Is There A Doctor In The House

A dark true-crime binge and a stack of holiday catalogs aren’t the setup you’d expect for a joy-soaked tour through novelty music history, but that’s exactly where we go. We start with the emotional whiplash of the week—Gacy’s psychology, DNA breakthroughs, and why missing kids get dismissed—then pivot to therapy, Florence + The Machine’s pagan-tinged lyrics, and the everyday grind of USPS life. From porch-light PSAs to why tipping your mail carrier matters, the real world sneaks into the headphones before we flip on the neon and dive into Dr. Demento.

We grew up with the Funny Five blaring from bedroom radios, a tape recorder at the ready. Here’s the origin story: Barry Hansen, record collector turned musicologist, builds a syndicated cult show that revives novelty music and accidentally launches a legend. Weird Al Yankovic’s My Bologna climbs the request charts, and a career is born. Along the way we unpack the craft that hides inside the chaos: Fish Heads going from absurdist earworm to SNL and MTV staple, They’re Coming to Take Me Away bending tape speeds and sirens into a manic spell, and Yoda navigating permissions from George Lucas and Ray Davies to become a live-show anthem. Even the classics keep surprising us—Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh turns real camp letters and a ballet melody into a generational in-joke; The Lumberjack Song proves Python brilliance can be written in 15 minutes; and Chuck Berry’s only U.S. number one is the gloriously scandalous My Ding-A-Ling.

What emerges is a love letter to the weird songs that taught a generation how to laugh, how to question the rules, and how to turn lowbrow into lasting culture. If you remember Walkmans, mixtapes, and Sunday-night radio, this one will hit the nostalgia switch. If you’re new to Dr. Demento, you’ll leave with a playlist and a grin you can’t shake.

Enjoy the ride, then tell us: which novelty track belongs at number one on your Funny Five? Subscribe, share with a friend who still knows all the words, and leave a quick review so more Gen X ears can find us.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Two best friends fucking fast We're missing two
arcades We're having a blastSeeing these dreams beyond
screens It was all bad like youknow Tatter forever Never never
never lapping Jerry our storyforever We'll take you back like

(00:26):
whatever Welcome to LikeWhatever a podcast for by and
about Gen X I'm Nicole and thisis my BFFF Heather Hello So
today Um Dick Cheney passedaway.

SPEAKER_03 (00:45):
I heard um RIP's wondering why all the flags are
housed out he's uh um I wasactually wondering if um the
White House was going to lowerbecause um well Dick Cheney
wasn't necessarily a great guyum as far as I go politically,
he did um endorse Kamala Harrisin this last election.

(01:09):
Um really yeah.
He said the biggest threat toAmerica Donald Trump.

SPEAKER_04 (01:16):
I mean I'm gonna have to agree.
I can't say that.
Federal worker here.

SPEAKER_03 (01:23):
Yeah.
So um, so yeah, so he he he didhave some good in him.
Um, but still, um he also shothis friend in the face.
He did once, so you know.
I mean, but who hasn't?
That's a good gen X memory, isall.
Who hasn't shot their friend inthe face?
For real.
Um, oh, I also wanted to talk toyou about uh devil in disguise.

(01:45):
Yeah.
Um, did we've you've I haven'tfinished it.
I have not finished it.
Oh, you haven't finished it.
Oh, I finished it.

SPEAKER_04 (01:52):
No, I got distracted.
I don't know by what, but I didget distracted.

SPEAKER_03 (01:55):
Probably doing your hair.

SPEAKER_04 (01:56):
Oh, yeah, I did my hair.

SPEAKER_03 (01:58):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:58):
Wait, the blue is gone.
It is.
Now she looks like fire.
Yeah, yeah.
It's orange and red.
Yep.
And a little bit of blackbecause it was a little bit too
bright for me.

SPEAKER_03 (02:08):
Throw some black in it was.
But um, yeah, so Devil inDisguise is the John Wayne Gacy
um show on Peacock.
So how far have you gotten init?

SPEAKER_04 (02:20):
Um I think I'm at episode eight.
Oh, I think that's the last one.
Oh, oh maybe it's I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (02:28):
Okay, so you've gotten pretty far into it.
Yes.
It's dark as fuck.
Yes.
I mean, it's it's hard to watch.

SPEAKER_04 (02:36):
The story is pretty fucked up.

SPEAKER_03 (02:38):
It is, but I think I mean there are parts that I
thought have been very slow.
Yeah.
And drunk out.

SPEAKER_04 (02:44):
That might have been the problem.

SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
Yeah.
But yeah.
I I I like to sit and binge acouple episodes in a row, and
this is one of those ones wheresometimes after one, I'm like,
yeah, that that was a lot.
I'm I don't think I can do thisfor another hour.

SPEAKER_04 (03:00):
So here's the thing about John Wayne Gacy.
Also, do you know why they callthem by all three names by
serial killers and stuff?
Um, and assassins are called byall three names.
No.
So that you don't confuseanother John Gacy.
John Gacy.
Oh.
Yeah.
Yep.
So another poor John Gacysomewhere.
Yeah.
It doesn't have to be a goodone.

(03:22):
Although I don't know why TedBundy is just Ted Bundy, but
because he was cute.
Yeah.
Um yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (03:31):
Yeah.
The guy who plays Gacy isfantastic.
He looks just like him.

SPEAKER_04 (03:36):
He does.
I heard an interview with him.
He said he people tell him thatall the time before he did it,
and he was like, Yeah, thanks.

SPEAKER_03 (03:43):
Gee, thanks.
But yeah, I think what draws mein so much to serial killers is
the psychological part of itbecause I've always been into
that sort of thing.
And he's just so twisted in histhinking, like, I'm not gay,
it's not my fault, it's theirfault.
They're like, seriously.

(04:04):
It's and I think he believes it.

SPEAKER_04 (04:07):
Well, so here's the thing John Wayne Gacy is one of
the ones that is like thequintessential story of how a
serial killer starts.
That's a fly, not a spider.
I was gonna move it for you, butit's a fly.
No, I'm not scared of spiders.
Um so what happens is the firsttime they kill is kind of an

(04:30):
accident.

SPEAKER_03 (04:31):
Yeah, and that's what happened with it.

SPEAKER_04 (04:33):
Yes, it was kind of an accident.
And then they figure out oh,that was fun.
Yeah.
And then you get away with it.

SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
Right, for at least 33 no, I think it was they think
they think it's over fifty.
They do they really don't know.

SPEAKER_04 (04:52):
No, they don't.
And they have they have recentlyidentified another victim that's
not been that long because nowwith DNA, but I think they said
I forget how many, how many, umuh how much people is left that
they have that they can get DNAfrom.

(05:15):
Like there's a lot of it.
So I think they're still tryingto work through, still trying to
work through.
And now with DNA they can, butyou know, it costs a lot of
money.

SPEAKER_03 (05:23):
And yeah, well, they said that um there's seven
unnamed graves.

SPEAKER_04 (05:28):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (05:29):
Um, so that must have been one of those that they
figured out.
But yeah, it's an excellentwatch.
I would highly recommend it, butwhew.
Yeah.
Make sure you're in the rightstate of mind to be watching it
because it's horrifying.
And that lady that plays themom, like the main mom, she was

(05:49):
just fantastic.
Like wow.

SPEAKER_04 (05:52):
That's the only reason he got caught.
Mm-hmm.
Was because of him.
That was the last one that itwas somebody who they saw him in
the drugstore with somebodywhose parents cared about him.
The rest of them were runawaysand drug addicts, and I mean
that's how they all get awaywith it.

SPEAKER_03 (06:07):
Well, it sounded like earlier on peop um parents
were going to the police inChicago, and the police were
just Yeah.
You know, it's just a bad kid.
So, but and that never made anysense to me either.
Whether your kid's a drug addictor a prostitute or whatever,
they're still missing.
So it's called The Last Dad.

(06:28):
Yeah, I know, but that bothersme.
But speaking of like in yourfeels, are you a Florence in the
Machine fan?
No.
Okay.
You might like her new album.
Do you like just not like her?
I don't have an opinion one wayor the other.
So she I heard her on NPRearlier today.
They were interviewing her.
Um, and she has a new album thatcame out on Halloween, and it's

(06:54):
very um like the pagan religionis a lot through the lyrics.
Um, it it it's good.
I I listened to it on the waydown here, that's why I didn't
listen to last week.
Um really got me in my feels.
Like, I'm definitely gonna havesome songs to talk about with my
therapist.
Excellent.
This week.

