Novelty Songs: Part 2
Since this blog is nearly turning into an obituary site for rockers, let's liven things up a bit with classic novelty songs! Last summer, I made a "Silly Songs" playlist for my kiddo and it was a huge hit. And in case you were wondering when Part 1 was posted, it was a special Father's Day post from my first year blogging here, a real hoot. Now onto more hilarious tunes from the back of your memory banks!
Best remembered for originating the Harold Hill role in the musical The Music Man, American stage and film actor Robert Preston was asked to make a recording as part of a program by the President's Council on Physical Fitness in 1961 to get schoolkids to do more daily exercise. The song, "Chicken Fat" (also known as "The Youth Fitness Song"), which was written and composed by Meredith Willson
and performed by Preston with full orchestral accompaniment, was
distributed to schools across the nation for free and played for students in
calisthenics every morning. Willson and Preston volunteered their services on the project, while Capitol Records,
which produced and distributed three million copies of the LP, paid for the backup musicians, studio time, and production and
distribution. The song later became a surprise novelty hit was widely used in schools in the 1960s and 1970s. "Go, you chicken fat, go!" Can they please bring this back to gym class?!!
A trio of cousins from New Jersey, The Ran-Dells scored a one-hit wonder novelty song in 1963 with "Martian Hop," which reached #16 on the Billboard chart. At an era when pop culture was saturated with the beginning of the Space Age, the song is a product of impromptu beach jam sessions when the three band members joked around about Martians throwing a dance party for "all the human race." Though the Ran-Dells have been recognized for innovative and pioneering use of a sine wave generator
(a first for the pop music genre), the 12-second introduction at the beginning of
the song is an uncredited sample from the first 30 seconds of "Moon
Maid" by Tom Dissevelt and Dick Raaymakers from their 1962 experimental album, one year before "Martian Hop" (check it out here).
A successful pop singer and actor in the late 50s and early 60s, Pat Boone had 38 Top-40 hits and still holds the Billboard record for spending 220 consecutive weeks on the charts with one or more songs each week. In 1962, Boone found a hit with novelty tune with a cover of "Speedy Gonzales" about the "fastest mouse in all Mexico." The Boone version peaked at the #6 on the Billboard chart during a total chart run of 13 weeks, doing better in
many national charts in Europe, where it sold a million copies.The female voice ("La-la-la...") on this song was of session singer Robin Ward (Elton John stated that the "hook" in his best-selling single "Crocodile Rock" was inspired by his listening to Ward's vocal on "Speedy Gonzales"). This song also incorporated Mel Blanc voicing Speedy Gonzales as he did in the Warner Brothers cartoons.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- American folk singer and songwriter Tom Glazer found his greatest commercial success with his original 1963 recording of the song parody "On Top of Spaghetti" based on the "On Top of Old Smoky," which he recorded with the Do-Re-Mi Children's Chorus. It is the tale of a meatball
that was lost when "somebody sneezed," and discusses what happened
to the meatball after it fell off of a pile of spaghetti and rolled
away. Call and response songs are always a hit with the kids!
Although definitely not a one-hit wonder, American soul music singer and songwriter Shirley Ellis capitalized on her novelty hits like "The Clapping Song" (previously featured here during our Dance Craze post) and "The Name Game." Written by Ellis with Lincoln Chase and recorded in late 1964, this record went to #3 on the Billboard chart and #4 on the R&B charts in 1965. With lyrics featuring a rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name, Ellis performed this novelty hit on the major television programs of the day, including Hullabaloo, American Bandstand and The Merv Griffin Show. The song later became a popular children's singalong.
Known as the King of Skiffle, Scottish singer-songwriter Lonnie Donegan was probably Britain's most successful and influential recording artist before The Beatles, with 31 Top-30 UK hits, 24 being successive and three at #1. He scored his biggest US hit with the novelty song, "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight)?" first hitting #3 on the UK chart in 1959 and then peaking #5 on the US chart in 1961. The song is a cover version of "Does The Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" first released in 1924 by The Happiness Boys. The title and lyrics of the Donegan version were changed in the UK because "Spearmint" is a registered trademarkthere, and the BBC would not play songs that mentioned trademarks.
