Goon Show Sound Effects

Goon Pod

This week we fire up a Wurlitzer and crack open an oyster as we celebrate one of the aspects of the Goon Show that made it so unique: the sound effects.

Joining Tyler to talk about some of our favourites are Chris Smith and Graeme Lindsay-Foot and the idea for the show first occurred to Chris when he heard a news item on the radio several years ago. According to Chris:

"They covered the recent creation of a "sounds archive", dedicated to preserving sounds previously very familiar butwhich are fast fading in popular memory, such as a steam train or bakelite telephone dialling tone (or its ring for that matter), or cine camera or film projector. The point being that the "lifespan" of familiar sounds is becoming shorter as technology and equipment changes - leading tothose sounds literally fading away from popular memory."

Taking this as a starting point, they consider what effects in the Goon Show would totally baffle younger listeners today, before running through some of the greatest (and some fairly obscure) FX and GRAMS inclusions throughout the show's run, including many listeners' favourites such as Tom the piano-playing penguin, someone knocking on the door with a duck and the otherworldly Radiophonic Workshop effects used in 'The Scarlet Capsule'. There's also a salute to those unsung lads who made the magic happen!