(07:14):
Yeah.
Good times when you havesomething to talk about with
your therapist.
Yeah, we're we've been usingTaylor Swift songs because we're
both fans, and um, not that thatever gets old, but I I almost
want to message her.
Like, I don't have contact withher, I'd have to message her
through the that she works for.
But um, I almost want to tellher to listen to this album
before we meet on Thursday.

(07:36):
I haven't decided if I'm gonnado that yet.
Because I could tell her aboutit on Thursday and then we can
discuss the following week.
But yeah, it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_04 (07:44):
So I had my therapist last night, and then
we're moving to monthly forChristmas, um, because I don't
have time for it.
But uh, we just got to talkabout all the fun drum I've had.
She, I just as soon as westarted, I was like, hold up.
I got tea for ya.
Well, let me spill it, and thenwe'll talk about me.

(08:06):
And then we didn't even need totalk about me.
Yeah.
Because the tea was enough.

SPEAKER_03 (08:12):
Well, the tea is indirectly about it affects you
100%.
So that that counts.
Yeah.
Good times.
All right.
Did you have anything else youwanted to add?
I know you said you've just beenin a work frenzy.
Yeah, working is yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (08:26):
So this time of year, it's weird because
everybody thinks it's like, youknow, Christmas season really
doesn't kick off until um BlackFriday.
I mean, typically, I guess foreverybody in the world, that's
when it kicks off.
Unfortunately, for the UnitedStates Postal Service, all those
lovely little catalogs that youget, they start rolling out

(08:49):
within the last two weeks.
They start rolling theirChristmas stuff out.

SPEAKER_05 (08:52):
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (08:53):
So, and they go hot and heavy at you.
Yeah, yeah.
So that's what it's been likethe last uh you know week or so.

SPEAKER_03 (09:01):
So yeah.
Um, do you get a more do youhave more packages yet too?

SPEAKER_04 (09:05):
No, not yet.

SPEAKER_03 (09:06):
Because I'm surprised people in this economy
and with the tariff crap aren'tordering ahead of time early.

SPEAKER_04 (09:13):
I don't know.
I am a little bit worried aboutthat, that they're not gonna
order.
Um, because now that we don'thave uh we don't have as much
Amazon as we used to, we don'thave FedEx, and we don't have
UPS, although we are getting UPSback.
Um it's all stuff that's sentthrough the post office, and
like whoever they have, theydon't have a deal with Walmart,

(09:35):
and Walmart has its own peoplenow too.
Um so packages are not pickingup, but the mail volume has
definitely gone up in the lastweek.
And it's mostly junk.
It's mostly junk catalogs andworst.
Yeah, it's it's a lot of andthat stuff I know no one cares,

(09:55):
but when your regular yourlittle envelopes mail comes, it
all comes in in order in asequence, and it comes in these
big trays, blah, blah, blah.
And um, but magazines and stufflike that come separately, not
in that.
So we have to put that in there.
Yeah.
So like they we have these tubsthat they put our we call them

(10:17):
flats, um, in and they pile themup, and every tub that we get is
like a f is gener generallyabout a foot.
And so we count everything infeet.
So like between yesterday andtoday, I probably had 10 or 15
feet of flats, which is likejust stupid amounts.
And then you have to put themin, it's the whole thing.

(10:39):
And let me tell you somethingbeing a male person is a lot
harder than you actually thinkit is.

SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
I know you see us riding around in the cool little
truck all the time, but it is itis much more difficult job than
I think, and and until you doit, you do not know how I would
like to take this opportunity tolet people know that uh postal
employees appreciate a tiparound the holidays.

(11:07):
Um so if you are feeling soinclined, hook them up.

SPEAKER_04 (11:14):
We also like when you leave snacks out.
Yes.
Um in the summer it's nicebecause people leave water,
frozen water, Gatorade orwhatever.
This time of year when it'sstarting to get chilly, and so
PSA, because it is getting darkearlier now.
Um just leave your porch lighton.

(11:36):
Even if you don't think you'regetting a package, this is for
for all your package deliverypeople.
It just makes things a milliontimes easier if your porch light
is on.
So we're not tripping over, andespecially at fucking Christmas
time with the goddamn Christmasdecorations in the middle of the
goddamn yard.
I can't even tell you how manytimes I have face planted in the

(11:57):
middle of somebody's yard.

SPEAKER_03 (11:58):
I'm pretty sure you actually told us last Christmas
time.

SPEAKER_04 (12:01):
Because of your stupid starshine things.
God, there's there's there'sextension cords everywhere, and
it's like a hellscape for us.
So just leave your light on.
Yeah.
Till it's time for you to go tobed.
Yeah.
Then you can turn it off.
Yep.
And be kind.
Yeah.
Be patient.

SPEAKER_03 (12:21):
Yes.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (12:23):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (12:25):
Alrighty.
So before we get started, I'dlike to ask everyone to like,
share, rate, review.
Please.
Find us wherever you listen topodcasts.
Please.
Follow us on all the socials atLike Whatever Pod.
Please.
And we are on YouTube.
Still a work in progress.
Yep.
And you can send us an email tolikewhateverpod at gmail.com.

(12:46):
Please.
All right.
So this is something I've beenwanting to do for a very long
time.
And I don't know why it took meso long, but I'm excited for it.
I think it's gonna be fun.
So today we're gonna fuck aroundand find out about Dr.
Demento.
So I don't know who remembersDr.

(13:07):
Demento.
Um, did you listen to him atall?
Or do you know of him?
Okay.
So when I was growing up, um uhthe town I lived in at radio
station, and every I want to saySunday night, I'm pretty sure,
um, they had um Dr.
Demento, what is it?
Slam Willcast.

(13:29):
Um I don't know.
I don't know.
Anyway, it was a nationwideradio show, but it aired on our
local radio station on Sundaynights.
And Dr.
Demento played silly funnysongs, and I loved it.
And I used to sit up with mytape recorder and my tape and
record all the funny songs andthen listen to them on my
Walkman.

(13:49):
I do only know the one.
Which one?
They're coming to take you away.

SPEAKER_04 (13:52):
Oh, yeah, you can't do that.
My dad sings that all the time.

SPEAKER_03 (13:54):
Yeah, yeah.
But um, I uh it's funny goingback now as an adult because
back when this was airing, I wasyoung, and some of these songs I
was singing with my Walkman.
Uh-huh.
I'm sure my parents were like,oh god.
You know.

SPEAKER_04 (14:16):
People talk about the music today.
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 (14:20):
I don't know.
Well, it's I'm not saying it'sany better or worse today.
It's just always been there.
Always.
Um, and everybody's parentsalways hated it.

unknown (14:32):
Yes.

SPEAKER_03 (14:34):
All right, here we go.
Dr.
Demento was born April 2nd,1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Uh, he's an American radiobroadcaster, record collector,
and musicologist whose cultfavorite radio program, the Dr.
Demento Show, aired from 1971 to2010.
I had no idea it ran that long.

(14:54):
I was gonna say I did not knowbecause I listened to it in the
80s.

SPEAKER_04 (14:58):
Yeah, that's a long time.

SPEAKER_03 (14:59):
Yeah.
Um, and it revitalized theappreciation of novelty music.
Since 2010, the Dr.
Demento Show has been producedas a weekly online-only program.
There you go.
I know.
And as I was doing this, I waslike, I should listen to that,
but I never will.
But anyway, um, Barry Hansen'sinterest in novelty songs
started at a young age.

