57. The Goodies – Almost Live
2 November 1976
‘The Goodies – Almost Live’ is assuredly an indulgence, constituting an in-studio live performance of the Super Chaps’ real-life novelty pop recordings. It is also a gleeful and gloriously exuberant celebration. Contradictions abound!
Goodies fans love the music, but generally seem to prefer the Cricklewood Tapes oeuvre (ie. those songs composed for the show itself) over the tie-in catalogue of LP and single releases.[1] The BBC erased most of the former. The lads, when devoting a full half-hour to musical performance, opted for the latter. To my mind this is unfortunate,[2] though perfectly understandable. (After all, their latest LP ‘Nothing To Do With Us’ was about to hit the shops. Why not some BBC-funded and disseminated self-promotion?)
The songs on show are, at least nominally, comedic. Some have their origins in I’m Sorry, I’ll Read That Again. Others are satirical, or silly (in the best possible way). Some are humorous due mainly to being sung by a man in a Union Jack waistcoat or, like Wild Thing, to said man’s having swapped out said waistcoat for a persona far, far removed from his Glee Club days…! Even more so than The Wombles, the Goodies eyed top-40 success as a novelty act. Given their background (or rather, foreground) in comedy, the subconscious expects their material to be funny—or at the very least that it was intended to be.
And yet… the pop has fizz. The funk is funky. Backing vocalists Jacquie Sullivan and Joy Yates may occasionally be seen raising their eyebrows, but they undeniably bring the soul vibes! In short, there is a genuine musical underpinning to many of the songs.
Granted, I’d rather hear ‘Run’, ‘Lay Weight on Me’, ‘Boomerang Love’, or ‘Needed’. But ‘The Goodies in Concert’ (to give the performance its alternative title) is what it is, and on its own terms that’s pretty good!
If considered as a ‘bonus’ episode, ‘Almost Live’ is pretty much unimpeachable; yet, if thought of as having taken the place of a ‘proper’ Goodies episode, then it must constitute an unmitigated let-down (unless, of course, we’ve a third hand and are comparing it to something like ‘Hype Pressure’!).
More so than any other of the Super Chaps’ seventy-six outings,[3] expectation is everything. Thus, enjoy—or not—as the mood takes you!
Jacob Edwards, 2 November 2026
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[1] Notwithstanding Richard Moore’s herculean efforts to have this material remastered and re-released, and the anticipatory joy this has given fans.
[2] The selection of material, that is. The BBC’s purging of original recordings was unforgivable!
[3] With the possible exception of Series 9’s ‘Snow White 2’. I’m doing my best not to think about that one until December 2031!