Tuesday, January 09, 2007

SPIKE MILLIGAN

Sapristi!


A brief tribute to the clown warrior Spike. Yes, Milligna, the well known typing error. The Godfather of British comedy, he influenced everything from radio's "Round the Horne" to TV's "Monty Python's Flying Circus." The writer and leader of radio's "Goon Show," he went on to a busy solo career including TV and best-selling books.

Both manic and depressive, Spike was one of the most complex and contradictory of comedians. He was the eye of a creative hurricane, capable of surreal jokes, aching poetry, whimsical nonsense and passionate letters-to-the-editor on a variety of issues.

Here is one of his eccentric solo songs. Many more can be found on historic and hysteric Goon and Spike CDs. You know his name, now look up the download! John Lennon loved The Goons, and you might recognize some absurdist touches that later figured into John's more light-hearted numbers. Lennon even wrote a review in the New York Times for the first volume of Goon Show scripts.

Get Gooned with an INSTANT listen or download, it's SEWERS OF THE STRAND

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