(15:20):
In a 2023 interview with theLong Beach Post, he recalled
when I was four years old, mydad brought home a 78 RPM record
of Cocktails for Two by SpikeJones, and that was in 1945.
Uh, and it immediately became myfavorite song.
Also, on the other side wasLeave the Dishes in the Sink,

(15:41):
Ma.
I just loved playing records.
A year later, when I was five,my parents got me a step stool
so I could get up to reach therecord player, so I wouldn't
have to beg them to put onwhatever I wanted to play.
Hansen started collectingrecords from resale shops when
he was 11 years old, taking aparticular interest in discarded

(16:01):
rhythm and blues records fromlocal jukeboxes.
Oh, smart.
Yeah.
As a teenager, he listened tolate night AM radio programs
that featured the music of bluesartists such as Sonny Boy
Williamson, Muddy Waters, andJimmy Reed.
By the time he was in highschool, Hansen had accumulated a

(16:21):
voluminous record collection andwas uh and he started DJing at
local sock hop dances.
He studied music theory at ReedCollege in Portland, Oregon, and
wrote his undergraduate thesison early 20th century opera.
Yeah, I know.
It's a very wide gamut of music.

(16:42):
Um, Hansen worked as a programdirector at KRRC, Reed's 10-Watt
radio station, and he hosted aprogram called Musical Museum,
which featured an eclectic blendof obscure folk, RB, country and
western, and world musicselected from his ever-growing
collection.
That's so funny.
He got it like his own show andused all his own records.

(17:05):
I wonder if that was common backthen.
Uh, after graduating from ReedCollege in 1963, Hansen became a
key contributor contributor tothe Little Sandy Review, a
pioneering and influential folkand blues music magazine.
He earned a master's degree infolklore and ethnomusicology.

(17:26):
Ethnomusicology.
There you go.
Ethnomusicology.
Got it.
From the University ofCalifornia, LA.

SPEAKER_04 (17:34):
I did not know that you could get a degree in
folklore.
That might have changedeverything.

SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
In the late 1960s, he produced compilation rec
recordings and worked as atalent scout for the specialty
records label.
In 1970, Hansen's friend StevenSiegel, a disc jockey at the
Freeform rock station KPPC inLos Angeles, asked him to bring
some rare early rock and rolldiscs to play as a guest.

(18:07):
Hansen was popular withlisteners and earned his own
evening slot.
His programming featured mostlyblues and do-up music, but he
noticed that listeners respondedenthusiastically to novelty and
comedy songs.
One particular audience favoritewas Transfusion from 1956 by the
Nervous Norvus, a soundeffects-laden novelty tune about

(18:33):
a daring but reckless driver.
In a 1980 interview with theWashington Post, Hansen recalled
that KPPC's secretary remarkedthat he had to be demented to
play Transfusion on the radio.
Everyone else at the station hada name, Outrageous Nevada, the
obscene Steve, Steve and Clean.

(18:55):
So I became Dr.
Demento.
The Dr.
Demento show aired weekly onKPPC uh in 1971, moved to radio
station KMET in 1972, and wassyndicated in 1974.
See, syndicated was that what Isaid?
I don't remember.
That was like a whole 10 minutesago.

(19:16):
I'm gonna take credit for it.
Um the show let you the showintroduced the work of novelty
music artists Spike Jones, AlanSherman, and uh Stan Freeberg to
new audiences and a popularizedsong such as Dead Puppies.

SPEAKER_04 (19:32):
I know that one.

SPEAKER_03 (19:33):
I know in 1977 by Ogden Odsell and Ben Fencer's
Fish Heads, 1978 by Barnes andNoble.
Or no, Barnes and Barnes.
Close.
Yeah, fishheads still will getstuck in my head.

SPEAKER_04 (19:52):
It literally just got stuck.

SPEAKER_03 (19:54):
Yeah, I haven't heard it since the 80s, but
every once in a while I juststart singing fish heads in my
head.
I don't know why.
Uh and the ever-popular Grandmagot run over by a rain gun.
I gotta tell you, I did not knowit was that old.
1979.
Yeah, I know, me neither.
I thought it came out when I wasa teenager.
Yeah.
Uh and that was done by Elmo andPatsy.

(20:14):
Uh Hansen began appearing as Dr.
Demento at special events,spinning records, and greeting
crowds in his trademark top hatand tuxedo with red accessories.
After going into nationalsyndication, the show settled
into a two-hour format thatincluded three segments.
An opening segment featuringHansen selections and listener
requests, a segment dedicated toa particular theme such as

(20:38):
Halloween or Christmas music,and a final segment called The
Funny Five, featuring acountdown of the week's most
requested songs.
That's where I had my taperecorder out.
Right.
Because those were the ones Iwanted.
Sure.
Um, Hansen closed the show withhis trademark sign-off.
Don't forget to stay demented.
At the height of its popularity,the Dr.
Dementor show was syndicated onmore than 200 stations.

(21:03):
In addition to playing listenerrequest, the show strengthened
its connection to its audienceby airing songs that were
performed by listeners.
One listener who contributedmusic to the show was a teenager
who would later become known asWeird Al Yankovic.
Look at that.
Yankovic's breakaway song on theDr.
Demento show was My Bologna.

(21:27):
My Bologna.
That was in 1979.
Wow.
It was a parody of My Sharona bythe neck.
My Bologna, which I know it'sbaloney, but that doesn't run
with My Sharona.
Um, topped the funny five, andits popularity on the show
helped Yankovic build momentumtowards an enormously successful

(21:51):
career as a novelty songperformer and composer.
Hansen appeared in many ofYankovic's music videos,
including Ricky in 1983, I LoveRocky Road in 1983, and I lost
on Jeopardy in 1984, which isanother one that gets stuck in
my head often.
I don't know why, but just outof nowhere.
He also appeared on Yankovic's1989 comedy film UHF in the

(22:16):
biographical parody film WeirdWeird, the Al Yankovic story in
2022, Hansen is portrayed byactor Rain Wilson.
Oh, I bet that's good.
I know.

SPEAKER_04 (22:28):
I don't know about that.
Yeah, I watched that.
Yeah.
Oh, I just as an I can't,because I'm not gonna be able to
edit it out.
There's a huge fire happeningdown the road from here.
So there is a lot of of activityout there.
So I can't edit it off.
Big tire place is on fire downthe road and put a lot of

(22:49):
pollution in there.
Yes, and there's not so there'sa lot of activity because
they're like right across fromthe firehouse, kind of caddy
wompously over there.
Anyway, that's kind of and I'mnot gonna be able to edit it
out.
So if you hear it.

SPEAKER_03 (23:02):
Yeah.
So like last week with the wind,yeah.
This week we got emergency crew.
All right.
Uh Hanson drew on his work as arecord compilation producer when
Warner Brothers released theanthology Dr.
Demento's Delights in 1975,which includes the novelty songs
Hello Mutta.

(23:24):
Hello Fada.

SPEAKER_04 (23:25):
Hello Mada.

SPEAKER_03 (23:26):
Hello, Fada.

SPEAKER_04 (23:28):
I know that one too.
Yep.
Actually, no, a lot of thesethat I didn't realize I was
gonna know.

SPEAKER_03 (23:32):
Yeah.
Um, that was 1963 uh by AlanSherman and the cockroach that
ate Cincinnati in 1973 byPossum.

SPEAKER_04 (23:42):
I don't know that one.
I don't either.

SPEAKER_03 (23:44):
Uh several similar compilations followed.
In 1980, Rhino Records releasedDr.
Demento's Dementia Royale, whichgathers the oddities pencil neck
geek.
No, I know that one uh in 1977,uh, performed by professional
wrestler Fred Blassi and MakingLove in a Superoo in 1979 by

(24:07):
Damascus.
I don't know that one either.
I don't either.
Rhino's Dr.
Demento um 25th anniversarycollection in 1995, sold well,
and collected the novelty songNuggets The Curly Shuffle in
1983.

unknown (24:24):
Sorry.

SPEAKER_04 (24:25):
I I don't like the three stooges.

SPEAKER_03 (24:28):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (24:28):
By jump and I think it's because we're girls, and I
think it's just a girl boything.
I think so too.
My dad loves it.
And I'm like, this is thestupidest fucking thing I've
ever watched in my this is likethe hugest waste.

SPEAKER_03 (24:42):
And I love physical comedy, but it is so stupid.
It's just awful.

SPEAKER_04 (24:46):
It makes no sense at all.
Like at least physical comedyshould make sense.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But this just uh Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (24:54):
Um deal with it.
And let's see.
So the curly shuffle and rubberbiscuit in 1956 by the Chips.

SPEAKER_04 (25:01):
Don't know that one either.
I feel like I do, but I'm notsure.

