When I was a student in Glasgow, in the early 1960s, life was very much like that image of 'Balham', dead quiet! Particularly on a Sunday. It was a hangover from WWII. The idea of doing anything but surviving had died out during that period. This attitude faded by the '60s when music suddenly revived - wonderful days!
@andrewmurray5542
9 ай бұрын
Ha ha! I always say "Bal-Ham! Gateway to the South!" If I'm ever in the train passing through the station. I get some odd looks but also the occasional look of recognition and a wry smile.
@maldonboy1
6 ай бұрын
Sometime in 1990 or 91 when I was 13, I saved up bottle tops from Merrydown Cider and sent them off for a Comedy cassette this was on it along with The Two Ronnie's sing along to The Nutcracker Suite and one of my favourites was Rowan Atkinson as a School Master pronucing to a parent that his Son was dead...
@saltburner2
2 жыл бұрын
Good to see the original 10" Parlophone pressing. It was later re-issued as a 12" disc.
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
Yes, we had it, with the picture of him polishing his Rolls hood ornament. With the non-centred run-out groove (as shown).
@gregm4549
3 жыл бұрын
The true pioneers of today’s comedy. The pronunciation of Bal Ham was a standing joke in our house. Feeling nostalgic for my big brother, 8 years older than me, who introduced me to so many cool things
@anthonypell819
2 жыл бұрын
97
@Organise_Space
5 жыл бұрын
Listening to this was my childhood :--) thanks to my lovely Dad
@terryplatt
11 жыл бұрын
I'm fortunate enough to have lived in Bal Ham for the last 33 years. A few years ago, a proposal was put to Wandsworth Council to have a statue of Peter Sellers erected in the high street. They rejected this on the grounds that Peter was not a fit person to represent the parish, due to his womanising and sometimes unpleasant attitude to those who came into contact with him. Such a shame. In my mind, the statue exists, and I see it every time I pass Balham station.
@margondine
3 жыл бұрын
What a missed opportunity!!
@SM-dt1pr
2 жыл бұрын
He was a terrible person, but there are plenty of statues to much, much worse...
@heathstjohn6775
2 жыл бұрын
"Statue's off, dear": (3'48''): as long as the politically IN-' correct ' are always elected to write the menu. Also, no one's noticed, at 5'30"-5'34'', the old ''...night ' draws ' on...'' joke, that was once banned by the BBC. Thanks.
@happy.uk.patriot
2 жыл бұрын
And we chance upon the magnificent brornze statue of one of the famous sons of Bal Ham as we board the 11.45 to Mornington Crescent. Home to such wildlife as Columba livia domestica, and Tardus merula, this sage green erection of Peter Sellers dominates the skyline affront the splendid Victorian entrance to the netherworld of Bal Ham.
@billharris-tenor4354
2 жыл бұрын
I agree! Balham wouldn't have the popularity had it not been for Peter Sellers
@suecia1128
8 жыл бұрын
Memory of Mr. Cliff Earlie.....great teacher at Gascoigne Senior school, 1960's deceased now but remembered well by his students. He once played this for us and it has stuck in my memory every since. RIP Mr. Earlie.
@dhpbear2
5 жыл бұрын
2:55 - "This is Eugene Quills, whose weekly recitals are attended by a vast concord of people. He has never had a lesson in his life. Such is the enthusiasm of Balham's music lovers that they are subscribing to a fund to send Eugene to Italy. Or Vienna. Or anywhere..."
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
It was a tweet on a similar theme on The Archers that brought me back to this! "Or … anywhere" became a catchphrase with us, and I'm sure many others.
@susanmoran5226
3 жыл бұрын
I planned to go to Bal ham for my holiday this year. Dam Covid 19. I was looking forward to it.
@aCivilServant
3 жыл бұрын
3:28 "From Quills Folly, Bal-Ham's famous beauty spot which stands nearly 10 feet above sea level, the town is spread below us like a fairyland of glittering lights."
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
Green, amber, red, red-and-amber, and back again to green … (yet another bit I often wonder how many people get!)
@TrevorKeenAnimation
4 жыл бұрын
Loved tis as a kid, even before I knew Balham was a real place.
@RealUnimportant
6 жыл бұрын
Have lived in Balham. Can confirm all of this.
@markiangooley
4 жыл бұрын
Written by Muir and Norden, not surprisingly, according to its Wikipedia page...
