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6. BOOK REVIEW – "THE GOODIES RULE OK"
(by Lisa Manekofsky)
(from C&G #132 November 2006)
"The Goodies Rule OK" by Robert Ross
Robert Ross's second book about our favorite trio, entitled "The Goodies Rule OK" (hmm, where else have I heard that name...? ;) is now available in shops in the UK and Australia (and by mail order for fans in other countries).
"The Goodies Rule OK" is a really nice looking book, thanks to its well designed layout, use of color, and the wealth of photographs throughout. Even die-hard Goodies fans will be impressed by the wide range of photos - there are sure to be many pictures they've never seen before. For example, the book includes photos taken during rehearsals for Goodies episodes, some Cambridge University era pictures, and even a few publicity stills from the pre-Goodies shows "Twice A Fortnight" and "Broaden Your Mind".
"The Complete Goodies", Robert's first Goodies title, took the format of an A-Z guide. "The Goodies Rule OK" is a chronological overview of the Goodies story, starting with a bit of biographical information about Tim, Graeme, and Bill and the paths that led them to meet at Cambridge. The book then touches upon their major pre-Goodies works before delving into a more detailed discussion of the Goodies' projects (the television show, records, books, etc.) The author makes use of material from the BBC archives to tell the story in addition to integrating previously published/broadcast interviews with new ones.
I found the book to be a very interesting read, although perhaps a bit uneven at times. For example, certain Goodies episodes are discussed at great length while others are given only a brief description. Some series of the radio show "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again" are mentioned while others are pretty much overlooked. In all fairness, I should confess I am the type of Goodies fan who's interested in "all the details"; other people just want to know the basic story, which is entirely reasonable. "The Goodies Rule OK" does a good job in the latter respect. And for those who crave more detail, we have Andrew Pixley's extensively researched book to look forward to (no publication date has been set yet, though having seen an early draft of the first few chapters I can attest that it's going to be worth the wait!) Then again, Andrew's book is unlikely to be illustrated, and certainly not to the degree of Robert's.
"The Goodies Rule OK" serves as an excellent companion to other Goodies resources & publications. The book isn't a full episode guide - yes, it lists all the episodes, but it doesn't go into complete plot details, listings of guest stars & songs, etc. But we don't need it to do that - we have Brett Allender's excellent Goodies Episode Summaries, which are available on the club site (URLs for this and other referenced items can be found at the end of the article). Robert and Brett's works nicely compliment each other - you can get the full episode summary from Brett's guide and then read interesting stories & tid bits about the episodes in Robert's book. In the same way, while Robert's book doesn't include a Goodies discography it does provide some interesting information about their records, including the reason the group moved from one record label to another. Readers can then make use of my online Goodies Illustrated Guide if they're interested in more specifics (such as track listings for the albums). In turn, "The Goodies Rule OK" has photos of a few promotional items for the Goodies records that are not available in the Illustrated Guide.
"The Goodies Rule OK" especially shines when making use of interviews with Tim, Graeme, Bill, Jim Franklin and others to tell the Goodies’ story. Thanks in part to that, and the wonderful photos throughout the book, it has easily earned its place as part of the essential Goodies library.
WHERE TO FIND THE PUBLICATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE:
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