American country music singer-songwriter Roger Miller is best-known for his chart-topping country pop hits and honky-tonk-influenced novelty songs. In fact, I enjoy this novelty tunes so much, I couldn't pick just one! From his classic 1965 album The Return of Roger Miller, two singles were released including his biggest hit "King of the Road" (previously featured during our Country Crossovers posts here) and this novelty hit "(And You Had a) Do-Wacka-Do" (#15 on the country chart and #31 on the Billboard chart). The expression "do-wacka-do" is a funny way of saying "do-like-I-do," and the song itself expresses envy in a humorous way. Here's great live footage of this classic.
And the other novelty tune I couldn't leave out is this other Roger Miller gem that my kid adores too.
From the same album, the track "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd" was later released as a single in 1966. This wacky tune was actually Miller's favorite song that he wrote. Here's a live performance for a bit later, Miller still sounding great. Not that the lyrics are meant to make sense,, but the part where "you can't change film with a kid on your back" is an especially mind-boggling line for the youngsters these days! Haha.
NOTE: I started this post awhile ago, but I've taken so long that summer has almost passed me by! I heard kids were already going back to school this week, crazy!
Well, I've been caught up in all the fun things that a Californian summer has to offer. I suppose, before summer is truly over, we should do a little two-part series on Summer Music. In this next batch of songs, each of the lyrics mention those footloose and fancy-free activities of summer.
As a kid, I remember my mom having this Best of Nat King Cole LP, and my sister and I particularly loved the song "Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer." Reaching #6 on the pop charts in 1963, this was one of his last big hits, two years before his death in '65 (while smoking three packs of cigarettes a day may have continued to his golden baritone, it unfortunately shortened his life as well). Being one of the first black Americans to host a TV variety show, Cole's distinct, mellow voice continues to maintain worldwide popularity. Here's some excellent color footage from a BBC TV special in that summer of '63.
Becoming an international star in the late 1950s thanks to Dick Clark, American rock and roll singer Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon found his biggest success with the 1962 hit "Palisades Park." Released as a B-side, this song broke in when a Michigan radio DJ played it by mistake, and by March of '62, it peaked at #3 on the charts. Written by Chuck Barris, this up-tempo tune was a tribute to New Jersey's Palisades Amusement Park, which later closed in 1971. Complete with the distinctive organ part and amusement park sound effects, this is likely a performance from America Bandstand, a show where he made a record 110 appearances!
A popular recording artist and teen idol of the early 1960s, New York-based Brian Hyland is known for his "puppy-love pop" and pre-Bubblegum sound. In August of 1960, he scored his first and biggest single at the age of 16 with "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," written by Brill Building duo Vance and Pockriss. This novelty song about a shy girl wearing a revealing bikini at the beach was a #1 hit in the US and was popular in other countries, reaching #8 in the UK. At a time when these bathing suits were too risque' to be mainstream, bikini sales took off after the release of this song, and it is considered to be one of the earliest contributors to the acceptance of the suit in society. More from Brian Hyland in our next post.
Although the life of this next artist was tragically cut short at 21 in 1960, his guitar playing had quite a lasting influence on rock music, so I figured I'd include his summer-related tune. Being one of the first rock and roll artists to write his own songs and overdub his tracks, Eddie Cochran was known for capturing teenage frustration and desire in the late '50s and early '60s with rockabilly songs like "Summertime Blues." Originally a B-side single, this classic tune peaked at #8 on the US charts in September of 1958 and #18 in the UK. It has been covered by many artists including The Beach Boys, The Who (a staple at their concerts in the early years), and Brian Setzer, who portrayed Cochran in the 1987 film La Bamba (great soundtrack, by the way). Here's a great live performance by one of the first true rock and rollers!
And since that last tune was technically not from the '60s decade, here's another cover version that was. The San Franciscan psychedelic blues-rock band Blue Cheer recorded their version of "Summertime Blues" in 1967, which peaked at #14 on the Billboard charts. Although it is not as widely recognized as The Who's version, it was more distorted with a more intense guitar sound and is ranked among the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. It is the actually the first heavy metal song to make the pop charts, well before "Born to Be Wild" and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." Here's a great intro by the late Dick Clark who didn't shy away from any type of music.