SPEAKER_03 (25:04):
Um in 19 or no, in 2018, the Demented Punk Punk
Records label released Dr.
Demento Covered in Punk,featuring artists such as Shonen
Knife, the Dead Milkman.

SPEAKER_04 (25:17):
Oh my god, I love the dead milkman.

SPEAKER_03 (25:18):
I know.
And actor William Shatner.
Oh my god, I love actor WilliamShatner.
Maybe you need to get um clearlyI do.
And Dr.
Demento covered in punk.
Guess what?

SPEAKER_04 (25:30):
I'm gonna be listening to on my way home.

SPEAKER_03 (25:33):
Uh yeah, William Shatner performed punk rock
renditions of songs popularizedby the Dr.
Demento show.

SPEAKER_04 (25:39):
I cannot wait for this.

SPEAKER_03 (25:42):
Hansen's personal collection includes more than
300,000 records.
His book on the history of bluesmusic, Rhino's Cruise Through
the Blues, was published in2000, and he was inducted into
the Radio Hall of Fame in twentynine.
In 2010, as radio stationstrended away from syndicated

(26:03):
music programs, the Dr.
Demento show transitioned to anonline format with a
subscription service.
Oh, that's why I haven'tlistened to it.
I have to pay for it.
All right, so that's a historyof Dr.
Demento.
I thought that was reallyinteresting.
So I went and just picked outsome of my favorite songs.
Um, actually, one of them isn'tmy favorite, but it I yeah,

(26:24):
anyway, we'll get to it.
Um, so Fish Heads by Barnes andBarnes in 1978.

SPEAKER_04 (26:36):
Not Barnes and Noble.

SPEAKER_03 (26:39):
Fish Heads is a novelty song by comedy rock duo
Barnes and Barnes, released as asingle in 1978 and later
featured on the 1980 album VuBaha.

unknown (26:52):
Yep.

SPEAKER_03 (26:54):
It was the most requested song on the Dr.
Demento radio show, and a musicvideo for the song made in 1980
was in regular rotation on MTV.
Do you remember it had like fishheads in it?
Like real ones and their mouthswould move.
Vaguely.
Yeah.
The song was featured on Barnesand Barnes 1982 Fish Heads

(27:15):
Greatest Hits, 12 Inch on RhinoRecords.
The duo was formed in 1970 byactor Bill Moomy and Robert
Hamer, uh, who were high schoolclassmates originally as a
private home recording project.
The lyrics are an absurdist'scelebration of fishheads,

(27:37):
describing them in thehigh-pitched chorus as roly-poly
and delicious to eat.
The verses describe variousthings they mostly can't do,
such as play baseball, wearsweaters, play the drums, and
drink cappuccino in Italianrestaurants.
Now, why can they orientalwomen?

SPEAKER_04 (27:55):
Okay.
Why can't they drink cappuccino?
They got mouth.
Hmm.
That's a good question.
That doesn't say they can'tdigest cappuccino.
But they're still drinking it.

SPEAKER_03 (28:11):
Well, you're gonna have to take that up at Barnes
and Barnes.

SPEAKER_04 (28:14):
Maybe it's the Oriental ribbon that are a
problem.

SPEAKER_03 (28:16):
Yes, yes.
That that is problematic.
But that's in the song.
It was the what 60s?
Yeah.
Is it still like Oriental rugs?
Are you allowed like peopleadvertise them?

SPEAKER_04 (28:30):
Yes.
That is fine, I believe.
Okay.
You just can't call peopleOriental.
I'm not really up to date on thepolitical correctness of the
word Oriental, but I feel likeit's bad when you're talking
like I feel like it's when it'sthe rug, it is the actual name
of the rug.

SPEAKER_03 (28:46):
That's what I thought, but it still makes me
cringe.

SPEAKER_04 (28:48):
Or like it's a rug from the Orient.
I'm not like you can call it theOrient Express.

SPEAKER_03 (28:53):
True.
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (28:56):
I think the problem with people is you're just
jamming all of Asians into oneinstead of their each
denominator.

SPEAKER_03 (29:04):
There are a lot of Asian countries.

SPEAKER_04 (29:06):
Not denominations, but the the word I'm looking for
is like denominators.

SPEAKER_03 (29:10):
Native lands.

SPEAKER_04 (29:12):
Yeah.
Cultures.
I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (29:15):
Okay.
Um, I'm glad we cleared that up.
Yeah.
Um actor Bill Paxton, afilmmaker at the time, directed
and appeared in the music videofor the song, along with
cinematographer Rocky Shank andRobert Hamer's girlfriend at the
time.

SPEAKER_04 (29:33):
I feel like Bill Paxton shows up everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 (29:36):
He does.
He's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 (29:37):
Like, what is up with him?

SPEAKER_03 (29:38):
I love him so much.

SPEAKER_04 (29:39):
Does he just not have anything else to do in the
world?

SPEAKER_03 (29:42):
I watch Twister every single time.
It's a little bit more than alittle bit.
Like he's literally everywhere.

SPEAKER_04 (29:46):
I mean, he's l just literally everywhere.
I know.
I love him.
Titanic?
Mm.
Is he?
Yeah.
He's uh um I never watched it.

SPEAKER_03 (29:55):
Oh yeah, we talked about that.
Um

SPEAKER_04 (30:00):
Uh yeah, so move over rose.
Whatever episode that was.
Something to do with move overrose.

SPEAKER_03 (30:07):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, yeah, and one of uh um umBarnes and Barnes girlfriends
designed the costumes.
Uh the video aired on NBCtelevision on Saturday Night
Live on December 6, 1980, andthe following week.
Dr.
Demento had a cameo as the bum.

(30:29):
He later recalled how hediscovered the song, in that
Barnes and Barnes had originallysubmitted a song about vomit
that he knew would never passhis home station's broadcast
standards and practices.
And he asked the duo forsomething that was arable on the
radio and was sent fish heads.

(30:49):
So, yeah, I don't, I mean, ofall the songs he played, I don't
see why a song about vomit was Idon't know that big of a deal.

SPEAKER_04 (30:56):
It was the 80s, it was a wild time.

SPEAKER_03 (30:57):
It really was.

SPEAKER_04 (30:58):
Um can't talk about vomit, but you can't snort cake
off the back of a toilet and aMcDonald's, but you know,
whatever.

SPEAKER_03 (31:09):
Um, and that word bum too.
For some reason, that has becomevery inappropriate for me.
Really?

SPEAKER_04 (31:15):
Yeah, like are you calling the entire city of
Philadelphia inappropriate?
Because they literally calleveryone a bum.
I had 20 years of seasontickets, and we had this little
old man, and I'm sure youremember him.
That's that I'm sure he's deadnow.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That used to say, you bum!

SPEAKER_03 (31:35):
Andy Reid, you're a bum.
Well, you know what?
I so I guess my problem isbecause this recently happened
to me.
I heard a person around my agerecently call the homeless bums.
And I think that's what I haveas well.
There's a difference.

SPEAKER_04 (31:51):
I do know that there is a difference between homeless
and bums, and bums are the onesthat ride the trains and go
around.
And I think it's acceptable tocall them bums, although I don't
think they exist anymore becauseI feel like it's really hard to
jump a train.

SPEAKER_03 (32:06):
Yeah.
That's something I always wish Ihad done.

SPEAKER_04 (32:08):
Jumped a train?

unknown (32:09):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (32:10):
You probably still can.
I don't know where you're gonnago.
There's one that goes throughFrankfurt.
There's one that goes throughFrankfurt real slow.
It's just got chicken feet onit.

SPEAKER_03 (32:19):
Yeah, and sometimes when they're like switching
lanes or something, they'rethey're stopped.
Yeah.
But usually I'm on my waysomewhere and it's not.

SPEAKER_04 (32:25):
No, are they called hobos?

SPEAKER_03 (32:27):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (32:29):
Those are hobos.
I'm sorry.
Disregard everything I justsaid.
I don't know if bum is sociallyacceptable.
It is in Philadelphia.
Well, everybody is a bum.

SPEAKER_03 (32:39):
There's no cooth in Philly.

SPEAKER_04 (32:41):
No, there is no we're proud of it.
There is no economic distinctionfrom a bum of any other kind.
Everyone, no matter youreconomic status, you are a bum.
Correct.
Okay, we gotta hold on a second.
Okay, we have a special segment.

