Drums Along the Mersey
| "Drums Along the Mersey" | |
|---|---|
| The Goon Show episode | |
| Episode: no. | Series: 7 Episode: 2 |
| Written by | Spike Milligan |
| Announcer | Wallace Greenslade |
| Produced by | Peter Eton |
| Music |
|
| Recording Number | TLO 11799 |
| First broadcast | 11 October 1956 |
| Running time | 30:26 |
| Guest appearance | |
| Valentine Dyall | |
Drums Along the Mersey is an episode from The Goon Show. It is the second show in the ninth series.
Pre-recording: Sunday 7 October 1956, 5pm,Aeolian I. DLO 14297. Recording: Sunday 7 October 1956, 9pm,Aeolian I.TLO 11799. First Home Service Broadcast: Thursday 11 October 1956, 8.30pm. Ratings: 2.3 million.Repeats: Monday 15 October 1956, 8pm, 4.5 million [Light Programme];Friday 31 January 1975,6.15pm, 1.0 million, RI: 74 [Radio 4 (except Scotland and Wales) in Encore the Goons]; Saturday 2 May 1992, 1.02pm [Radio 2 in Comedy Hour: the Radio 2 Comedy Season] Tronscription Service Reissue Synopsis: Music: Max Geldray plays Mountain Greenery (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart); The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Giddy-Up a Ding Dong (Freddie Bell/Joey Lattanzi).
Two pre-recording sessions took place:
- Wednesday 28 January 1959, 4.15pm/5.15pm. Aeolian Hall Studio 2 (TLO & C/DLO 76382, TLO 77924)
- Saturday 1 February 1959, 5.45pm, The Paris Cinema (DLO 76513/A)
The recording for transmission was created at 8pm on Sunday 14 December 1958, at The Camden Theatre, Camden Town, London (TLO 72138).
The first Home Service broadcast was the next day at 8.30pm on Monday 15 December 1958, its ratings were 1.1 million.
The show was repeated:
- Wednesday 9.31pm, 17 December 1958, on the Light Programme to 2.3 million listeners.
- Friday 9.30pm, 6 March 1964 on the Home Service in Vintage Goons, to 0.5 million listeners.
- Friday 9.30pm, 20 August 1965 on the Home Service in Let's Laugh Again, to 0.2 million listeners (the broadcast was affected by a fault on the reproduction equipment).
Transcription Service Synopsis
The Hon. Nedward Seagoon, last heard off the coast of Ireland, learns from his solicitors, Messrs. McRed Hairy McLegs, that he has inherited ₤1,000,000. He establishes his identity with the solicitors, but in order to claim his inheritance he must become a Peruvian. His quest leads him to South America, where he attempts to prove amongst other things that all Peruvians are Welsh. Unfortunately Neddie discovers that the man who left him the money - Baron Seagoon - is not dead, but had merely overslept.
Music
- The BBC Radio Orchestra was conducted by Wally Stott
- Max Geldray plays Mountain Greenery (Richard Rodgers (music) / Lorenz Hart (lyrics))
- The Ray Ellington Quartet plays Giddy Up a Ding Dong (Freddie Bell / Joey Lattanzi)
Technical
Originally recorded on TLO 11799 (15 ips ¼" tape recorded at Broadcasting House).
The TLO 11799 master tape survived in TS, but some cuts made at the time of the simulated stereo experiment with POTG re-issues were not kept but the version of the show included on The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 was compiled from the TGS disc and a domestic recording of both the original transmission.[1]
References
- ^ Kendall, Ted (2011). The Goon Show Compendium Vol 5 (Booklet 2). BBC Worldwide. p. 13. ISBN 978-1408-427286.