@iainnunn5023
8 жыл бұрын
Missing the best bit. "We now enter old Bal Ham. Time has passed by old Bal Ham. So shall we."
@davidrichardstanhope
5 жыл бұрын
I think it's "Time has passed by this ancient corner"
@peterward2275
3 жыл бұрын
Why, you are right! I wonder why that is missing?
@DSDMovies
11 жыл бұрын
I visted Balham for the first time over 15 years after hearing this. It lives up to the hype.
@morganfisherart
7 жыл бұрын
Wow! Wiki says the sketch was scored by Ron Goodwin, and that led Alfred Hitchcock to engage him to do the score for Frenzy.
@Doctor_Kissworthy
3 жыл бұрын
I never noticed the frequent mention of the Quills family members, past and present! ...
@mikewebster5597
6 жыл бұрын
I live near Brixham..."Gateway To The South West" as I call it! Great to hear this gem again.
@kyawkyawwin1
4 жыл бұрын
Still fresh to this very day.
@Carole19561
10 жыл бұрын
We used to listen to this & Aunty Rotter on records when we were young & just emigrated out from England to Australia in 1959, before television became available over here absolutely love it, true classic Best of British comedy.
@robertmwoodley1502
5 жыл бұрын
Television was available from 1956 in Australia!
@YorkyOne
2 жыл бұрын
@@robertmwoodley1502 The BBC began broadcasting a regular channel in 1932. There had been various experimental broadcasts during the 1920's.
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
@@robertmwoodley1502 Perhaps not everywhere?
@marktuffield6519
10 ай бұрын
My mother had the record on Parlophone Australia and brought it with her when we came to the UK in 1965, I have it with me now 🙂
@SuperPanda1971
14 жыл бұрын
Brilliant stuff! I think me and my husband have been in The El Morocco Tea Rooms more than once!
@cherylannebird
14 жыл бұрын
Thanx! Not heard this for about 30 years! So cool!
@worddoctor1
13 жыл бұрын
"Does ya good to have a fling occasionally."
@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819
6 жыл бұрын
There is a film version of this - saw it one lunch time and was almost late back to school. A classic send ip of the travelogue films of the period.
@heathstjohn6775
4 ай бұрын
Was that film made by Sellers, please ? I don't know of it at all.
@losttango
12 күн бұрын
@@heathstjohn6775 Directed by Micky Dolenz, formerly of The Monkees and featuring a young Robbie Coltrane.
@kiethblack3870
Жыл бұрын
That 'toothbrush holesmanship' has always been my favourite! Who THINKS UP this stuff? HA HA HAAAAA!! 🙂
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
Yes, who wrote the script - Sellers himself? I know he did all the accents, one of the things he was known for, but I don't know if he wrote the words. (After reading more replies:) Frank Muir and Denis Norden.
@ricklangley3438
8 жыл бұрын
I'm sorry I missed the talks by Viscountess Lewisham and Mrs. Gerald Legge at the rally in Berkeley Square. I'm sure they would have been worth hearing. Up the ruling classes!
@Jamesp1972
14 жыл бұрын
BRILLIANT thanks
@peterpiper482
4 жыл бұрын
Forgot how good this was!
@postscript67
2 жыл бұрын
I have a cd of this and other Sellers tracks. This one is credited to Frank Muir and Denis Norden, and also "Goodwin". I presume that is composer Ron Goodwin and not Denis Goodwin who co-wrote the Sellers track "Auntie Rotter" with Bob Monkhouse.
@ernie880
12 жыл бұрын
Tooth brush holesmanship... Brilliant!
@femcymoedd535
Жыл бұрын
I grew up not far from Bal-ham and used to go to the annual horse show on 'Clarm' common. Happy days!
@Frege100
3 жыл бұрын
I once asked a young lady on Bedford Hill for "Battersea Park" she looked a me quizzically before informing me that she "If its the other way you're after try Clapham Common". I think this record may have been responsible for the notorious Balham Triangle.
@Tanganyikajack8313
2 күн бұрын
Those young ladies on Bedford Hill were known by my fathers generation as being very helpful.
@simongleaden2864
4 жыл бұрын
Peter Sellers was such a talented comedy performer! A shame a died at a relatively young age.
@crossleydd42
Жыл бұрын
In this instance, the rest of the LP, first 12" than, later, 10", was not really funny!
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
@@crossleydd42 There was much that wasn't, but this wasn't the _only_ good track. The political speech ("what about the workers"), that masterfully succeeds in not actually saying anything, is another good one.
