About 20 years ago a lot of the alternative comedians, especially those who had come out of the creative coterie surrounding the comedy store, coined the slogan that Comedy is the New Rock and Roll! But in fact, the links between what was then considered as edgy comedy, and the burgeoning rock and roll establishment goes back a long way before that! Peculiarly, it even bridged the gap between the war-time generation, and those who came next. The Goons were probably the most popular alternative British comedians of the 1960s, but they had become friends a decade earlier when two of them were serving in the royal artillery during World War II. Much of the work of these artists, alongside other giants of post-war comedy, were produced by George Martin of Parlophone Records. He was so close to Milligan, in particular, that he was best man at his second wedding. George Martin, of course, went on to be the most famous record producer in the world as he mentored the Beatles all the way through their stellar career. Bridge on the River Wye is an album by members of the British comedy group The Goon Show and other humourists. It was produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records. It is a parody of the 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai. The record stars Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook, and also features Peter Rawley and Patricia Ridgway, with incidental music composed and directed by Wally Stott. Stott is possibly best known as the arranger of the orchestra on the first four solo albums by the legendary Scott Walker, and for having gender reconstructive surgery in 1972, after which she became as Angela Morley. Morley was the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Academy Award. The script was written by Spike Milligan, based on an earlier script by Milligan and Larry Stephens for The Goon Show, African Incident (Series 8, Episode 14), first broadcast on BBC radio on 30th December 1957.