On This Day in Music: 16 April
16 April 1918: Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan was born in Ahmednagar, India. He was an actor, comedian, writer, poet and playwright.
Milligan was the co-creator, main writer and one of the principal cast members of the British radio programme The Goon Show. His anarchic sense of absurdity and unique comic genius made him a model for succeeding generations of comedians and paved the way for the Monty Python brand of alternative comedy.
Milligan’s poem "On the Ning Nang Nong" is featured in his 1959 book Silly Verse For Kids. This nonsense verse, set to music, became popular in Australia, where it was performed weekly on the ABC children's programme Play School.
Here is a version produced by George Martin with an Indian flavour.
Click on the links below to see previous doses of music history for 16 April:
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche