[78-L] Silent Goons, was Re: film request for a silent 78 side

[Alan Bunting]

David,

As Wholenote is published in  Toronto (a bit closer to you than me here in Scotland) perhaps you could ask Jim Galloway if his memory is playing tricks.  The record shop I worked in in the 1950s sold hundreds of Goon records, not one of which contained anything titled Silent Night, nor does it appear in any Decca or Parlophone catalogues of that time. As you have already pointed out, "I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas" was backed with Bluebottle Blues.

Milligan did record a version of Silent Night on a Parlophone LP but that was a vocal.

For those interested, the 4 Decca singles were:

I'm Walking Backwards For Christmas / Bluebottle Blues F 10756
  
The Ying Tong Song / Bloodnok's Rock'n'Roll Christmas F 10780 
  
I Love You / Eeh! Ah! Oh! Ooh! F 10885   

A Russian Love Song / Whistle Your Cares Away/ F 10945 

Only the first enjoyed an American release.  

Two more titles were recorded but not released (it is said the tapes disappered, hence the story about Decca having insufficient funds to re-record the mythical silent record)  

Alan Bunting

--- On Sun, 12/10/08, David Lennick <dlennick at sympatico.ca> wrote:
Alan Bunting wrote:
> While on the subject of silent records, unless I
> missed it, no one ever answered the query about the one
> "The Goons" allegedly made. To the best of my
> knowlege, this is apocraphyl, as is the story that they did
> make it but the master tape was damaged before the record
> was pressed and Decca couldn't afford to re-record it.
> > 
> We need to talk to Jim Galloway then, because he swears he
> had it in the 50s. 
> Wholenote, Vol. 14 #1 (Sept. 1-Oct. 7, 2008 issue).
> www.thewholenote.com
> 
> dl