Spike Milligan - The Fresh Fruit Song

[@andyharrison3413]

I remember watching this on the night it was aired. I laughed so much I was crying, my parents thought I was having some sort of breakdown. If it hadn’t been for people like Spike Milligan, Marty Feldman, Eric Sykes, Barry’s Took & Cryer, there would be none of the comedy we see today, including Monty Python.

[@sandraoz8505]

Perfectly Said

[@keef71]

i couldn't put it better myself, so i won't 🤨

[@MirlitronOne]

"...the comedy we see today..." (cites 50-year-old TV programme!). 😂

[@ackerjawaka4742]

Monty python took a lot from spike and they know it lol

[@holymoly6829]

Here Here I saw it that night and never got over it Fabulous still cry when watching it 👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@HektorBandimar]

He was a bloody looney, and he still makes me cry with laughter these days......R.I.P. Spike.

[@Elitist20]

@MichaelKingsfordGray No you.

[@stephenreeds3632]

He was not a loony. Serving in a gun battery in WW2 affected him deeply with battle fatigue which had a devastating effect which never left him.

[@reggy_h]

I couldn't agree with you more. I've been a Goons fan since the early sixties. I just missed the original shows but I've made up for it since. There'll never be another Spike Milligan. I remember seeing this on TV in one of the Q series. I am still wiping tears of laughter from my eyes as I write this.

[@stephenreeds3632]

The man was a comic genius pure and simple. The Goon Show has never been bettered. It's such a shame that British comedy, after the 60s atrophied and we ended up with On the Buses and Terry and June.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

He was the only sane one.

[@jamespasifull]

I saw him on a talk show, plugging his new book. The interviewer asked "what's it about"? Spike's answer? " It's about 300 pages"!!! 😂😂😂

[@xsonoshee8120]

I'm sure we all know Spike suffered with manic depression. I've been going through a rough spell the last couple of months with depression and anxiety and Spike's clips can snap me out of it in an instant. It's like he knew what would help other people also suffering. Thank you for giving me a glimmer of hope in my worst times, Spike. Rest In Peace.

[@SpineMillington]

Similar experience here - Spike is the tonic which can always cut through the darkness for me. It gets better :-)

[@johnlewis7064]

Keep laughing....there is another side to reach, closer than you think. Bests.

[@josefschiltz2192]

Been going through C-PTSD. Spike never fails to be of help when I've really been down. Thanks Spike.

[@rupert5390]

@@josefschiltz2192 hang in there lads bluebottle would want you to

[@guitarmatricide4834]

American and fellow recipient of anxiety and depression over here. I agree with your assessment of Spike and I would also include Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys in that as well. Struggled with manic depression and schizophrenia but if you listen to his music, it’s joyful and whimsical. I think a lot of artists write what they want to feel rather than how they really feel. Keep your head up, you’re stronger than you think you are. I’ll root for you if you root for me. 😄

[@tomoconnell01]

Only Spike would think having Brunhild blowing raspberries, Wagner, eat your heart out!

[@uapuat]

Spike Milligan's demure opera-diva expression all the way through this. What a genius.

[@BongoFury1776]

If you've had a crap day put this on,never fails to make me laugh

[@trevormatthews6005]

I was going to say the same until I saw your comment never fails to make me smile no matter how many times I've seen it

[@stevestheboy1]

helen u gotta have what time is it eccles

[@HrhFish]

Back in the days of 3 channels and there always something to watch on. Now we have 300 channels with nothing on

[@colink4823]

Agreed about that. Lowest common denominator shows, reality shows, cooking shows, soaps...mindless crap

[@user-kg6rw2ty9v]

Hrh Fish I agree with you. I was of School age that time. It was such good family entertainment. Now it’s not tv anymore it’s just Sky tv. World channels. A lot of crap and filth and no quality. Plenty of vulgarity. The old comedians were genuine compared to today’s ones who THINK they are. In actual fact the speak junk, swear and make sexual references. I call that TALENTLESS...!

