The Goon Show
The Original Goons
The original line up Harry Secombe, Michael Bentine,
Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers. Michael Bentine helped write many of
the early scripts, but there was artistic differences with Spike Milligan and
so left. Wallace Greeslade the announcer played a major part in the shows with
his cultured voice. His proper job was as a news reader. For the musical interludes
Max Geldray played a mean jazz harmonica and Ray Ellington and his quartet
played many of the musical interludes. Wally Stott and his band played the
main themes and all of the other musical bits throughout the shows.
The Goons
Ray Ellington
Ray Ellington, drummer and singer whose quartet played one of the two musical interludes in each show. He also took speaking parts in many shows, most often as African Chief Ellinga or as Bloodnok's old Arab nemesis, the Red Bladder. He was born in England, the son of a black American comedian named Brown [Ellington was Ray Brown's stage name] and a Russian Jewish mother.) Wallace
Greenslade, was the announcer. He opened and closed each show, did continuities
within them, and often took brief speaking parts. When not doing the Goon
Show, he was in fact a news announcer at BBC. The Goons took great delight
in mocking his proper, trained accent -- and his noble girth.
