The Goon Show: I'm Walking Backwards for Christmas, Vol. 3

Blurb Two: This audio recording, digitally remastered, is notable for its contents. My favourite is the "Greenslade Story", in which writer Spike Milligan mocks the world of BBC radio announcing. We hear the story of radio announcer Wallace Greenslade (who served as announcer on the Goon Show)and his rise to fame, beginning with a job interview with John Snagge (guest voice). Waiting outside with him before the interview is the famous Eccles.

Greenslade: Don't tell me YOU'RE applying for the position of announcer.

Eccles: Oh yer! And I'll get it too. I'm wearin' a Cambridge tie!

Greenslade: YOU? You were at Cambridge? What were you doing there?

Eccles: Buyin' a tie....

And remember folks...there's more where that came from!


A solid example of a legendary radio show.   October 18, 2000
samfid@rabbit.com.au (Melbourne, Australia)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Describing The Goon Show is a difficult proposition: you've either heard then or you haven't and you either like them or you don't. If you've heard them, you know what I mean. Although the humour is a little dated and the sense of "organised anarchy" can be sometimes weird rather than funny, when The Goons are firing (and they frequently do on this set) you can tell where their reputation comes from. This collection contains two of their best shows, "The Greenslade Story" (the 'life story' of the show's announcer) and "The Treasure Of Loch Lomond," althogh the latter runs out of steam towards the end. Strong narrative helps - Milligan's scripts were always better when the jokes had a point and weirdness had a direction. The musical performances can be an annoying distraction (much like the musical interludes in Mark Brothers films); the regular songs by Max Geldray (who plays harmonica) and Ray Ellington really make the material sound dated - there's no way performances like this would appear anywhere but in a fifties radio show. But The Goons are certainly worth listening to, even if it's just to find out what all the fuss was about. The level of invention, exuberance of the performances and bizarre sound effects placed in the context of the story bring nothing to mind so much as Monty Python's Flying Circus at its best (and the Pythons were all Goon fans). Take a chance and try them - whether you like them or not, there's nothing else like it.