[@RobbeyT1]

LOL...True

[@paulweir7122]

So true, cookery, buying houses, ' talent ' shows and those two from the North East !!!

[@andrewphippsphillips1455]

Valid comment. With 3 channels, you could condense enough quality in those days. Now with umpteen channels, you have less quality and you can only spread something watered down so far...... It's because we slowly allowed cheaper rubbish to take over the programme slots, companies know they can churn out rubbish because the GB Public all want to be on television, making it cheap. Secondly, we constantly keep looking at a country across the Atlantic Ocean as a talisman and benchmark of "how it should be done". As long as we kept America happy, its all that's mattered. Fact is, our sense of humour and their sense of humor are poles apart.

[@donnca]

1:26-when they exchange a wistful glance-hilarious

[@happychappy12]

His face when he's not the lead, pure magic....................thanks for posting.

[@greigallan5845]

Total brilliance. Spike's demure facial expression cracks me up. 🤣

[@jacquelinekalich7463]

Good grief, he was nuts, but I loved him! He made me cry with laughter. R I P Spike.

[@jimpayne404]

This is one of those rare things that gets funnier the longer it lasts and the more you watch it. Spike did not always get it right in the Q Series but when he did he might just be the funniest person I've ever seen.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

The Q series were brilliant *because* they were "hit and miss" - you never knew what would happen next, they were full of surprises, and even the sketches that didn't really work were wonderfully absurd. You could go from "What on earth was that ?" to pants wetting laughter in seconds.

[@funkyalfonso]

Even John Cleese said they owed it all to Spike.

[@philturner1242]

Love a lot of Spike's stuff. When my kids were little, I taught them a Milligan poem: Said Baby Tern to Mother Tern "Can I have a baby brother?" Said Mother Tern to Baby Tern "Yes , one good Tern deserves another"

[@davidmcmahon7463]

Time to change the underpants ,Lol.

[@tubeyou1309]

Phil Turner Lovely stuff! I loved Spike's lunacy! :)

[@zh84]

This, in my opinion, is the funniest poem in the English language. I have never managed to say it to the end without laughing: I am a mystery fellow, I'm Fred Fernackerpan. I wear one sock that's yellow, The other dipped in jam. I walk about the countryside, I walk about the town, Sometimes with my trousers up And sometimes with them down: And when they were up they were up, And when they were down they were down, And when they were only halfway up, He was arrested.

[@Thepourdeuxchanson]

@@zh84 Brilliant! But this is my favourite Milligan - in pensive mood ; I must go down to the sea again - To the lonely sea and sky. I left my vest and socks there, I wonder if they're dry?

[@anbrjd]

Love Spike’s poems. This one is a favourite of mine; Doctor O’Dell Fell down a well And broke his collar bone, But doctors should attend the sick And leave the well alone.😂

[@PaulSmith-pi8fn]

Seen this countless times and it makes me laugh every time without fail

[@johnferguson8993]

Brun Hilda singing raspberries has me doubled up in fits laughing.

[@cqsteve1]

Oh God, I'd forgotten this clip. I saw it in about 1983 and fell about laughing. 2013 and it's still so bloody funny. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@Elitist20]

The great John Bluthal as the singer - the straight man is a vital comic role.

[@glynnbates3241]

dear old spike, making the world a brighter place for a few moments. sadly missed, ireplaceable.

[@AK-ru3sg]

Impossible to better what he has on his gravestone. "I told you I was ill". Perfection. What a legend.

[@murglardtharglard5834]

Can't believe Milligan and Bluthal didn't corpse at any point filming this.

[@ThatsViews]

I wonder how many takes it took to finish it? The outtakes would be fantastic!

[@chriswright1425]

Not can I.

[@RonWylie-gk5lc]

I was amazed to find this is an actual song from that period. Love you Spike, how poorer would the world have been without you

[@Erekose2023]

From before that period. Actually a Goon Show song

[@owenlewis8006]

It predates the goon show, it was a song from the ‘30s by an artist called “the raspberry king”. The goons borrowed it Much later

[@OldiesAl]

I have the original 1933 Jack Hodges recording on 78 and the Goons 1978 version both uploaded

[@ReachForTheSky]

@@Erekose2023 which episode?