To complete this rather varied post, I absolutely must include the band that epitomizes the sounds of summer, our good ol' Beach Boys. Released in March 1963, "Surfin' USA" was their first big hit, peaking at #3 on the Billboard, while taking its parent album to gold record status. At this time, Brian Wilson began using double tracking to achieve fuller-sounding vocals, thus creating The Beach Boys' own unique sound. Set to melody of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" (which he does receive co-writing credit for),
"Surfin' USA" mentions nearly every hot surfing spot at the time, mostly in California including the local beach I grew up going to, San Onofre. From the 1964 concert film known as the T.A.M.I. Show, here's a classic live performance where the girls just can't get enough of these guys. Surf's up!
Christmas Music: Part 3
Today's post features music from animated/stop-motion clips that are still Christmas classics decades later. First, it's "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)," written and sung by Ross Bagdasarian Sr. (a.k.a. David Seville), and credited to the fictitious Chipmunks (thanks to his V-M tape recorder). First released in 1958, it reached #1 on the Billboard chart, and re-entered the chart several more times through 1962 (in 1963, Billboard starting listing re-current Christmas songs on a separate chart). Bagdasarian earned three Grammy Awards for this song including Best Comedy Performance, Best Children's Recording, and Best Engineered Record. (Original video removed from YouTube).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A follow-up to their "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", The Royal Guardsmen released another novelty song later that same year in 1967, this time "Snoopy's Christmas." Once again featuring the beloved beagle from the Peanuts comic strip, this song is about how Snoopy and the Red Baron set aside their differences on Christmas Eve, echoing the historical event of the "Christmas Truce" during WWI. Peaking at #10 on Cashbox 's list, this holiday favorite actually hit #1 in New Zealand, remaining a popular Christmas song in that country..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Speaking of the Peanuts gang, 1965 saw the release of "A Charlie Brown Christmas," a CBS Christmas special with an accompanying album of the same name. Performed by the jazzy Vince Guaraldi Trio, it is among the most popular Christmas music albums of all time. Here's a quick clip from the special featuring the mellow tune of "Christmas Time Is Here."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another one of the few Christmas specials from the 1960s to be shown annualy on TV is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" Originally airing on CBS in 1966, this Dr. Seuss animated classic featured the voice of Boris Karloff as the Narrator and The Grinch, however, it was Thurl Ravencroft (mentioned in the Halloween post) who performed "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch." After Ravencroft was accidentally not credited in the closing credits, Seuss personally called him and apologized, and wrote letters to columnists nationwide to clear up the mistake. Too bad YouTube will only allow me to post a portion of the song.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, we'll conclude with the longest-running Christmas TV special, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which has been telecast every year since it first aired in 1964 on NBC. Produced in stop-motion animation, this special featured original songs by Johnny Marks that have become Christmas standards including "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and "Silver and Gold." Here's a clip from the special with folk singer Burl Ives performing "A Holly Jolly Christmas."
Stay tuned for one last post featuring the best sounds of the season!
Although Halloween is generally too creepy for me, here's a fun-filled (and I mean full!) post of some innocent, 1960s spookiness.