(33:03):
Are you people ready?
Week three.
Hit that hit that music.

SPEAKER_01 (33:11):
Because I repeat your life, we're lucky, sex and
freestyle.

SPEAKER_03 (33:21):
So continuing with Nicole's diary from 1984, I
can't wait.
Uh, if you'll recall two weeksago we discussed my slumber
party on March 31st, late one.
Was late because of chicken pox.

SPEAKER_04 (33:33):
Chicken pox.

SPEAKER_03 (33:34):
And then last week we discussed the next day where
we played jokes on each other.
Correct.

SPEAKER_04 (33:39):
We didn't get into what?

SPEAKER_03 (33:40):
All right, here's Monday, April 2nd.
Uh-oh.

unknown (33:43):
All right.

SPEAKER_04 (33:44):
We're going back to school.

SPEAKER_03 (33:45):
Today I went back to school.
Yes.
From the weekend.
We had a college bowl in sciencebecause I was a nerd the whole
time I was in school.
Yes.
A college bowl is a thing wherewe ask questions on our unit
that are that we study and havea test or a quiz.

(34:05):
Right.
Got it.
Yeah.
Um, and that was in um MissIrwin's class.
I a little side note.
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (34:14):
Well, she you probably that's good that you
did that because you might nothave remembered.

SPEAKER_03 (34:17):
I would have never remembered.
Um, I took cans into scienceclass.
I'm going to assume that was fora food drive for um
Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_04 (34:25):
But where were you making telephones?
No, it was March.
Why would you be bringing stufffor Thanksgiving?

SPEAKER_03 (34:30):
Oh shit, that's right.
April 2nd.
I'm thinking because now it'salmost.
Why did I would I have takencans into science class?

SPEAKER_04 (34:36):
I'm thinking you're making a telephone.

SPEAKER_03 (34:38):
Probably.
All right.
Here's here's a tragedy.
I had a substitute for MissBooten.
Oh Lord.

unknown (34:45):
God damn.

SPEAKER_03 (34:48):
Everybody was so bad when you had substitutes.
They didn't know how to act.
Nope.
And in in parentheses, that wasreading in language arts, by the
way.
Oh.
You wouldn't have remembered.
I studied for my social studiestest.
Good job.
And my science test.
Nice.
Uh, and practiced my flute.
Good job.

(35:08):
All right.
So this line when I first readit, I was like, where's this
going?
I blew up my mom's uh purplerabbit for Easter.
That was worth putting, youknow, the big blow-up plastic
Easter bunnies.
All right.
Yeah.
So I guess it was noteworthythat I did that.

SPEAKER_04 (35:26):
She probably wouldn't lunch you before.

SPEAKER_03 (35:28):
I ate lunch with Daphne.
Daphne is my best friend.
That's nice.
You know what's funny aboutDaphne is um she um now is works
with an agency that my um officeworks with.
So I see her occasionally.
Um, and you know, this waselementary school.
We grew apart, you know, ofcourse, as school went on, but

(35:49):
it's still kind of neat, and Ican't wait to see her at
something again so I can tellher.
Because actually this diary camefrom Daphne, which I didn't
realize at first.
Um, but it says from Daphne toNicole.
Um and did I write somethingout?
Oh, yeah, and then I have um heraddress, her birthday.

(36:10):
Her favorite things are kittensand puppies, of course.
And and just a little noodle tothe side with a star.
She's my best friend.

SPEAKER_04 (36:17):
Oh where's my fucking star?

SPEAKER_03 (36:21):
Be jealous.

SPEAKER_04 (36:22):
I ain't getting no goddamn aside.

SPEAKER_03 (36:24):
Well, my therapist has me journaling now, so maybe
I'll give you a best friend spotfor this.
You know what?

SPEAKER_04 (36:29):
I get I didn't not only do I get an assign, I get a
whole fucking podcast.
Daphne.

SPEAKER_03 (36:34):
Yeah, Daphne.

SPEAKER_04 (36:36):
Suck it.
Did she puke on your shoes?
No.

SPEAKER_03 (36:39):
Yeah, no, I didn't.
Unless I got food poisoning whenI was 11.

SPEAKER_04 (36:43):
But we'll find out later.

SPEAKER_03 (36:46):
We'll see what happens.
Yep.
Right, so that's this week'sedition of Nicole's Diary.
Nicole's Diary.
Woo! Back to our silly songswith Dr.
Demento.
Um all right, so we're still onfish heads.
The 1980s in 1985, the video wasincorporated into several

(37:07):
episodes of the Nickelodeonsketch show Turkey Television.
Never heard of it?
I vaguely remember well, thatwas before I had well, obviously
I was still a kid then.
I didn't even know Nickelodeonwas on in 1985.
Yeah, they had uh you can't dothat on television.
Well, I didn't have cable.
And when I was at my dad's forthe weekend where he had cable,

(37:28):
I was only watching MTV.
Right, sure.
Sure, sure.
Um, the song is featured in theSimpsons episode Treehouse of
Horror 7, which is a greatSimpsons episode.
I mean, all of the Tree House ofHorrors are yeah, all the
Simpsons Halloween's are justthe best.
Um Alan Arkin sings the song inthe 1993 movie Indian Summer.

(37:52):
In the 2017 television episodeGoodwill of Holt and Catch Fire,
Joe and Haley listen to the songwhile driving in Joe's car.
Never heard of Holt and CatchFire.
And yeah, so that's it for fishheads.
Fish heads.

(38:14):
Eat them up, yum.
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (38:17):
Um still don't understand why they can't drink
cappuccino.

SPEAKER_03 (38:20):
Yeah, I know.
I didn't.
Well, I guess I'll have to moveon.
All right.
Next, they're coming to take meaway.
Ha ha by Napoleon the 14th in1974.
They're Coming to Take Me Away.
Ha ha is a 1966 novelty recordwritten and performed by Jerry

(38:43):
Samuels, billed as Napoleon the14th, and released on Warner
Brothers Records.
The song became an instantsuccess in the United States,
peaking at number three on theBillboard Hot 100 popular music
singles.
I think it's so funny becauselast week you did music as well,
which is why I almost didn't doit this week.
But I was like, what betterencapsulates a generation than

(39:06):
the music?
So we really can't do too manymusic podcasts.
Um, but even the song likeGhostbusters, why was that at
number one?
Like it's such a cheesy song.
I mean, I get it, but I guess itis most popular song.
But anyway, yeah.
So number three in um on August13th, and it was number one on

(39:28):
the Cash Box Top 100 pop singlecharts, number two in Canada,
and number four in the UK.
What are you doing over there,UK?
Yeah, get it together.
Uh the lyrics present afirst-person narrative who seems
to be addressing a lost love.
He describes his decliningmental state in the wake of her
departure and expressesexcitement about his forthcoming

(39:49):
admission to the psychiatrichospital.

SPEAKER_04 (39:51):
I can tell you that I have never identified it with
anything more than theexcitement about an up a
forthcoming admission to apsychiatric hospital because I
would give literally anything tohave a lovely vacant.

SPEAKER_03 (40:13):
I mean, really, you can stay in bed all day.

SPEAKER_04 (40:15):
Yes, I used to work in psychiatric hospitals, give
you pills to put you to sleep.

SPEAKER_03 (40:21):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (40:22):
That's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 (40:23):
You don't have to talk to anybody if you don't
want to.

SPEAKER_04 (40:25):
Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 (40:26):
Yeah, yeah.
However, the final verse revealsthat the narrator is not
addressing a woman but a runawaydog.
They'll find you yet, and whenthey do, they'll put you in the
ASPCA, you mangy mutt.
I mean could be a woman too.

(40:46):
Well, Samuels feared that thesong would be perceived as
disrespectful towards those withmental illness.

SPEAKER_04 (40:52):
Not even a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 (40:53):
Right.
And plus back then, for someoneto worry about how something was
perceived is just like, wow,he's way ahead of his own.
Especially a mentally ill Iknow.
Uh, and he deliberately wordedthe last line.
So you realize that the personis talking about a dog having
left him, not a human.
So go ahead.

