A bit better than Andy Rourke's

[mankie]

FROM VERIZON'S WEBSITE BY THE WAY...DIDN'T WANT ANYONE TO THINK I'D COME UP WITH STORY MYSELF!
 
 Harrison's First Guitar Sold at Auction
 
 
 George Harrison's first guitar - "a real cheapo" his parents gave him - has sold at auction for more than $469,200.
 
 The guitar was part of an annual Beatles sale by music memorabilia firm Cooper Owen, conducted Thursday at the Hard Rock Cafe in London. Bids were taken at the cafe, by phone and on the Internet.
 
 Harrison's father spent about $5.95 for the Dutch-made Egmond guitar. In The Beatles Anthology book, Harrison described it as "a real cheapo, horrible little guitar but it was OK at the time."
 
 Another guitar, which Harrison gave to his late friend Spike Milligan of The Goons, sold for about $25,500.
 
 Auction items also included autographed photos, a contract to play a club show and a corduroy coat that John Lennon once wore.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

47

[ggw]

Who knew that George Harrison was friends with a local D.C. hard-core band?
 
  <img src="http://www.thegoons.com/images/live_cover.jpg" alt=" - " />

[Jaguär]

I'm not surprised. What isn't well know either is that for many years, George Harrison owned a home in Easton, Maryland. It wasn't uncommon for the local residents there to see him shopping in the stores in the area.
 
 Another interesting local Beatles piece of trivia is that Ringo Starr's agent lives (or did so as of a few years ago...don't know the latest) somewhere in the Maryland area. She's an instructor or has some professional ties of some sort for the University of Maryland, but I don't which campus. A woman I use to work with told me a story about her son (a student of the school) running into Ringo one day in a dorm or somewhere and then found out why he was there.

[slappy]

Actually the local Goons are ripping off the name from a very funny comedy group the was on the BBC in the 50's and 60's.
 
 Eugene Chadbourne quote from All Music...
 
 "The second half of the 20th century would not have been as funny without these Goons. The massive influence this group had on comedy is not to be underestimated. Without the Goons, there would have been no Monty Python's Flying Circus, no National Lampoon, no Saturday Night Live, no South Park, and so on and so forth, the possible yucks enjoyed by mankind dwindling like the last flames on a burned-out log."
 
 I'd stick with  The Memphis Goons  on the US garage/punk rock side. (Xavier Tarpit lives locally.)