[ballysheil]

Hi mmitch
I saw your post about Al Read and wondered if you knew about this programme at the link below running on Radio4 Extra currently.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008xzwj

[Signals99]

Looking back over the years of entertainment in my life ,another' side of early radio programs come to mind,My father,like so many,was serving inthe forces during the war(actually he was a long service sailort
Twenty five years I think).,sorry I digress ,I well remember sitting on my mothers lap listening to one,William Joyce ,Lord haw haw ,extolling the virtues of the "German armed forces",Allthough at the time I obously did not have a clue of what I was listening to (I was four or five I think )why.  My mother
Listened to it I don't know,but she did,there was only three or four stations on our old wireless set ,BBC,a place calld Hilversom and Berlin,can't onestly remember much about it but I defiantly recall listening to Mr Joyce.

[mmitch]

Another radio comedian was Al Read. Very droll Northern humour.
A birthday treat one year was my big sister collecting me from school and taking me to see his west end show.
mmitch.

[smiler]

Dont forget the 5th goon Eric Sykes another very clever man.

[Dave Smith]

AlanH. The Goons were definitely an aquired taste. I loved them ( & , like many, could impersonate Bluebottle, Eccles, Henry Crumb, etc.) but my wife didn't. We were both Tony Hancock fans tho'- with Syd, Hattie & Bill Kerr. Clever writers in those days, where have they all gone? "Only Fools"," Morecambe & Wise" & a couple of others were the last we heard from them. See how many old repeats BBC/ITV are dishing up for the Christmas period- again!

[AlanH]

Some of those programs (both radio and TV) we considered hilarious back in the "old" days may seem a bit childish etc now but who cares? We loved them then and that's what matters.
I certainly do remember Sid James and his craggy face (I think he was originally South African maybe) but him and Tony Hancock were a great team. Just think, if Tony hadn't visited Sydney he may never have topped himself..... only kidding it's a great place once you know it.
Strangely I never really liked the Goons but absolutely loved listening to Harry Secombe singing and watching P Sellers in many things. Let's face it humour is a personal thing and what turns you into a quivering mass may not raise a grin from others......I can well remember my old Mum looking at things I thought were hilarious but her face wouldn't crack a grin for any of it.
Keep those memories coming people.
AlanH.
 

[smiler]

Still going now but Desert Islands Discs has always been a great one, and can anyone recall the programme that came on Sunday afternoons giving snippets of newly released films. Seems silly listening to a film but it sure sounded good.

[Signals99]

Conan,thank you from the bottom of my heart for the link,just shear goon type madness,once again after all this time to hear that utter rubbish produced by a total cast of head cases,unless you are a goon fan.that's just what it is stupid silly and purrile.But to a goon fan it was nectar ,the essence of Neddy see goon, and all the other cast members of The goon show .If it makes me some kind of senile moron ,so be it, you just have to be a fan to appreciate the childish world of the Goons,or ,as my grandson would say"let it all hang out man and do your own thing"

[conan]

Ying tong diddle I po  or something like that  my brother bought the record , and I do remember all those programmes that have been mentioned

Ah yes the Ying Tong song   

https://archive.org/details/TheGoons-TheYingTongSong1956

[Lyn L]

Ying tong diddle I po, or something like that  my brother bought the record, and I do remember all those programmes that have been mentioned.

[Signals99]

AlanH, congratulations on your attitude towards driving and allowing yourself to be distracted, very commendable.
I have a number of CD's, mostly BBC archive recordings,of the late forties/early fifties,much of it is very good digital re-recording, so every now and then I indulge myself in pure nostalgic sessions.
Last Sunday it was an hour of  the Goon Show (did we really laugh st some of those gags) followed by a couple of Hancock`s half hour programmes, can you remember Sid James, now sadly no longer withe us.
I live on my own, by choice, so maybe I tend to live in the past a bit, but I do have my memories of the pure enjoyment Radio programs gave me then and continue to do so now. Moderator, I apologise if this is off topic.Sorry!
 

[AlanH]

You two are just so right. I can remember sitting spellbound listening to various programs with Mum and Dad back in Baker St (late 40s early 50s) before we moved to Cookham Wood. The imagination ran riot as the wonderful readers of the programme told the stories.
I still listen occasionally to stories on the "wireless" here in WA when I see they're on but although it's tempting I will not have story CDs to play in the car when I'm driving long distances.
There's enough idiots driving while distracted without me joining them as I know once that once I'm deeply immersed in a book or radio story, I am concentrating on anything else at all let alone driving.
The youth of today may be technically smart but will never know the marvellous feelings your imagination gives while listening to a well read story.
AlanH.
 

[Alastair]

No, Signals, you are not an old Luddite, you hold on to the values that a lot of us on this Forum still cling to and cringe when we see the education of today's youth.
How many of them, for instance, know what a Luddtite is? Oh, of course, all of them - they'll just Google it.
They'll never know the programmes mentioned here or be able to look back with any form of nostalgia, unless it's to Grand Theft Auto or some other mindless computer game.
None of them will have had a childhood such as we had, but I suppose that can be said for many generations. Maybe I'm a Luddite.

Alastair

[Signals99]

MMitch,yes indeed ,the radio series  serials were made totaly spellbinding by an active imagination ,memories flood back ,sitting in my dressing gown drinking hot chocolate(if my sisters had left any)as I listened ,spellbound ,to DanDare plot of the future on radio Luxemburg wondering if the evil Mecon had at last done for our brave lad,or enjoying uncle Mac reading  'that weeks episode of 'wind in the willows'in children's hour,each and every story as brilliant as I wanted it to be.
Yes todays youngsters have super sophisticated toys ,things that we probably could not have imagined in my child hood days,perhaps that's why a lot of today's children have problems reading?my last ten years or so of working life were spent as a senior security officer at a well known univercity ,most of the student population I came into contact with ,were without a doubt very well educated people,with one exception to produce a letter without the aid of a computer was beyond there capableties.the burrser once told me "why bother  when you have a machine to do it for you" my point being have today's youngsters been robbed of something very precious by technology,or am I just an old Luddite.

[mmitch]

'Journey into Space' and a later 'OrbiterX' were 'must listen to' in the 50s. I remember a crowd in a school friend's lounge catching up on a missed episode via his dad's home built tape recorder.
I think the main attraction was radio tested your imagination, even later B&W 'Doctor Who' took some away.
mmitch.