We're kicking this post off with a Halloween pop favorite, the novelty song "Monster Mash." During the early 1960s, Bobby "Boris" Pickett was an aspiring actor who first gained attention with his Boris Karloff impressions while singing with a band called The Cordials. Composed together with guitarist Leonard Capizzi, Pickett recorded the "Monster Mash" with session musicians credited as "The Crypt-Kickers," and this monster-themed tune reached #1 on the charts in October of 1962, just in time for Halloween. Seeing Pickett's crazy facial expressions are crackup, though you're almost kind of relieved when you finally see him smile at the end (reminds me of the "first Darrin Stephens" from Bewitched in the mid-1960s).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This next creepy tune is brought to you by The Turtles before they scored their best-known hit ("Happy Together") in 1967. Released as a single in May of 1966, "Grim Reaper of Love" barely made the Billboard charts since it was clearly too dark for record-buying public. Written by Turtles lead guitarist Al Nichol and bassist Chuck Portz, it's actually a pretty cool and haunting song with the verses metered in a 5/8 feel (some nerdy musician language for ya).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ And who can forget one of the strangest families on 1960s television? Based on Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons,The Addams Family TV series ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966 on ABC, and were often compared to their working-class rivals, The Munsters (that TV theme featured during Surf Rock Week). Composed by American TV and film composer Vic Mizzy (who also wrote the theme to Green Acres), this finger-snappin' tune is still remembered generations later.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next up is a "spooky little" cover by "The White Queen of Soul," British singer Dusty Springfield. Originally an instrumental song played a saxophonist, the best-known version of "Spooky" was actually by The Classics IV, whose jazz fusion/pop rendition reached #3 on the charts in 1968. Unfortunately no decent videos of The Classics IV's "Spooky" are currently available, so here's the next best cover by the beautiful and sultry Dusty, probably in the early 1970s since her signature beehive hairdo of the '60s is not included.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the most recognizable films in cinema history is Hitchcock's 1960 horror film Psycho, with Bernard Herrmann's musical score adding greatly to the tension and drama. Hitchcock himself stated that "33% of the effect of Psycho was due to the music." The Shower Scene is probably the most famous cue in film music, with the shrill screeching of string instruments. However (no Shower Scene today), this sound clip below is the main title of the soundtrack, an intense yet truly fantastic piece of musical art.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And of course a Halloween post deserves a typical and crazy Monkees romp (a music video precursor), featuring the foursome with classic Hollywood monsters in the episode titled "The Monstrous Monkee Mash." Although the episode first aired in January of 1968, the filming actually started on Halloween of '67. Written together by all four of The Monkees with Diane Hilderbrand, "Goin' Down" shows off Micky Dolenz's impressive (and quick) vocal skills, and was the B-side to "Daydream Believer." Sock it to me! (The individual music video has been removed from YouTube, so here's the whole episode! "Goin' Down" begins around the 20-minute mark).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First opening in August of 1969 at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, the Haunted Mansion is a beloved dark ride with a classically creepy theme song heard in many different variations throughout "the tour." Composed by Buddy Baker with lyrics written by Disney legend "X" Atencio, "Grim Grinning Ghosts" featured a pickup group of vocalists including Thurl Ravencroft (in the clip, the "singing bust" on its side) who is also known for singing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," as well as the voice of Tony the Tiger ("they're ggggreat!"). This particular sound clip comes from the "Graveyard Jamboree" variation where the theme is played the loudest in the ride, with ghosts singing over a background loop including the 1960s-style bass line and rhythm section. In college, I actually based a music composition homework assignment on these chords because I liked the progression so much. ("Graveyard Jamboree" begins around the 10:39 mark).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To end this Spooktacular post, here's my favorite creepy song of the 1960s: "People Are Strange" by The Doors. Written by bandmates Robby Krieger and Jim Morrison, this psychedelic rock song was released as a single in September of 1967, and peaked at #12 on the Billboard charts and #10 on the Cashbox. As a teenager, I heard a cover version of this used for the opening credits of the 1980s vampire film The Lost Boys (with a teenage Keifer Sutherland!), which I think forever etched into my mind the eeriness of this tune. Showcasing The Doors' interest in the theatrical music of European cabaret, this song isn't at all Halloween-related but about alienation and being an outsider, and seems to expose Morrison's vulnerability. On that depressing note, enjoy!
Other 1960s songs that you can include in your Halloween playlist are "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones (already featured here) and The Zombies' very interesting "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" from their Odessey and Oracle LP here.
Happy Fall, everyone!
My dad recently suggested doing a post featuring crazy songs from the 1960s. So in honor of Father's Day, here's a wacky post just for my Daddy-O! Enjoy! (My dad, the guitarist on the left, with his garage band buddies back in 1966!)
