When I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac, it never occurred to me that Slim Gaillard might be a real person. A dip into the archives was a revelation.

He played the guitar and tap danced, sang duets with Dizzy Gillespie, spoke eight languages, and even invented his own language. His comic performances were a unique brand of nonsense jive talk — a variation on hipster slang and nonsense words known as Vout.

Gaillard’s words are weird, yet curiously logical, and superbly rhythmic. In “Flat Foot Floogie” he sings: “Flaginzy at flagat, flaginzy ooh flagoo-jigee.” And you can hear the chuckles coming through it all. Spoken and sung slightly off-kilter, it kept me listening, kept me guessing, kept me wanting to hear more. Rap singers could learn a lot from Slim Gaillard.

If you listen to him on YouTube you understand why Kerouac found Gaillard irresistible. He is irresistible and somehow survived the rock era, which should have made him passé. One way or another it made him more unique.

As unique at the time as The Goon Show with their mind-boggling combinations of mixed sound effects, surreal humour, catchphrases, and unexpected wisecracks.

On my arrival in London, I was stunned to discover the voices and strange accents were more or less how English people spoke. I felt as if I’d stepped into The Goon Show.