Talk:Ying Tong Song

which episode?[edit]

I'm trying to find the recording i have of this on mp3, but i've just realised all my goon show ones are listed only by show and track number ...... it could take all night to find it :)

If anyone knows which episode it first appeared in could they note that on the main page please? It would be appropriate and useful. 77.102.101.220 (talk) 20:31, 26 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it was in an episode - they recorded novelty singles separately, and this one was apparently originally the B-side of "Bloodnok's Rock and Roll Call" which reached #3 in the charts in 1956. Ghmyrtle (talk) 12:20, 27 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Origin[edit]

(I think) I remember this song coming up in a TV Interview with one of the Goons, and the story then was that it was as a result of bet, but not about a two-chord song. It was a long time ago, but it went something like: They were talking about modern pop songs and how the lyrics were getting more and more unintelligible, and when you could make them out they were utter drivel. Therefore this was written to take it to the extreme, and see if anyone would buy it. I could be thinking about a different song, but it fits. Unfortunately, without a reference, this'll have to stay here.

I don't think the two-chord thing is true either since I can hear at least 3 other chords in there besides G and D7 (G7, C and A7, if you really want to know). MFlet1 (talk) 11:14, 21 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The (far more believable to me) tale from another interview is that one of the Goons (I would guess Secombe but can't remember) was trying to get a guest to correctly pronounce the name Ray Ellington correctly (rather than as Ellinton), and was repeating Ington! Ington! when Milligan and Sellers each grabbed him by an arm and the three walked off arm in arm repeating Ington! Ington!..., down the corridor, and by the time they returned Milligan had written the song.

The problem with quoting their interviews (even if we can source them) is that, well, they never really dropped character. But we could say something like "In an interview in 1990, Secombe recalled..." and hope that others understand that he was, well, being a Goon.

See also #Harry Edgington below. Andrewa (talk) 01:42, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Operatic interlude[edit]

Many of us have always been intrigued by the two short sections of operatic soprano, referred-to here as 'Take me back to Vienna, where the...' Who is the singer? What is the opera? What are the lyrics? Are they in English?

The soprano singer was Eileen Byrne, died 1981, a member of the female vocal group The Vernon girls. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Boksburgboy (talk • contribs) 21:22, 8 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think I remember a reference to it on an earlier version of this site. Has it been deleted? 109.157.190.42 (talk) 23:32, 26 September 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you enter 'Take me back to Vienna, where the...' into Google, almost every web page that appears relates to the Goons. Therefore I think it was made up by Spike Milligan. MFlet1 (talk) 11:15, 21 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps... but I did a couple of quick Googles [1] [2] and The Goon Show got 3,760,000 ghits while Opera lyrics got 47,000,000. Yes, operas were well ahead, but considering how many more operas there are than Goon shows, I think this shows that the Goon show is overrepresented on the Web. You'd guess that Milligan would quote from well-known opera... and then when I though about it, and reflected that he'd have input from Secombe was a serious singer as well, I began to think maybe he'd make it as obscure as possible, that would be even funnier. But of course the funniest thing of all is that we're still wondering... Andrewa (talk) 02:01, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Harry Edgington[edit]

I believe the source of 'Ying Tong' is a comic pronunciation of the surname of Harry Edgington, Milligan's army pal from the 56th Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, i.e. Harry 'Edge Ying Tong'. It's spelt like this in one of Milligan's war-time biographies.Bluedawe 07:05, 3 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That's progress! Which one of Milligan's books? This may be WP:OR but I'm fascinated. See also #Origin above. Andrewa (talk) 01:41, 20 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]