[@TheRawmackaw]

That ending with his toupee lifts off is inspired.

[@jazzhuman]

Beyond brilliant. Everything here is superbly well judged and well timed. Spike at his best. The individual performances of the background actors are also superb. The small interplays and discreet humour in their reactions makes it a top class performance.

[@simonkormendy849]

Out of all the comedians on earth, Spike Milligan has to be the most hilarious comedian that has ever lived, he was undoubtably a comic genius, he made the world a far richer place with his sense of humour and was a huge influence on future generations of comedians, we all miss him so much.

[@glennjames665]

Oh god, inspired, just inspired. Immaculate timing right the way through, and I nearly wet myself when his wig flies off :)

[@prpwnage9296]

Immaculate timing., lol. It's a song, it has a set tempo

[@aditay]

14 dislikes...14 people who want shooting..or putting in the curry

[@RonWylie-gk5lc]

I am a huge fan of Spike but I had not seen or heard this!, Im guessing it is from one of the "Q" series, I almost hurt myself laughing. just Genius

[@katefox8843]

I wake up to this each morning.....I need help clearly.

[@sircumference5032]

start the day with a smile - why not

[@ivorbiggun710]

You're probably one of the happiest people alive.

[@jamesluby6705]

You're still asleep 😴

[@MrDaiseymay]

When i was a kid in the early 50's--The radio Goon Show could only be heard with the sound right down, because my old man and most of his generation didn't understand the Goon humour, and insisted the sound be turned low---mostly due to Harry Secombes yelling. Even the BBC executives thought that 'GOON' was actually 'GO--ON', and thought the title ludicrous. You either 'got it' or you didn't. and that is still the case. It's not a crime to say so. Fan forever !! ps US humour is simply different,

[@mussie302]

This is so wonderful. God bless you Spike for all the laughs. The world is a lesser place without his intelligent, crazy comedy, and 75 people can't see that.

[@dailowe]

That ain't by the Bonzo Dog Band, it's by Jack Hodges (the Raspberry King) in 1933!

[@ivorbiggun710]

Brilliant. I've been trying to find this track for a loooong time. Thanks for the heads up. A contemporary of the equally amusing Western Brothers.

[@lloydpenfold9477]

img.discogs.com/avyYxipLREiriaKI8L5dL60F_g4=/fit-in/600x605/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-7734452-1447686100-3917.jpeg.jpg

[@hughvane]

It's very difficult to 'explain' Milligan's humor to someone who doesn't appreciate laughing at oneself as well as at others. Milligan took the p*** out of nearly everything and everyone. Who else could have said, in one of his last interviews, that he wished "to be buried inside a washing machine ... in order to confuse future anthropologists".

[@differous01]

Written and Raspberried by Spike Milligan, sung by John Bluthal - Aug 1929 - Nov 2018. RIP. ~ The Fresh Fruit Song ~ : "In a little town where I belong There's a most accomplished fellow He's the leader of the village choir And his voice is warm and mellow He drives a fruit cart around the street And everybody knows it He doesn't sing or rave about His fruit; he simply blows it (Raspberry) He's doing it all day long (Raspberry) It's better than any song Though it isn't very pretty You've got to admit it's cute So, all together, let it go (Raspberry) Eat more fruit (Raspberry) It's certainly come to stay (Raspberry) It's a treat to hear him say Hey, fruit's in season, plenty berries Apples, plums and the old raspberries (Raspberry) Everything is fresh today Every Friday night when work is done He never wastes a minute To the village hall he hurries 'round Where he sings just like a linnet To hear him blow a melody It's great, you can't deny it And if you've nothing else to do I'd like you all to try it (Raspberry) Get ready and do it now (Raspberry) It's easy when you know how. Though it isn't very pretty You've got to admit it's cute So, all together, let it go (Raspberry) Eat more fruit. (Raspberry) It's certainly come to stay (Raspberry) It's a treat to hear him say Hey! Doe, tea, la, so, far, me, ray, doe (Raspberry, Raspberry, Raspberry, Raspberry) Everything is fresh today (Raspberry) It's certainly come to stay (Raspberry) It's a treat to hear him say Hey, fruit's in season, plenty berries Apples, plums and the old raspberries (Raspberry) Everything is fresh today (Raspberry)

[@ar48486]

Many Thanks

[@combadi]

Spike Milligan was born in Ahmednagar India,same as myself.