@crossleydd42
Жыл бұрын
@@G6JPG I've just listened to it and agree with you. It's just like any politician, be it then or now!
@losttango
12 күн бұрын
@@G6JPGI liked it all when I was a wee nipper. "Three folk songs, recorded in hi-fi", "Aunty Rotter", "Trumpet Volunteer", "I'm So Ashamed"... "Balham..." was the highlight, for sure. I used to be able to recite it all the way through as a schoolboy...
@ericwhite8010
3 жыл бұрын
Ron Goodwin's El morroco tea rooms actually came out on a rare Parlophone 45!
@bbtablet
Жыл бұрын
Eric - many thanks for posting this - I have been trying to find that piece of music since the Peter Sellers record was first released - i.e. for 65 years! I have contacted all sorts of people and organisations but always drawn a blank, most of them saying it was just a short piece of incidental music written for the LP that had no length beyond the faded out piece we hear on the LP and so not a "real" tune. And then bang! - here is your comment! I have now found the 45 in question on KZitem and have saved it to my RealPlayer. It has a slightly different backing but nonetheless it is a great memory jogger for me. Thank You!
@heathstjohn6775
4 ай бұрын
Hello. It was released on Parlophone's red label, R4760, two years later, in '61'. It was the B side to ' Venus Waltz '. Thanks. I never knew. I'm so glad it wasn't '' Off '': (5'30-5:34").
@pix046
10 жыл бұрын
Toothbrush holesmanship was strictly demarcated by the unions at the time in Balham. If a toothbrush holesmanship worker was asked to do toothbrush bristlemanship by the management a strike would immediately be called.
@Toolpusher
10 жыл бұрын
I had ambitions to be a Toothbrush Holesman years back, but they offshored the production from here in Scotland to Puerto Rico. The costs might be a third of what they are here, but the holes aren't nearly as precise. :(
@crossleydd42
3 жыл бұрын
There was also a nasty strike when the toothbrush holes went from Imperial to decimal size. Very ugly scenario: they moved the factory abroad, in the end, to Clapham North!
@dixonpinfold2582
Жыл бұрын
@@crossleydd42 "Abroad" 😆!
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
There are elements of truth in what you say; one of Peter Sellers' films (I'm all right, Jack) was about such industrial relations, among other things! (As was "Carry on at your convenience" some years later.)
@Olaf1able
10 жыл бұрын
'Toothbrush holesmanship'- classic Peter Sellers. Introduced to me by an old school mate, good to hear it again.
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
"The holes are put in manually - that is to say, once a year." Priceless.
@sandrateager
14 жыл бұрын
Very enjoyable!! Glad you shared that with me my dear friend!!! =)
@martinwatson6806
6 жыл бұрын
Eugene Quills’ piano mastery sounds familiar. Producer George Martin would contribute similarly manic tinkling of ivories to the dying notes of The Beatles’ ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’.
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
According to another post here, it's "I'm walking backwards for Xmas", so has a right to sound familiar!
@vmkkith
12 жыл бұрын
I'm on Balham now on my first ever visit and all I can think of is this. I love the Bluebottle toothbrush sequence and the piano recitle being "I'm walking backwards for Xmas"
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
I hadn't noticed that! "Or … anywhere" is another meme that our family, and I'm sure many others, used.
@crossleydd42
Жыл бұрын
.....across the Irish Sea! Comes to me after 50 years!
@aartvegan
14 жыл бұрын
One of my favourites.
@jeffblack5024
7 жыл бұрын
Used to live near Crystal Palace park and had this in my head every time the train passed through Bal Ham, which has a Sainsbury's nowadays.
@stolly57
10 жыл бұрын
I remember "borrowing" this record from my brothers room many, many years ago, I still love it, the reason that I was directed here was that I put in another Sellers classic, but it hasn't come up and I am wondering if anybody else knows where I might find it, it's Sellers telling the story, on The Parkinson Show I think, of "The Balham Basher", I am smiling now as I write this just hearing the punchline again in my head. hope someone can help.
@VinylFun
15 жыл бұрын
Holy of Highs! At last we all know. You're a hero....PL Bollox!!!
@fredsr44
10 жыл бұрын
Thanks, VinylFun, for posting this. How about some from "Songs for Swingin' Sellers" (my favorites: So Little Time, Lord Badminton's Memoirs, The Critics, Shadows on the Grass).
