h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry to be pedantic, but in the interests of accuracy I feel it's only fair to point out that the title of the song is actually "The Intro And The Outro", not just "Intro And Outro".

And just where were you during this longs long surjoin in peer review?

Over there. *points*

*looks in totally the wrong direction*

Where?

"Garner Ted Armstrong on vocals"

This is followed by a line or two of "scat" singing a la The Cotton Club.

It might interest readers to know that Garner Ted, like father Herbert, belonged to a fringe denomination in Christianity called the "Worldwide Church of Christ", the sort of Christian group where the Leader, in this case Herbert, had the sort of charisma (and ego) that made the religion's follower's confuse him with Christ.

The WCC took a distinctly extreme theology that verged on the racist: its prime claim was that the "Twelve Lost Tribes of Israel" later re-emerged as white, Aryan, nations of Europe who the good Lord allowed to build colonial Empires and rule over the "lesser peoples" of the world, just as they, particularly the British, remained subject and dutiful to God.

Alas, Europe fell into sin, and the mantle of world leader and Empire-builder under God has now passed to the USA (or at least its white-skinned part)

The WCC's racist theology is such that black people are viewed as being in a far greater state of sin than whites. Also, if the true Chosen People of God are those who later became British and American, then who are these imposters who today CALL THEMSELVES "Jewish"... ie, the same theology used by German priests to justify Nazism.

So the Bonzos having Garner Ted singing in the voice of a black man was just as much a political statement and a compliment that Garner Ted must have truly loved!

I'd missed that naunce. As did everybody else until you pointed it out. Thank you.

A public service!

About the time of "Gorilla" (1967-68) Garner Ted Armstrong and his dad rented time on Radio Luxembourg to beam their nutty and somewhat racist version of Christianity into Great Britain.

At the time, or at least prior to October 1967, there was no such thing as Radio One or any pop music station other than Luxembourg 208 and the pirate stations.

So for an hour or so before Fab 208 started broadcasting pop music to Britain at 7:45 PM, Central European Time, the Worldwide Church of God had the frequency to broadcast sermons, warnings of hellfire and damnation, appeals for masney, et c.

Older people might remember tuning in to Luxy at the start of the evening and catching ten minutes or so of Garner Ted Armstrong doing a fire an damnation sermon...

Also re, the original line about Quentin Hogg MP "on pig grunt" - this gentleman was ennobled under Margaret Thatcher and became one of her stauncher supporters in the Lords.

However, the eponymous manners and habits of Mr Hogg, MP, which the Bonzos were ponting at here, persisted with his elevation to lordship - "Private Eye" referred to his greed and the fact he became massively obese by renaming him Lord "Two Dinners" Hailsham - ie, a man who thought nothing of going back for seconds in a big way, by eating two six-course meals back to back.

Being renowned for one's greed and gluttony in the Eighties is going some, but Hogg managed it! (I believe he was touching 40 stone at death: this puts him in a league with Cyril Smith as a parliamentary porker)

Of course Sir Cyril is now a lot slimmer than he was in Westminster.

Just to drag this back to the original posting for a moment, the title has now been changed

Sorry to interrupt!

According to this article, the gong stricker for J. Arthur Rank was not Robert Shaw but an Olympic medal-winning wrestler named Ken Richmond. The article is his obituary.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2308809,00.html

>> Brianiac, real name Vril Dox, was a villain from Marvel and DC Comics' Superman series, first appearing in 1958.

Superman strictly falls into the DC Comics category.

The Apprentice

Good point! I've made the change, and also changed the J Arthur Rank section to note that Robert Shaw was only one of the men who hit the gong. A few links added as well.

Question for anyone subscribed here:

Was Val Doonican's "Hello there" recorded by the man himself or was it an impersonation?

Icy

Re "Dan Druff", wasn't he a character in a mid-60s comic?

I remember... his superpower was to shake his head and immobolize all his foes in a disgusting great pile of scurf. A very scurrilous seventies/early eighties comic called "Oink!" (there's a Guide entry on it) revived the character, and Terry Pratchett ran with the idea to create a minor character in a Discworld novel who has the same horrible superpower up until the moment he met a man with a very sharp sword who ensured that "Snowy" never suffered with dandruff again...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A822421 "Oink!" comic, but aaargh, nothing about Dan Druff! I'm sure he was here...