Check out The Goodies!
Lee LS Rice | Birmingham, UK | 05/16/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Apart from 'The Complete Goodies', a book by Robert Ross, this CD is the sole celebration of The Goodies' 30th anniversary, an event which was marked by none of the irreverent pomp and ceremony which surrounded Monty Python's 30th in 1999. A shame, really, as both teams were distinctly original absurd TV acts who evolved from the same iconoclastic Oxbridge comedy stable. Launched in November 1970, the series starred Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie. The format (an agency of "three blokes who do anything anytime") was simple but it proved to be a very successful one, allowing the three writer-performers to tackle any aspect of life, distorting it beyond logical recognition, and allowing it to degenerate into surreal stream-of-consciousness slapstick. And they did so with aplomb. By the time the series ended, 12 years later, they had shot Tony Blackburn, saved London from Kitten Kong, pioneered the martial art of Ecky Thump, made Sooty Prime Minister, and blown up the world. Their peak came in 1975 with their finest season, series 5. Their books became bestsellers, they won a Sun Award, and picked up their 2nd silver rose at Montreaux. Remarkably, Tim, Graeme and Bill kept a parallell music career going throughout all this, notching up 5 hit singles and a hit LP, and becoming what Brooke-Taylor calls "The Spice Girls of the seventies". From the very start, Oddie was keen that music should be an integral element of the show, and he was the ringmaster who led The Goodies in the direction of the hit parade. Unlike the comedy concept albums that Monty Python was making, Goodies albums were purely musical, a mixture of humorous and rock numbers written by Oddie. Unfortunately overlooking their (musically superior) Decca, Island and EMI recordings, this CD does contain all their hits which are mostly very silly, and does showcase Oddie's talent as a musical humorist. 'The Inbetweenies' was their first record to break the Top 20, a sax-driven paean to middle aged stardom, and a highly credible,radio-friendly chart debut. Other highlights include 'I'm A Teapot', 'Nappy Love', the Beatles-flavoured 'Cricklewood' and 'Rock With A Policeman' which brought the team's on-screen obsession with police brutality dancing onto record. Their cover of The Troggs' 'Wild Thing' is actually a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. 'Funky Gibbon' itself is in many ways the ultimate Goodies track; it reached no. 4 in the charts and would remain their biggest hit as well as being one of the silliest records ever. This is an essential CD for comedy collectors, but to appreciate the material in context, try checking out episodes of The Goodies TV show. They may not receive the same mystique as Monty Python, but The Goodies leave a classic surreal legacy of their own."
"Yum Yum" has more Goodies music
Kathleen Cobcroft | Australia | 01/13/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
""Come on everybody... It's Gibbon Time!" Who can resist lines like: "Give me an Oo! Give me another Oo! Give me another Ooo! Now put it together. Ooo ooo oo oo..."Strangely, there's another Goodies compilation on the loose: "Yum Yum: the very best of The Goodies." That collection has all of the songs listed on "Funky Gibbon" AND four more songs (Custard Pie, Baby Samba, The Cricklewood Shakedown, and Working the Line)."
Nostalgic nonsense for Goodies fans
Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/04/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The Goodies were a hugely successfully British TV comedy trio of the seventies, comprising Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie. They were not primarily a musical act - most of their comedy was of the slapstick variety - but they did write and sing songs that they included in their shows. A selection of their songs is included on this CD. Bill Oddie wrote all except one of the songs - a cover of Wild thing, which is a song ideally suited to their style. It was a major international hit for the Troggs in the sixties.The set begins with The Goodies theme, which was the theme song for their TV series. As the lyrics explain, they are a trio who will do anything, anytime. This is followed by their biggest hit, Funky gibbon, which reached number four on the UK charts. Even by the standards set by the Goodies, it is the silliest song of them all, complete with imitations of monkey noises - but it's a lot of fun. Among their other songs, Good ole country music pokes fun at the genre and comes with plenty of howling. The set closes with two songs that take an amusing look at Christmas.Goodies fans everywhere will appreciate this collection. Whether it will appeal to anybody else is open to question."
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1