[@fenlandhobbit2307]

It's just coming up to 2024 and we could really do with a Spike Milligan now 😢

[@soundnicetome]

Comedy at its best,everybody acting daft as a brush,lovely !!! This type of comedy is sorely missed nowadays.Spike was the master !!!

[@trevproductions]

I am waiting for the day when the BBC releases Spike's Q series complete and unedited.

[@jimbilton1956]

I don't suppose it meets their current requirements for being woke/PC/ inclusive.

[@rozzgrey801]

Won't happen. The BBC has declared itself 'politically incorrect' and is now busy banning all its historical content. Buy this stuff if you can, while you can, the BBC disown it now.

[@jamespasifull3424]

The woke BBC lost it's sense of humour once it decided what it's politics was going to be!! I feel sorry for people who aren't allowed to laugh, for fear of 'offending' the overly-sensitive!

[@tubeyou1309]

Mad as a hatter, and BRILLIANT!

[@KKAkuoku]

it's just painful that this brand of humor isn't properly appreciated, especially in my country (USA); over here, the comedy trend is just pure cynicism, a bunch of people going on national TV and just bitching about society and the people in it. Why can't simple, cheerfully fucked-up stuff like this (and for that matter, Vic and Bob's stuff) get the respect it deserves?

[@vksbaudelaire]

For years my Dad has spontaneously come up to me saying "Eat more fruit", blown a raspberry and then hummed a tune. Now I know where it comes from. O_O

[@siliquaesid703]

Your Dad sounds like my Grandfather, A GREAT bloke! 😂😂👍

[@MrHokeykokey]

Also, my first taste of Milligan insanity was as a kid watching the cartoon show "The Ratties". This is a forgotten Milligan gem, purely because of Spike's narration which, as you'd expect, took off on bizarre, hilarious flights of fancy which often had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening on screen! But it's never been repeated and isn't available on dvd (the odd over-priced second hand video pops up on amazon from time to time). Does anyone else remember this programme?

[@richardmeads7775]

The very great Spike at his frequent best. Aided by the wonderful John Bluthal. Many many thanks.

[@halwasserman7905]

This skit gets everything right. The fake instruments, Spike batting his eyelashes like he is genuinely a beautiful woman, and the toupee pulled off at the end. This is what genius looks like.

[@okee9]

I remember seeing an interview with Spike telling how he used to record his show on the set next to monty python and they'd come in and watch him recording, he'd shout out get those python bastards out of here they're stealing my material :)

[@gromek6936]

BRILLIANT! Sadly not on TV anymore. So much crap these days on telly, so repeats would be great!

[@synthonaplinth5980]

Cracking Gong mandala. :)

[@davidcripps5268]

Spike milligan only has to look at you and you're already laughing, one naturally very funny man who is irreplaceable.

[@batgirl3436]

Spike, you were a wonder and a genius - we miss you so much. This sketch with the great John Bluthal and the Q cast is utterly hilarious.

[@johnlawrence2757]

Indeed yes John Bluthal and his astonishing impersonation of Hughie Green

[@jnorman737]

Yes, his name is John Bluthal, He used to impersonate Hughie Green in the hilarious idiot scout sketch which I think was in Q6

[@owenlewis8006]

John and spike are not singing, they are miming. It's a novelty record that might even be from the '20s by a guy called "the raspberry king"

[@101wryneck]

Jack Hodges to be precise, 1933 :)

[@GRENADIERHEEDER]

The look on Spikes face (between raspberries) is hilarious. The look they give each other at about 1.23 is also great comedy! Thanks for posting gr00ved!