Since my dad grew up as a big Dodger's fan, I've got to start off with "The Dodger's Song" by actor/comedian Danny Kaye in 1962, technically titled "The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh Really? No, O'Malley)." As a lifelong fan of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, Kaye gives a detailed yet fictitious account with the San Francisco Giants, which was a big hit during the real-life pennant chase of '62. I even have my dad's old 45 of this classic.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adopting their English-sounding name in the wage of the British Invasion, The Royal Guardsmen were a rock band from Ocala, Florida, who scored a #2 hit with the 1966 novelty song "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron." Based upon the Snoopy character from the Peanuts comic strip, cartoonist Charles Schulz and the United Features Syndicate (UFC) actually sued The Royal Guardsmen for using the Snoopy name without permission. The UFC won the suit and required that all royalties from the song go to them. Remaining in the bestsellers for 12 weeks, this song sold one million records in early 1967 and earned a gold disc.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Considered the grandfather of the comedy-rock genre, Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became a famous song parodist in the early 1960s. His biggest hit single was "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh," a comic novelty song that reached #2 on the charts in 1963. Set to the tune of the classical tune of Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours," it was based on letters of complaint Sherman received from his son while attending Camp Champlain in New York. Winning the 1964 Grammy Award for Comedy, this parody is exactly the kind of music that would inspire future comedic musicians like "Weird Al" Yankovic. Pretty sure the first time I heard this was on a replay of the famous Dr. Demento radio show.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the clean-cuts Brits of the 60s, Herman's Hermits had a #1 hit in the U.S. in 1965 with "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am" (sometimes spelled "Henery" because of the Cockney accent used to sing it). Dating back to 1910, this song was originally a British music hall song (similar to vaudeville) made famous by music hall star Harry Champion, and it became the fastest-selling song in history to that point when Herman's Hermits revived it. Although the band didn't care much for this song, they aimed at the U.S. fanbase, with lead singer Peter Noone exaggerating his Mancunian accent, however, they never released it as a single in the UK. Here's another jolly clip from their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Napoleon XIV was the pseudonym of American singer-songwriter and record producer Jerry Samuels who is known for his 1966 one-hit wonder, "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha -Haaa!." This successful novelty song was probably the wackiest (and maybe most annoying) of the decade, yet it reached #3 on the U.S. charts and #4 in the UK. The lyrics first appear to be a rant by a mentally ill person who just lost his love, yet as the song continues, it seems like it's about the singer's dog instead (the cover also supports this idea with "Napoleon" holding a novelty "invisible dog" leash. What a crazy hit that actually sold a million records!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australian singer-songwriter Rolf Harris wrote one of best known and must successful Australian songs in 1957 with "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport." It became a worldwide hit in the early 1960s, even reaching #3 on the Billboard charts after its U.S. release in the 1963. Inspired by Harry Belafonte's calypsos, it's about an Australian stockman (one who cares for livestock) on his deathbed. Harris' recording uses an instrument he designed called "the wobble board," which created a distinctive sound. This song is still popular today as a children's song.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And for my final song today, I'm actually rewinding back to the late 1950s just for fun with a novelty hit by American actor and singer Sheb Wooley. Reaching #1 on the charts in 1958, "The Purple People Eater" was based off a joke told by the child of a friend of Wooley's, and Wooley finished the song within one hour. About a monster (described as a "one-eyed, one-horned, flying, purple people eater") who really just wants to be in a rock 'n' roll band, you'll notice that the monster isn't necessarily purple but that he eats purple people! Speeding up the recording to create the monster's high-pitch voice (like The Chipmunk Song later that year), this has been a classic silly song for decades. And check out this old footage!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And of course, the "Surfin' Bird" fits right in with these crazy songs, featured a few months ago during Surf Rock Week. Send me any other wacky suggestions and we'll save them for another post!
American folk singer and songwriter Tom Glazer found his greatest commercial success with his original 1963 recording of the song parody "On Top of Spaghetti" based on the "On Top of Old Smoky," which he recorded with the Do-Re-Mi Children's Chorus. It is the tale of a meatball
that was lost when "somebody sneezed," and discusses what happened
to the meatball after it fell off of a pile of spaghetti and rolled
away. Call and response songs are always a hit with the kids!