SPEAKER_04 (41:12):
Does that make it any better though?
I mean Okay, here's I I get itbecause I would go mentally ill
if my dog just ran away and Icouldn't find him.
Would I go mentally ill ifanybody else left me?
Probably not.

SPEAKER_03 (41:29):
Um but yeah, how does it?
I mean, I would see it more asyou'd want to do it so that you
don't look like stalkerish.

SPEAKER_04 (41:40):
Well, but you're saying I'm going to a mental
station over my dog, which youknow, we're talking about the
70s, people were not as crazyabout their dogs as they are
these days.

SPEAKER_03 (41:48):
That is true.

SPEAKER_04 (41:49):
Where like more a person would be more he really
was ahead of his time.
You would be more inclined to gocrazy over another human being
than a than a pet.
Just saying.

SPEAKER_03 (41:59):
Yeah.
Pets were not people then.
Samuel said, Okay, I felt itwould cause some people to say,
Well, it's alright, and it did.
It worked.
All right.
So, whatever that means.
Um, Samuels was inspired by therhythm of the old Scottish tune,
The Campbells Are Coming.
Uh, the song is driven by asnare drum, bass drum,

(42:22):
tambourine, and hand claprhythm.
The vocal is spoken rhythmicallyrather than sung melodically,
while the vocal pitch rises andfalls at key points to create an
unusual glissando effect,augmented by the sound of
wailing sirens.

SPEAKER_04 (42:40):
I love a song with wailing sirens.

SPEAKER_03 (42:44):
Uh according to Samuel, the vocal pitch shift
was achieved by manipulating therecording set speed of his vocal
track, a multi-track variationon the technique used by Ross
Agdesarian in creating theoriginal Chipmunks novelty
songs.
Yeah, right.

(43:04):
The song does go up, doesn't it?
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
At the time the song waswritten, Samuels was working as
a recording engineer at theAssociated Recording Studios in
New York.
Samuels used a variablefrequency oscillator to alter
the 60 hertz uh frequency of thehysteric hysteresis motor of a

(43:28):
multi-track tape recordingmachine.
This this this song is giving methe business.

SPEAKER_04 (43:33):
I knew all that.

SPEAKER_03 (43:34):
I'm trying to read all this, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (43:36):
I know stuff about multi-track tape recording
machines.

SPEAKER_03 (43:42):
He first recorded the rhythmic track, uh, then
overdubbed the vocal track whileslowing the tape at the end of
each chorus and reciting thewords in the time with the
slowing beat.
So when it was played back atnormal speed, the tempo would be
steady, but the pitch of hisvoice would rise.
Some tracks were treated withintermittent tape-based echo

(44:06):
effects created by an echoplex.
I have one.

unknown (44:10):
I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 (44:11):
I don't know what that is.
An ecoplex is with a capital E,so it must be important.
It is important.
Uh Samuels also layered in sireneffects that gradually rose and
fell with the pitch of hisvocals.

SPEAKER_04 (44:21):
I love a siren effect.
Nothing better.

SPEAKER_03 (44:27):
All right, so my next one is really the one that
I really remember riding in thecar singing out loud with my
headphones on and my parents.
And I remember them laughing,and I was just like, what?
I'm hilarious.
Like, what?
Uh the song is Wet Dream by KipAda in 1984.

(44:50):
And I'm just gonna call him Kipfrom here on out through this
because that last name is hardto say.
Um, Wet Dream by Kip is ahumorous and innuendo lead-in
song that uses clever wordplay,puns, and aquatic imagery,
imagery to tell a comical story.
The song's lyrics playfullydescribe a series of events that

(45:12):
occur while the narrator isdriving in downtown Atlantis.
Uh, a fictional underwater seaduring the Is it fictional
though?
I don't know.
Like, there's a lot of things Idon't believe in most things.
Like, I'm very science-based inmy head.
Same.
But why couldn't Atlantis haveexisted and fallen into the
ocean?
It could.
Yeah.
I mean, Florida's about to.

(45:33):
Yeah.
California will one day.
Yeah.
It's all Atlantis.
Yeah.
We will be in the water one day.
100%.
Um and it was during an unusualtime in a leap year.

SPEAKER_04 (45:52):
Leap year.

SPEAKER_03 (45:54):
Throughout the song, the narrator's car, a rented
stingray, experiences mechanicalissues like overheating and a
blown seal, uh, which serve asmetaphors for his own personal
issues and frustrations.

SPEAKER_04 (46:07):
Sure.

SPEAKER_03 (46:08):
A blown what?
Um, these car troubles are usedto create a comical parallel
with the narrator's romanticmisadventures.
The recurring phrase wet dreamserves as a humorous double
entendre.
While it initially appears todescribe a dream related to
water or aquatic life, it'srevealed that the narrator is

(46:29):
actually using it to refer tohis romantic encounters.
And for those of you that don'tremember, I think I had a wet
dream moving through the golfstream.
I don't know it.
Ooh.
Wet dream.
All right.
Um, and a woman with the zodiacsign aquarium leading to more

(46:51):
wordplay and humor.
As the song progresses, thenarrative humorously unfolds
with wordplay involving varioussea creatures and fish-related
terms such as midnight bait anda few minnows.
The climax of the song involves,no pun intended, uh involves a
humorous but a m confrontationwith a jealous and aggressive

(47:12):
character, the Haddock, leadingto a pun-filled fight where
various fish-related terms areused in a comic manner.
Ultimately, the song usesaquatic and fishing imagery to
create a whimsical andlighthearted atmosphere while
the narrator's romanticescapades serve as the central
theme.
The song's humor arises from itsclever wordplay and the

(47:34):
unexpected twists and turns inthe narrative, making it a
playful and entertaining piecewith a humorous take on
relationships and dating.
Yeah, that's a fun song.
You should listen to it.
It's I will.
It's it's really cute.
Alright, my next song is Yoda byWeird Al Yankovic, and it came
out in 1981.

(47:55):
It's crazy that we've had WeirdOwl our whole entire lives.

SPEAKER_04 (47:58):
That's gonna be a tough one to lose.
Yeah.
That's gonna be a real tough oneto lose.
Because I mean, you don't reallythink about Weird Owl on the
daily.
No, but I feel like when he'sgone, it's gonna be pretty
upsetting.
Yeah, and he has literally likespoofed everybody.

SPEAKER_03 (48:16):
Everybody.
Everybody.
It's it's so good.
Like a surgeon.
Oh, the very first.
Um, okay.
So Yoda is a song by Weird AlYankovic from his third album,
Dare to Be Stupid, in 1985.
I feel like that was his mostpopular album because I remember

(48:38):
that album title.
Um, it is a parody of the songLola by the Kinks, inspired by
the events of the movie TheEmpire Strikes Back.
The song is told from the pointof view of Jedi in training Luke
Skywalker and concerns hisdealings with Master Yoda on the
planet Dagobah.
Dagobah.
Dagobah.
I don't know anything about StarWars, but I do know that that's

(49:00):
Dagobah.
Okay.
Uh, the song was initiallywritten and recorded in 1980
during the original release ofThe Empire Strikes Back and
achieved success on the Dr.
Demento show.
However, securing permissionfrom both Star Wars creator
George Lucas and Lola songwriterRay Davies, delayed the physical
release of the song for aboutfive years.

SPEAKER_04 (49:23):
If you want to hear more about um Star Wars releases
in the summer, the blockbuster,go back and listen to If You
Chill It, They Will Come.
Because that is about summerblockbusters.
Yes.
Yes.
It's a good episode.

SPEAKER_03 (49:42):
It's a very good episode.
Uh Yoda was never released as asingle, nor was a music video
ever made for it.
Nevertheless, the parody hasgone on to be one of Yankovic's
most famous songs.
It was released twice in 1994 onhis second greatest hits set and
the box set um Permanent Recordsand also on the 2009 compilation

(50:05):
The Essential World TheEssential Weird Ow Yankovic.
The song is also a staple duringYankovic's live shows, and an
idiosyncric idiosyncratic chantdubbed the Yoda chant is often
performed during the song'smiddle portions.

SPEAKER_04 (50:23):
I bet that a Weird Owl concert is probably the
fucking funnest evening that youwill ever have.

SPEAKER_03 (50:30):
So much fun.
So much fun.
Because everybody there will begoofy.