[@christinesaunders7437]

Wonderful.😂

[@itgetseasierlessitry]

Spike looking like a Wagnerian Diva waiting for her cue to blow raspberries is priceless.

[@stephenswistchew7720]

The best party political broad cast I’ve ever seen

[@BoggWeasel]

I'm 68 and have never seen this until now, what a fabulous find, I've always had a space in my funny spot for Spike, thank you,

[@sephra86]

when im fed up i play this timeless peace and it always puts a smile on my big ugly mug thankyou so much spike and friends.

[@swallin19]

Brilliant, and funnier because Spike is more restrained here, too often his tangent on comedy was too far off target, he knew this, and tried to contain himself, but then gave in to more mischief all round. A very funny man, unique, and so sadly missed.

[@irinap4032]

what's up with farting sounds ??/ so funny? Really???

[@tomsharpe9988]

German?

[@MetropolitanSoul]

Spike's humour has aged very well with time - I'm crying with laughter here !

[@trevorjones4647]

Dear Mr Spike Millington. Goon but not forgotten. He told us he was ill.

[@steverose1977]

When I taught English in Italy I'd ask my students what the word for raspberry was. And then show them this.

[@clinchee]

Still so silly .. you know its coming but it still makes you laugh ... he was so clever x

[@MsBettyswallox]

had a really crap day at work came in and put this on, cant stop laughing now.....thank you Spike.

[@leemendham4788]

The Goons recorded a version of this song in 1978, with Rhymes on the B-side. Sadly, the last thing they ever did together before Peter Sellers' untimely demise.

[@scopex2749]

This is why the world is a dark dark sad place these days - all the GREAT comedians are gone.............

[@Vegas_small_timer]

Still funny today. Love you Spike, you were a true one of a kind genius. RIP. God rest your soul.

[@qpr981]

You can buy this wonderful song on 'eBay'. It's called "Everything Is Fresh Today (The Raspberry Song)" by Jack Hodges, on BBC Records.

[@corrinecummings3538]

If it wasn't for Milligan, nothing would ever have been this funny.

[@berndmannstein7589]

Ich hasse mich dafür, aber für diesen Beitrag muß man die Briten lieben! Einfach nur toll - sehe ich mir immer wieder an.

[@MrHokeykokey]

It's often said that Monty Python was the direct comedic descendant of Spike Milligan, and this is obviously true to a certain extent. But i've always felt that Python sketches were equally as influenced by the Oxford Revue/ Cambridge Footlights style of their Alma Maters. In my opinion the closest anyone has come to the pure, surrealist lunacy of Milligan's humour is Reeves and Mortimer's best stuff. Does anyone know if Spike ever saw any Reeves and Mortimer shows or what he thought of them?

[@jonathanowen4075]

Based on an interview-profile of him that I once read about him in his last years, it seems that he didn't have much time for contemporary comedy. He was even ambivalent about the Pythons of course. But I agree that Vic and Bob have much of Milligan's pure randomness - whereas with Python there's an intellectual element and a certain methodical quality that Milligan just doesn't have (I love them all though of course).

[@carolinedesiderio6737]

He was not loony at all, rather he CHOOSE to act like a lunatic in order to save his own sanity in a period of great suffering. he was the exact ontrary.. Highly intelligent and very sensitive towards others

[@carolinedesiderio6737]

Lovely Gentleman of the first category

[@TiddleIX]

Rest in peace, Spike. Doesn't seem like ten years since we lost you. It's nonsense like this song that make us realise how precious you were.

[@jwood36]

Spike is up there with Tommy Cooper and Eric Morecombe in that you only have to look at him and he makes you laugh. The likes of Little Britain and Catherine Tate should take note of this a sketch show without catchprases or regular characters week after week. God Bless ya Spike

[@StewartNicolasBILLYCONNOLLY]

TERENCE "SPIKE" MILLIGAN - The inspiration behind the Spirit Of The Blitz, The unique human being who defined the first class humour that defeated the Nazis - YING TONG YING TONG YING TONG TIDDLE -I-HO

[@eileenmann5187]

Absolutely love this! Desmond Carrington just played it on his Radio 2 programme which reminded me I'd saved Spike's version. Wonderful. Lifelong Spike fan from listening to The Goon Show first time around as a young teenager.

