliment to the, to the film,
didn't they? But then they, they that sort of
developed into these big theatre organs in the big cinemas.
And they would very often rise up from the, the beneath the the
orchestra pit as was in a spectacular way, you know, by
the mid 1950s, which is where we are here, of course, they were
being removed from cinemas. And Wurlitzer introduced
electric pianos in 1954 and were producing them until 1983.
They'd been producing jukeboxes since 1933 and went out of
business in 1974. Now the the Mighty Wurlitzer
still remains in Blackpool Tower Ballroom, the one that Rich
Dixon played and that is most often played these days, almost
daily by someone called Phil Kelso.
This one was designed by Rich Dixon, and that also rises from
beneath. Beneath the stage.
Or if you read my notes, from beneath A stag.
Several UK cinemas still have working organs.
The Plaza in Stockport. Paramount.
Penniston, Rex. Elland Troxy.
London, Paramount. But yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it would be Penniston. I am next week naming no names,
but I will be talking to another maestro of the of the of the
well. It's not an organ, but it's a
who's who's very well known in his particular.
Field, I think I know you might be talking about, but I should
say nothing. The Odeon looks in Leicester
Square still got one the rare. So they're still, they're still
around these, these, these mighty Wurlitzers, the record
from the remembrance of a bygone age.
Just up the road from where I live in Derbyshire.
It's not a whirling Sir, but there's a garage, it's a village
called Thorpe in Derbyshire here where they do not quite monthly,
I think they're about bimonthly organ recitals on an old theatre
organ. And they, they get very good
crowds upon the garage, for heaven's sake, but they get
quite good turn out for people to come and listen to people
playing the organ. So it's not, this is not a dead
art. This is not a an entertainment
of of that is completely died out, which is you might think it
should have done it's. Well, I mean, I always used to
read, you know, in the Radio Times, Nigel Ogden, the
organist. The organist entertains Yes.
I always used to think that should have a question.
Mark at the end. Yes, really.
Or, or at least inverted commas when the words entertain.
Yeah, yeah. But don't look with Nigel Ogden.
There we go. We've covered some ground.
So Steve, we have we have just like Neddy in the Sahara with
his with his weinertser. So thanks a lot for I'm glad we
chose this one. Thanks so much.
And and what have you got? I know is Hooverville.
Was that what it's called? My Doctor Who convention,
Hooverville, yeah, Hooverville 17 is on the 5th of September
this year and we've already announced various Doctor Who
luminaries. Janet Fielding, Sophie Aldridge,
I'm about to announce Anita Dobson as we speak.
He's going to be coming. Oh.
Yes, yes. So yeah, we have some good
guests and that's a one day event.
And tickets still on sale from derbyquad.co.uk.
Here's a question for you. I can't think of the name
myself, but because you're a quizzer, you might you might
know this. And what was the name of Anita
Dobson's sitcom set in a hairdressing salon?
Oh Blimey, now you have got me. OK.
I won't look at each. Other.
I just remember there was one, no.
The the people, people at home will be shouting at their their
iplay, at their. Yeah, I tell you what.
Let's leave it as a as a Let's leave it as a tantalizing
mystery. If anyone knows, please message
me and you win a word. It's a.
A pocket. Well, it's a pocket.
I don't. Don't go there.
Don't go there, no.
So anything else to promote Steve?
Not really. I mean, there's a bit of writing
here and there. I write for a magazine and
series of books called We Belong Dead, which is about horror.
It's a quote from Bride of Frankenstein, horror cinema and
things like that. So I'm regularly up here in the
books and magazines produced by We Belong Dead.
I all being well, have a book out in August, part of the Black
Archive range of Doctor Who books from from obverse books,
which are each book is a basically a monograph about a
particular Doctor Who story. So mine is about the invasion
from 1968 that should be coming out in August.
All being well, but things can change, schedules can change, so
who knows. Very good.
Well, as I say once again, Seth, thank you so much.
Absolutely pleasure. Loved it and definitely like to
have you back on the show in the future to talk about we'll get
you back for the ink shortage you.
Know we yes, because if we don't.
No one. Else no one else.
You can't have a gap, can you? We, we, we need to just give
that a bit more thought. When it gets to the point when I
have to do that one, I'll I'll tap you up.
No, no. OK, get you back for a better
OK. But we, we, we need to give that
a bit more thought and and not allow that to beat us.
No, no. And listen listeners, I'd like
to extend my thank you to you for sticking with us this far.
And, and it's been, it's not just been an enjoyable
conversation, it's been an informative one.
We have been, we've, we've been, we have been invoking the great
Lord Reece. We've been, let's say go
educating, entertaining. And how does it go?
Yes, education, informed, educate and entertained.
Entertained. I think you've ticked two of
those boxes at least. Yeah, OK.
How many podcasts mentioned in a barger?
There you are. That's true.
And and Sandy Mcnabs so. I think I've got that one.
I've wiped that one from memory I don't wish to think about.
That yeah, but but as I say, thank you for listening and next
week special guest and and then yeah, a couple of weeks we'll be
covering the muckatees battle horn as trailed earlier.
Fantastic. So so Steve speak to you again
soon. Thanks listeners for listening.
Until next week. Bye.
The. The.