SPEAKER_04 (50:35):
Like I I can't imagine that there'd be a better
time than to see Weird Owl.
Does he still tour?
I don't know why he wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03 (50:42):
Speaking of still touring this morning, I've never
been a big Cher fan.
I appreciate her.
I just don't like her voice.
Um she was on CBS Mornings thismorning, and she has a new it's
either a book or documentary orsomething out.
I don't know.
But she is 79 years old andstill performing.
Yeah.
She's she's a beast nuts.

(51:03):
Yeah, she's yeah, like she's uhI think she's a vampire.
Probably.
Because she still looks exactlythe same, which granted I know
it's plastic surgery.

SPEAKER_05 (51:12):
Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (51:14):
But yeah, she still sounds the same, like almost 80
years old and still performing.
That's nuts.

SPEAKER_04 (51:21):
Speaking of that, can we just digress for a
second?
Of course.
So that I can say that your yourBFF Taylor's boyfriend fiance
after that hit Sunday night, Iwould seriously be contemplating
retirement.

SPEAKER_03 (51:37):
Yeah, Mr.
Positive Pants was looking atGrimace and really hard after
that.

SPEAKER_04 (51:42):
That one, that one is a that was a soul shaker
right there.

SPEAKER_03 (51:45):
Yeah, yeah.
I imagine when he went home andtook his shirt off, Taylor was
like, oh my god, that is thebiggest bruise I've ever seen in
my whole entire life.

SPEAKER_04 (51:52):
Man, but let me just say, just so for let's take a
football break.

unknown (51:55):
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (51:56):
There was no Eagles football on this weekend.
Correct.
Which on one side of it, uh, noEagles.
On the other side of it, yay, noEagles.
Because then you can actuallyenjoy the fucking game.

SPEAKER_03 (52:05):
It's easy, it's easy when we don't have eagles.
Like, I don't mind the bye week.
I'm like, okay, ooh yeah.
We can't lose.

SPEAKER_04 (52:12):
Um by the way, we did win because like everybody
else.
Everyone else lost.
So technically we won in our byeweek.
Exactly.
Anyhow, I all day long was like,you know, I cannot wait for that
Kansas City Bills game.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be a good game.
Like it was literally everythingI had hoped for.

(52:34):
Edge of your seat.
It was great.
Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 (52:38):
And while I do love um Taylor's fiance, I'm not
necessarily I'm not a Chiefsfan.
I will root for them because Iwant um Taylor's fiance to win.
Right.
But I love Josh Allen and theBills.

SPEAKER_04 (52:56):
I just was I was I didn't care who won.
I really didn't.

SPEAKER_02 (52:59):
Yeah, that's true too.
I didn't care.
Yeah, it doesn't affect us.

SPEAKER_04 (53:02):
It just was I was like all day long, I was like,
oh man, you know, I I woke upthinking, man, I really I cannot
wait to see that Kansas Citybuilt.
I don't know why.

SPEAKER_03 (53:11):
I was just I mean, I guess because I knew how it was
gonna go and Well, it's funbecause there are weeks where
you're like, man, that's gonnabe a good game.
I can't wait.
And then a lot of times it'slike 40 to 7 and you're like,
well, that sucked.
But it It was everything down tothe wire.
Like Mahomes had plenty of timeto win that game and didn't I
mean it was 22 seconds with onetimeout, but it's Patrick

(53:35):
Mahomes.
He has come back and won thoseplenty of times.

SPEAKER_04 (53:38):
It was just a great weekend.

SPEAKER_03 (53:38):
It was this great Sunday for it was a really good
Sunday, it was yeah, and thenMonday night was even better.

SPEAKER_04 (53:44):
And they got the the kicker, that kicker kicked the
68 yarder.
Yeah, record.
Did you see the other coach, theother special teams coach came
over and hugged him and told himhe was proud of him?
Oh that's a pretty fuckingimpressive 68 yards.

SPEAKER_02 (53:58):
I was pissed because I didn't get to see last night's
game because I have YouTube TVand YouTube TV, for whatever
reason, they've been running abanner about ABC and Disney, and
then like Friday I went to turnon ABC and I don't have it
anymore.

SPEAKER_03 (54:16):
Um and last night's game was on ESPN, which is owned
by Disney.
Yeah.
So I couldn't watch it.
But they lost, and that's allthat matters.
Whether I watched it or not,they lost.
Um I watched the first half, andthen I had to go to sleep.
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
Uh let's see.
Yoda, back to uh Yoda.

(54:38):
Yoda was originally written byWeird Al Yankovic in 1980 when
an epic scene epic space opera,The Empire Strikes Back, was
playing in theaters.
The film introduced thecharacter of Yoda, the ancient
Jedi master who trains Luke inthe ways of the force following
the demise of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Yokov Yankovit but YankovicYankovit Weird Al Yankovic.

(55:02):
Weird Al.
Just call him Weird Al.
Okay, Weird Owl.
I'm tired.
Uh Weird Owl later jokingly saidthat prior to The Empire Strikes
Back, the thought of writing asong about Yoda had never
occurred to me.
He considered writing a songbased on the breakout character,
but was unable to find asuitable piece of parody until

(55:22):
one of his friends proposed thathe use Lola, which I couldn't
believe that I hadn't thought ofmyself since I was such a huge
Kinks fan.
Uh Weird Owl wrote and recordeda version of the song using only
an accordion with musical MikeKiefer blowing milk bubbles and

(55:43):
making hand sounds.
Are milk bubbles actuallybubbles?

SPEAKER_04 (55:48):
I don't have any idea what a milk bubbles are.

SPEAKER_03 (55:49):
Like it's not capitalized, so I would assume
it's what the hell are theydoing down there?
Yeah.
Um out of control.
And making hand sounds on afour-track cassette Porta
Studio.
This version of Yoda was asuccess on the Dr.
Demento show and peaked atnumber one on the Funny Five

(56:11):
countdown for several weeks.
This early demo was laterreleased on the sixth volume of
Dr.
Demento's bass tape.
Yankovic wanted to uh includethe songs on one of his albums
since the demo version had beenso popular.
However, securing permissionfrom both George Lucas and the
Kinks delayed the physicalrelease of the song, as I said.

(56:32):
Uh although Lucas eventuallygave Weird Owl permission, the
song's publishers turned down uhYankovic.
Yoda might have remainedunreleased had it not been for a
chance encounter between WeirdOwl and Ray Davies, who wrote
Lola.
When Weird Owl asked him why hehad not given his permission,

(56:54):
Davies responded that he hadnever been asked.
Davies ultimately gave Weird Owlpermission to record the song,
and the song was later releasedon Weird Owl's third album, Dare
to Be Stupid.
For subsequent parodies, WeirdOwl has attempted to approach
the songwriters themselves forpermission rather than their
publishers whenever possible.

(57:15):
That's pretty shitty.
Publishers are supposed to workfor the artists.
Yes.
Anyway.
Yoda was re-recorded on February20th, 1985.
This version of the song doesnot feature an accordion and is
truer musically to the originalKink song.
Weirdell later said it's kind ofa backlash from the first album

(57:36):
where we had accordion oneverything.
It just became a littleoverwhelming to me.

SPEAKER_04 (57:41):
I find all accordion overwhelming.

SPEAKER_03 (57:43):
Man, I have always been obsessed with accordions,
and if I were to learn anotherinstrument, that would probably
be it.
Like I can play a number ofinstruments, but I've always
been fascinated with theaccordion.

SPEAKER_04 (57:56):
I cannot play any instruments.

SPEAKER_03 (57:58):
I can't read music too.
Maybe I'll get like a littlehand accordion.
Like I don't want one of thegreat big ones, but I can't read
shoe music.
I used to write music.
I can read music, and I used towrite it.
I wrote some really bad songs inthe 80s, but I was.
Where are they living now?
We're gonna need to find that.

(58:18):
I remember one of them wascalled Doya.

SPEAKER_04 (58:21):
Is that in this little book here?

