The Goons - The Ying Tong Song

One of the fourteen singles released by Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Spike Milligan . ’The Goons’. From September 1956. Encouraged by the success of their debut single, The Goons recorded a follow up single on August 16th 1956. The material recorded was to provide them with their biggest hit, and a song with which they would forever be associated. “The Ying Tong Song“ pushed the recording technology of the 1950s to its limits with innovative use of tape editing and vari-speed recording. Spike Milligan later alleged that the song was written as a response to early British Rock and Roll artists who were bombarding the Top Ten with songs of dubious quality using a simplistic chord structure. Utilising the same much maligned chords, the record reached number three in the UK upon its release on the 10th September 1956, backed by the equally funny parody “Bloodnok’s Rock and Roll Call“.