[@AbelMcTalisker]

Spike revisiting old Goon Show material as they put that song out on record years earlier.

[@jamestownsend5573]

I loved Spike when I was 10. I still do 65 years later. The one and only.

[@MrHokeykokey]

Glad to be of service. :) The Ratties unfortunately seems to have slipped away unnoticed in the mists of time for some reason. I wish someone would release them on DVD. It goes without saying of course that the biggest crime against british(irish?) comedy is the BBC's continual reluctance to release a DVD box-set of all Spike's Q series. Sort it out, Beeb!!!

[@LEWOOF]

I still have a photo of spike taped on top of my computer modeling the new line of his thistle lined underwear…

[@arthurpewtey]

How can anyone give this a thumbs down? 44 people (and counting) have something wrong with them - or perhaps they've had their senses of humour excised?

[@richardmeads7775]

If they have-it would have been a very minor operation. Lol.

[@freakydeke1]

pc brigade

[@willowmadhuridixit8991]

People that simply don’t get his humour?

[@bminusconstruction4212]

I was skeptical but God I LMAO.

[@jenkis02]

I remember watching this as a kid, with my dad. He fell off the sofa laughing, truly wonderful comedy. R.I.P Spike

[@stephenreeds3632]

Only he would have the wig lifted off at the end. Fighting for his country gave him PTSD and then everyone said he was "a loony".

[@roblowefan1]

he looks just like my Nan

[@TheBeck666]

i want to try to be even a quarter as funny as spike milligan

[@Wiganmaher]

Yes, it's Australian actor John Bluthal who worked with Spike on all the Q series

[@Shannmeister]

Can someone make this into a ringtone, PLEASE. As long as royalties goes to Spike's estate.

[@crankbv1]

Ever given a thought to what you'll have played at your funeral? I think I've found mine. If they're gonna cry at least it will be with laughter.

[@pops2728]

Yup, just decided that myself. Spike, you were the funniest bloke alive.

[@Darbkin]

We could use more fruit in our diet

[@jimbomaltby4457]

Beautiful example of Spike's genius ruined by the sound editor putting canned laughed over the funny pits i.e. Spikes blowing rasperries. I think I saw this on the Q Series and I was in hysterics but I'm reasonably sure that didn't have the canned laughter.

[@wenglishsal]

LOVE SPIKE... Has anyone else noticed that the Straightman is the fellow who plays 'Frank Pickle in The Vicar of Dibley with Dawn French'... amazing and very funny... :0)x

[@beefheart1410]

If I watch this one more time I'm going to do myself an injury!

[@sephenford7347]

This is not surreal it is absurd. It is meaningless but tremendously funny. It is the best of the Theatre of the Absurd. It is so stupid but makes me laugh so much. Spike is still not venerated as he should be but I guess he'll forgive that now he's dead. He always said he was ill.

[@willowmadhuridixit8991]

Sephen Ford ‘Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite, Irish for "I told you I was ill." Is inscribed in his headstone.

[@ivorbiggun710]

I dunno. I think Spike is pretty venerated. And rightly so, of course.

[@MANTLEBERG]

And what do you do ?...." I DO MY BEST SIR"

[@fatherglyn]

If I am feeling glum I watch this - it is impossible not to laugh and it does not pall!

[@thefrecklepuny]

Madcap brilliance. Never dates.

[@40bcoots]

Defintely John Bluthal .. from Western Australia. He's also in many other Milligan sketches.

[@freakydeke1]

and david lodge

[@hablin1]

Brilliant

[@corksand]

This tune predates them all. You must know that Spike is miming to a record produced 80 years ago. Still, my 5 year old grandson splits his sides when he hears it as I did as a small boy.

[@chagkruzart7695]

Omg that laugh track is disgusting 🤮

[@BuzbyWuzby]

Brunhilde never looked more beautiful! ;-)