27. Nabokov and Russians

Broadcast on 16th March 2010.
Primarily Vladimir Nabokov reading from Lolita and other works but also fragments of a strange Russian record I found, and which I can't decipher at all, although it may be people reading Pushkin...

Lolita read by Vladimir Nabokov, produced by Arthur Luce Klein.
Spoken Arts


Russian Record I don't have Russian script on my computer and don't know how to translate this so please see for yourself. Any translation help would be much appreciated.

26. Gold and Guinness

The second and final part of Treasure of Sierra Madre and some poems and readings from Alec Guinness.

Treasure of Sierra Madre Original Radio Broadcast, a George Garabedian Production.
Mark56,


Alec Guinness, A Personal Choice
RCA Victor, 1965

25. Gold

Gold, cash and money in general, with a very special featurette produced by Glasgow's very own Stephen Gilmour about the national gold panning championships in England in 2007 plus Ogden Nash's individual and highly resonant take on bankers.

Hoffnung at The Oxford Union Gerard Hoffnung.
Decca, 1960
 
Hoffnung's comments on arts funding and life in general.

Ogden Nash Reads Ogden Nash.
Caedmon, 1953

Nash on bankers - the filthy swine!

Stories From The Fireside told by Éamon Kelly
Argo, 1967

A repeat of The Gobaun Saorbecause I like it a lot and it's about money.

Stephen Gilmour
Gold
Radio documentary made in 2007 about the UK gold panning championships. Details to follow...

Treasure of Sierra Madre Original Radio Broadcast, a George Garabedian Production.
Mark56,

John Huston directs Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, Tim Holt in a struggle for gold that leads to guess what?

24. Nonsense part 3 - BBC etc.

Nonsense verse in all its true glory as written by Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear and presented in fine style by Stanley Holloway - rapidly becoming a favorite of Voice On Record - Beatrice Lillie and Cyril Ritchard. But we start with some BBC comedy including the Two Ronnies, Derek and Clive, and various others.
Broadcast 23 February 2010
The last Nonsense programme with some classic Lear and Carroll plus odd bits of BBC stuff such as the Two Ronnies, Derek and Clive etc.

More Fun At One
BBC Records, 1980

OK, so this has some truly awful stuff on it such as Jasper Carrott's The Nutter On The Bus sketch which comes across as a really offensive attack on the victims of the lack of mental health care in Britain in the 1970s and 80s. However, there are good things too.

Nonsense Verse of Carroll and Lear read by Beatrice Lillie, Cyril Ritchard and Stanley Holloway.
Caedmon, 1957
 
The Jumblies, The Pobble Who Has No Toes, and the Dong With The Luminous Nose are all characters that feature in The Quangle Wangle's Hat which is a remarkable book, beautifully illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.

23. Nonsense part 2 - Hoffnung and Nash

Broadcast 16th February 2010
Not really nonsense per se but two extraordinary performances, one by Gerard Hoffnung at the Oxford Union and another by Ogden Nash reading his own verse that both contain so much observation about human nature and the sheer hilarity of existence that they are hard to resist.

Hoffnung at The Oxford Union Gerard Hoffnung.
Decca, 1960
 
Gerard Hoffnung's address to the Oxford Union in 1958 on 10" vinyl continues to make me laugh til I cry, especially given the knowledge that he died so soon after the recording at such a young age.

Ogden Nash Reads Ogden Nash.
Caedmon, 1953

Beautiful mangling of the English language to twist and tickle in a manner not unlike Flann O'Brien, delivered in a strange type of American accent and sounding just as relevant as if it had only been written yesterday and not 80 years ago. Recorded in New York, February 25th 1953.

22. Nonsense part 1 - Peter Sellers and Kenneth Williams

Broadcast: 9 February 2010
More nonsense from two of England's finest, although I am the first to admit that there are much finer examples of Kenneth Williams' waspish humour than those presented here.

The Best Of Sellers Peter Sellers, with music directed by Ron Goodwin.
Parlophone, 1958

10" album on the label that released the Goons' Ying Tong Song amongst many other novelty records produced by the one and only George Martin. This record is famous for The Trumpet Volunteer and Balham, Gateway To The South, presumably written before Balham went all nappy-valley and was still a remote suburb of London...

Willo The Wisp 12 Stories from the BBC TV Series, Narrated by Kenneth Williams.
BBC Records, 1981


The World Of Kenneth Williams
Decca, 1970

If only this album lived up to its name! Sadly there is a lot of mediocre stuff on here and far better material can be found in any of the Carry On films.

The Goon Show Classics
more info to follow...

21. Rabelais and Carroll

Broadcast: 2 February 2010
Hot off the press from France, 1534 by way of translation by Sir Thomas Urquart in 1653 we have some bawdy tales of filthy and bad behaviour with the longest list of alternative names for the male member known to humanity. Yes, François Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel read by Hilton Edwards.

Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais, read by Hilton Edwards and presented by Arthur Luce Klein.
Spoken Arts, 1962


Nonsense Verse of Carroll and Lear read by Beatrice Lillie, Cyril Ritchard and Stanley Holloway.
Caedmon, 1957
 
Two pieces both read by Stanley Holloway: The Pig-Tale and The Red Knight's Song. Marvelous stuff.