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Funky Gibbon: Best of

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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.

"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).

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.

This is a fun cd from The Goodies. The Goodies were a fun trio who had a Television show in the 1970's.'Nappy Love', 'The bunkey Gibbon' & Black Pudding Bertha are also published in Sheet music too. This CD represents great comic music that is in song, not spoken much like to-day's Weird Al. The Original music is Mainly composed by Goodies member Bill Oddie, a really talented person who also wrote and producted the Goodies television series. I like the tracks poking fun on country music, it's hilarious! Give this cd a try, you have a lot of fun and great music too!

Arguably the single most enjoyable bit of spin-off merchandise in the entire Goodies canon, "Funky Gibbon: The Best of the Goodies" collects the talented TV trio's best singles and album tracks from their glory days in the 1970s, in a collection that's every bit as invigorating and danceable as that of any SERIOUS pop music group I have ever heard.

Originally conceived for a laugh, making use of Goody Bill Oddie's music from the soundtracks of their popular TV sitcom (an approach taken previously by their American counterparts the Monkees), the Goodies went on to gain several legitimate hit records in Britain.

The sequencing here is joyous and celebratory as well as ingenious, going from the irresistible one-two-three punch of "The Goodies Theme", "The Funky Gibbon" and "The Inbetweenies", and the album just gets better and better as it goes along, being truly musical, with never a hint of the self-indulgent messing about you tend to find on the albums of most other comedians-turned-musicians. Bill Oddie's songs are every bit as intricate and damnably hummable as Paul McCartney's ("What are you, what are you, ah you, you, you..."), and his signature scratchy voice proves amazingly versatile on record, soaring to the soulful heights of a James Brown, Burton Cummings, or Sam Cooke whenever the mood strikes him. ("Nappy Love" and "Rock With A Policeman" are but two examples of Bill's vocal excellence, all the more remarkable given their deliberately silly lyrical trappings!).

Which is not to leave out bandmates Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden. Bill furnishes Graeme with "Good Ole Country Music", capturing the cheerful, fake sadism that was always a Garden trademark ("I like...the sound of a chicken being flattened by a train. ...BWAWK!"), while "Cricklewood" and "I'm A Teapot" are both good showcases for Tim's wide-eyed goofiness. "Cricklewood" is frequently praised as Beatle-esque by most reviewers, though to my ears the melody sounds more like the Turtles' "Happy Together" with the rhythm of the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and the backing vocals of "Good Vibrations". Whatever. It's clearly a pastiche of something, beautifully done, and probably my favourite song of the lot, if pressed.

This album is an ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL purchase for Goodies fans. I defy you to be disappointed with such an infectiously happy set. Having said that, I doubt very much comedy fans who didn't know the Goodies from TV would get as excited about this album. As comedy songs, per se, they may lack the obvious hilarity, of, say, Weird Al Yankovic, but, as affectionate, lightweight satires of varied popular song styles (Pop, country, blues, disco, etc.), the Goodies demonstrate the same devotion to excellence here in music as they did to excellence in their TV shows and excellence in their books.

The Goodies were/are a comedy team second to none, and deserve our continuing attention, respect, study, admiration, and love. Get this today.

Though nobody else is likely to appreciate it! This collection of 16 tracks spanning the musical output of British comedy trio The Goodies contains their biggest chart hits (something tells me they probably only charted in the UK) and a range of other recorded masterworks. The simplistic tunes and amusing lyrics are all very much in keeping with the slapstick humour of the original TV series and... well it's not the sort of album where you concern yourself with comments on arpeggios or production values. It's just a fun time listen for any Goodies fan out there and would make a perfect gift for any fan you may know of.

As for the wider listening public, well there isn't really any reason to get this product. You would be far better off scanning t'internet or getting your hands on some clips of their TV show which was tremendously juvenile and funny and not always hooked up to reality. This will allow you a more conventional entry point to see if the style of humour suits you. Only once you are a paid up member of the groups fans will you really be able to enjoy this audio only item.

I picked up two, one for myself and one for my brother.

Some old and some new favorites from our old friends. A great selection and excellent quality. I would recommend to any Goodies fan.

Nostalgic? Bah! The songs on this CD are as hilarious as they were 30 years ago; my kids and I (adult and otherwise) laughed until we dropped. The comedic chemistry of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie--The Goodies--shine through every song, as does Bill's much underrated musical genuis.

Next to Sparks, T.Rex, and The New York Dolls, the Goodies were one of the few bands of the 70's who understood punk rock and got it right the first time.

Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor were the integral members of this raucous, looney band from the early 70's who had a comedy TV show in which some of the songs from this CD are featured in. They made fun of virtually everything under the surrealist sun from moral political activists, giant kittens, monster cods, Eddie Waring impersonations, and of course pop stars.

"Please Let Us Play" is a multi-instrumental work with some fine brass, guitar and fiddle solos. "The Funky Gibbon" was apparently recorded with Bill banging a newspaper on the piano instead of the drums, but it turned out to be their biggest hit in the UK (and also reaching the Hot 100 in the U.S. too, where they had a small cult following). "Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me" is a reworking of "John Brown's Body" with a rapidly blanked out chorus. "Black Pudding Bertha" is a fine synth boogie piece about one of England's fave delicacies - they also had an episode where Bill joined a martial arts cult called Ecky-Thump. "The Inbetweenies" bowed to the death of the glam rock scene where they start to celebrate rock senility.

I could go on forever about the genius of The Goodies, but that would be a bit of a spoiler. Go and get yourself a copy of this CD and enjoy a coke and a smile!