@simonhodgetts6530
3 ай бұрын
Wonder if this was the inspiration for Telly Savalis’ brilliant films introducing British cities (Birming-ham being a notable one) from the 1970s?
@InACountryGarden
13 жыл бұрын
'BalHAM' & 'BuckingHAM Palace' - oh I *do* so love the Americans!! ,-)
@jrgboy
13 жыл бұрын
Written by Frank Muir & Denis Norden & produced by George Martin, who speaks one line.
@alinetayar8713
5 жыл бұрын
I am so glad you remembered. There is no acknowlegement on this clip.
@heathstjohn6775
4 ай бұрын
I didn't know, till I read your comment. Another on here has written Martin was the Undertaker.
@michaelcancerfree
4 жыл бұрын
I love my UK
@G6JPG
4 ай бұрын
I came back here after kzitem.info/news/bejne/qXym1J2hs4OnqoI, where I'd just told them about this, and had to listen through again with a silly smile on my face. And I notice this otherwise excellent transcription has a skip at about 3:40, in "green, amber".
@pab70
15 жыл бұрын
This is great. Cooking apples!
@momakesgoodmeatloaf
13 жыл бұрын
i like this. its cool
@auntieprawnful
12 жыл бұрын
Apparently it says the Ooni of Ife (he mispronounces it) which refers to the title of a Nigerian traditional leader......
@playgirlc
5 жыл бұрын
I was born in "bal ham" and I approve
@richardbrown1189
3 жыл бұрын
I want to know what became of Viscountess Lewisham and Mrs. Gerald Legge!
@colinhart9611
9 жыл бұрын
Some smart Alec on Nationwide used the track to head up a local election report from Balham. Anyone remember it?
@markchapman6800
6 жыл бұрын
Do the good burghers of Bal Ham curse this sketch? The place name was an answer in a crossword I did just now, and I immediately thought of this.
@lionelbrandon626
3 жыл бұрын
does anyone know the name of the tune played at the El Morocco tea room
@heathstjohn6775
4 ай бұрын
There's a comnent on here to say it was released on a 45, by Ron Goodwin. You might try ' Discogs '.
@geoff2204
5 жыл бұрын
Apparently Benny Hill and Michael Bentine did some of the voices. I'm thinking MB was the customer at the El Morocco Tearoom. Benny Hill...I'll listen again very carefully.
@postscript67
2 жыл бұрын
I believe they were in the first radio broadcast, but when this recording was made for release on record, Sellers did all the voices apart from the undertaker, who was George Martin.
@simon201063
12 жыл бұрын
@jrgboy Cremations conducted with decorum and taste
@G6JPG
Жыл бұрын
They would indeed spell it "travelog"!
@Tanganyikajack8313
2 күн бұрын
The 1st Bal-Ham and Tooting Scouts (formerly in the hall behind the church [now Polish, was C of E] next to Du Cane Court) were known as “The King of Siam’s Own” and wore a white elephant on a red background badge; bizarrely regal acknowledgment, considering the state of the old area! Something that the relocated group might play on, considering the spread of wannabes in the parish 😂!
@jeffstone2136
2 жыл бұрын
*BAL HAM*
@oliva77
12 жыл бұрын
I'd buy an album of Eugene Quill's piano mastery. Can I interest any music producers?
@adrianoclincho1852
4 жыл бұрын
Very good I think when Peter went to the USA he changed never as funny and he was a better actor in the UK too oh well that's life!
@MrSidTaylor
5 жыл бұрын
An obvious imitation of James A. Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks
@johncasper8031
10 жыл бұрын
In the 1950s half an acre was the area of two building blocks.
@losttango
12 күн бұрын
Or half a football pitch. It presumably still is....
@couldrey47
13 жыл бұрын
Who has the video? I remember seeing it on TV at some point.
@VinylFun
15 жыл бұрын
Just played it ten times, and I too haven't a clue!. Sounds like 'holy advice', whatever that is
@fredsr44
10 жыл бұрын
Ha! Just compared "Toothbrush Holesmanship" at 1:18 to this recent BBC effort. Sellars had the style nailed in 1958. facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152539428340659&fref=nf
@philfletcher3434
3 жыл бұрын
This aspect of English life is now as dead as the DO-DO.
@isme16
14 жыл бұрын
is balham is so bloody small dono how he gets so uch out of it lol btw i do live ther
@jrg135
12 жыл бұрын
@cowesontheisland I think he is mispronouncing 'his holiness' meaning the pope.
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