Ying tong iddle po was a song from The Goon Show
(BBC radio circa late 1950’s early 60s), famous Brit comedian Spike Milligan & Peter Sellers were featured. A lot of pointed silliness - John Lennon loved it.
I never knew Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler were a British music hall comedy duo. I guess they split up before World War II. This was one of the secret causes of the war.
“Ying tong iddle I po” is presaged in panel 5: “You rotten swine you!” etc, was what Bluebottle usually said when somebody killed him.
The subtext is not that they were a duo: Churchill recognises a fellow Goon Show fan, laughs in response, and they join in the Anthem, like Python addicts acting out the parrot sketch.
“I do not like being wetted
By nasty April showers
I do not like being nutted
By Eiffel and Blackpool towers –
I do not like that kind of thing blues!”
(Bluebottle Blues)
Don’t leave out the group that bridged the Goons and Monty Python: Beyond the Fringe, with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller.
homonylo, I’m fairly sure that you’re confusing Wallace Greenslade with The Goon Show’s musical director, Wally Stott, who later became Angela Morley, and continued to compose and conduct for the BBC. I can’t find any evidence that Greenslade had a sex change, and really, two sex-changing Wallys in the same show is pushing the bounds of coincidence.
[Goon Show is broadcast Thursday mornings on BBC Radio 7, online; available to listen for 7 days afterwards]
What a wit Pab is! Besides being funny in and of himself, he leads me to so many people and events new to me. Thank you Pab. I can’t say those things about any other comic.
I think it was a Goon Show rerun on NPR several decades ago that planted a joke in my brain I’ll never get rid of: “She was the apple of his eye, and the pomegranate of his nose”.
Trivia: Spike Milligan wrote “The Ying Tong Song” on a bet. He was bet that he couldn’t get a song onto the Hit Parade that had only two chords in it. He won.
The song held the record for the fewest number of chords for a charting song until George Michael’s one-chord wonder “Faith” in 1987.
zero over 14 years ago
Ying tong iddle po was a song from The Goon Show (BBC radio circa late 1950’s early 60s), famous Brit comedian Spike Milligan & Peter Sellers were featured. A lot of pointed silliness - John Lennon loved it.
GJ_Jehosaphat over 14 years ago
I have the same problem baslim - had to look up to find it’s a British Humor Thing. There’s a version by the Goons - but since I love the Muppets:
The Muppet Show - The Ying Tong Song
ksoskins over 14 years ago
I never knew Winston Churchill and Adolph Hitler were a British music hall comedy duo. I guess they split up before World War II. This was one of the secret causes of the war.
randayn over 14 years ago
Pab, Good luck on your quest for a Reuben. I think you have a better shot than you give yourself credit for.
geometeer over 14 years ago
“Ying tong iddle I po” is presaged in panel 5: “You rotten swine you!” etc, was what Bluebottle usually said when somebody killed him. The subtext is not that they were a duo: Churchill recognises a fellow Goon Show fan, laughs in response, and they join in the Anthem, like Python addicts acting out the parrot sketch.
“I do not like being wetted By nasty April showers I do not like being nutted By Eiffel and Blackpool towers – I do not like that kind of thing blues!” (Bluebottle Blues)
Takes you back… Gives you forward…
moonlgt Premium Member over 14 years ago
Great to wake up to the Goon Show on a Sunday morning!
Pab Sungenis creator over 14 years ago
I’m not entirely sure why, but I’ve been in a Goon Show mood this past couple of weeks.
“Worry not, my capitain! Enter Bluebottle, wearing his mother’s new sun bloomers, turns and waits for the audience’s applause.”
RockHouse over 14 years ago
Don’t leave out the group that bridged the Goons and Monty Python: Beyond the Fringe, with Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller.
MorrisK over 14 years ago
homonylo, I’m fairly sure that you’re confusing Wallace Greenslade with The Goon Show’s musical director, Wally Stott, who later became Angela Morley, and continued to compose and conduct for the BBC. I can’t find any evidence that Greenslade had a sex change, and really, two sex-changing Wallys in the same show is pushing the bounds of coincidence.
[Goon Show is broadcast Thursday mornings on BBC Radio 7, online; available to listen for 7 days afterwards]
post hoc Premium Member over 14 years ago
The Muppets link led me to this Goon Show version and the juxtaposition of Spike and Hitler reminded me of Spike Jones Der Fuehrer’s Face.
mivins over 14 years ago
Thank you, Pab! And friends, for the sublime Goon and Muppet links.
Spyderred over 14 years ago
What a wit Pab is! Besides being funny in and of himself, he leads me to so many people and events new to me. Thank you Pab. I can’t say those things about any other comic.
vldazzle over 14 years ago
I’m learning a lot about comic history here…
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
I think it was a Goon Show rerun on NPR several decades ago that planted a joke in my brain I’ll never get rid of: “She was the apple of his eye, and the pomegranate of his nose”.
Pab Sungenis creator over 14 years ago
Trivia: Spike Milligan wrote “The Ying Tong Song” on a bet. He was bet that he couldn’t get a song onto the Hit Parade that had only two chords in it. He won.
The song held the record for the fewest number of chords for a charting song until George Michael’s one-chord wonder “Faith” in 1987.
JP Steve Premium Member over 14 years ago
“He walked with a pronounced limp. L-i-m-p, pronounced “limp.””
The Sewers of the Strand http://www.shutupeccles.com/lyrics/Lyrics.htm
(“The Ying Tong Song” is there too)
Pab Sungenis creator over 14 years ago
Don’t know why the strip didn’t update today; it was submitted well in advance. Re-sending it.
Creniere over 14 years ago
It’s not you, Pab…it’s….gasp….THEM!
Pab Sungenis creator over 14 years ago
The rest of the week appears to be in place. Don’t know what happened to today’s. Any other strips missing in action?
In the meantime, you can go to the strip’s main site at http://www.newadventuresofqueenvictoria.com to see today’s strip.
cwreenactor over 14 years ago
LOL!!! (Go to the BBC 7 homepage or the BBC iPlayer to hear “The Goon Show.”)