SPEAKER_03 (58:23):
Uh no, that was after that.
I I wrote the music on thekeyboard and I wrote the lyrics,
and I used to make my stepsistersing it with me.
Yeah.
I think we're gonna need to hearit.
Yeah, I'm not doing it.
Anyway, um next one, HelloMutta, Hello Fada by Alan

(58:46):
Sherman in 1976.
I always love this song, it'sjust such a sweet, precious
little song.
Like it's this kid that's awayat camp and everything is going
for shit.
And he's trying to be upbeat inthis letter to his parents.
But anyway, uh Hello Mutta,Hello Fada, uh, a letter from
camp is a novelty song writtenby Alan Sherman, released in

(59:07):
1963.
Um, the melody is taken from theballet Dance of the Hours from
the opera La Come on Italian.
What's that say?
Giaconda.
Okay.
By Amel Kerponcielli.
Poncelli.
While the lyrics were written bySherman and Lou Bush.

(59:30):
Alan based the lyrics on lettersof complaint, which he had
received from his son RobertSherman, who was attending Camp
Champlain, a summer camp inWestport, New York.
I did not know that part.
And I think that's super cute.

SPEAKER_04 (59:45):
I did know that.

SPEAKER_03 (59:46):
Okay.

SPEAKER_04 (59:46):
Um so I want a fun fun fact about Heather.
I wanted to go to camp.
I I'm sure I told you about my Ithink there's an episode about
space that we did last year.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:00):
I never went to camp either.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:01):
I wanted to go to camp.
I don't know why.
I would have hated everymillisecond I was there.
But all I wanted to do was to goto one of these camps in upstate
New York.
Really?
Yes.

unknown (01:00:13):
Hmm.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:13):
I would have hated it.
And I would have demandedsomeone come get me.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:17):
Oh yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:18):
Because it would have been everything I hate.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:20):
Which is why your parents didn't let you go.
Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:22):
They were not gonna spend money when they would just
have to turn around and come getme.
Yes.
Like they would just leave andthen they would probably just go
sleep in the van.
Yes.
And then come back 20 minuteslater because I'd be like, mmm,
fuck this.
And I am not the type that wouldcall and be like, please come.
I would just fucking leave.
Uh-huh.
I would pack my shit and startwalking.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:38):
Yeah, the call would come from the camp counselor,
right?
Because she's missing.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:41):
Yeah, we don't know where we don't know where she
went.
She left.
She didn't leave a note.
I don't know.
She said, fuck this shit.

SPEAKER_03 (01:00:50):
And you were eight.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:00:52):
So I don't I don't know why I wanted to.
I don't know if it was like Imean it must have been something
you saw on a TV show.
I think it's just who I am.
I like the idea of things inconcept.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:04):
But when it comes to actually doing them, I just have
zero interest in it.
Like I don't want to do like Ithink maybe I just want to like
watch it on TV.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:11):
Well, and didn't you say your dad worked at a camp?

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:13):
We lived at a camp.
Right.
Yeah, a day camp.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:16):
So maybe you weren't considering that your parents
wouldn't be there if you went tocamp.
I mean.
Maybe.
Or your dog.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:25):
Well, I mean that's just it.
We went everywhere.
So like why I I'm sure we werein upstate New York.
I'm sure we went to theseplaces.
I don't know.
I just don't know why.
I don't know.
I think I just you know what itwas?

SPEAKER_05 (01:01:35):
Why?

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:35):
Because my sister wouldn't have been there.
Yeah.
I think I just wanted some timeaway from her.
Like maybe if they had sent herto camp, which they did later.
She was a camp goer.

SPEAKER_03 (01:01:46):
Yeah, same here.
Like I always wanted to go tocamp.
My sister got to go to camp.
Um and she hated it.
She literally would not use therestroom for the whole week she
was there.
I think she peed like threetimes, and that's what I'm
saying.

SPEAKER_04 (01:01:59):
My sister liked going.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:00):
She didn't I would have loved it.
Just like I would have wantedalways wanted to be in dance.
And I I had to do stupid girlscouts.
And my sister got to go to danceand hated it.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:12):
I didn't I wanted to do dance and then I hated it.
Um and then I wanted to be aGirl Scout really bad.
There was no Girl Scout troophere within the closest one was
Georgetown.
And okay, so from my house inDefenwick to Georgetown.

(01:02:34):
Well, Georgetown is 17 milesfrom anywhere.
Um that's why that that's whytheir brewery is 17 mile.
Did you know that?
Or eight is it?

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:42):
I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:43):
Yeah, it's 17 miles from anywhere.
Anyhow, so it would have been 17miles.
But back then it might as wellhave been on the other side of
the earth.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:51):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (01:02:52):
Because back then we didn't have highways here.

SPEAKER_03 (01:02:57):
Well, I know that you don't have children, and uh
um but dropping off and pickingup a child is a lot as an adult.
It really is.
Oh, I have no doubt.
And my youngest was just theworst because she would just get
herself in any situation, justanywhere, and call me and be
like, Hey, can you come pick meup two hours from there?

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:17):
And so when Nicole had children, what was that, 30,
almost 30 years ago?
Uh 28.
Good lord.

unknown (01:03:26):
I know.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:26):
Um, I was that's this me becoming an aunt.
I know I was excited aboutbecoming an aunt.
And they love their auntHeather.
Um, I was excited, and I hadbeen waiting for however many
years for a a a child, a teenagechild to call me and be like,

(01:03:48):
Hey, I need help.
Can you come get me?
And finally it happened.
My youngest, yeah.
Yes, like three years ago.

SPEAKER_03 (01:03:57):
She's always the one making the calls.

SPEAKER_04 (01:03:59):
She called and was like, hey, and I had to go pick
her up like in the dirt.
And it was the it was made methe happiest I've ever been in
my entire life.
Yeah.
That your youngest called me.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (01:04:13):
Yeah, I know.
It's it's always made my I I bityou out it, but it's always fun.
It's good to know that theytrust you.
Yeah.
You're the one that they reachout to.

SPEAKER_04 (01:04:23):
Except for that middle one.
Caitlin, you little bugger, ratmy ass out every time.
See, because you can't help it.
I know.
Well when I when they were, I'msure I've told the story, but
when they're when they werekids, it's you know how you
become the fa the fun aunt isyou let them do whatever the
fuck they want.
And they're not supposed totell.
And they're not supposed totell.
Because we get to do fun stuff,like we drink all of the soda,

(01:04:44):
or we they didn't.
And it was caffeine-free.
So like I don't even know whatthey thought they were getting.
But you make it act like they'regetting away with something.
I would take them to Dairy Queenfor dinner and be like, shh,
don't tell your mom.
She knew what I was doingbecause I would be like, Hey, do
you might do you care if Ibecause if she had said I really
would rather you not, yeah, thenI wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03 (01:05:04):
Oh.
But the thing is, I would neversay no.
Right.

SPEAKER_04 (01:05:08):
Yeah, have fun.
I mean, I was told not to buyguinea pigs from my sister's
children, and then I broughtguinea pigs, so that's
different.
Yeah.
But that's the whole part ofbeing the fun aunt is you build
something up to make it so taboothat the drinking a whole bottle
of Sprite is like just and thenthat little pain in the ass

(01:05:29):
would rat me out themillisecond.
I mean, I'd be like, oh, yourmom's pulling up, and she would
be like waiting at the door.
As soon as the door would open,hey, there last drinks out.

SPEAKER_03 (01:05:42):
She is uh how old now?
25, and she is literally stillthe same way.
Like that child cannot keep asecret to save her life.
I used her as my example whenI'm trying to like train younger
coworkers about telling too muchabout yourself at work, and then
gossip starts, and then you'rebutthurt because everybody's

(01:06:02):
talking about you.
And I'm like, I you feel bad nottelling your co-worker
something.
I don't tell my own daughterthings because I know once it
comes out of my mouth and in herears, the entire world is going
to know.
Bless her heart.
Yeah, she's a she's a great kid,but she is, she can't help it.
And it's on you to figure thatout and and act accordingly.

(01:06:26):
We went to friendly that onlyhad ice cream.
Okay.
Yeah, no secrets there.
None.
Um little brat.

SPEAKER_04 (01:06:41):
And I sat through cats for you.

SPEAKER_03 (01:06:43):
You did.

SPEAKER_04 (01:06:44):
I was jealous you took them.
I mean, I saw cats.
I wanted to hang myself thewhole fucking time.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:50):
Oh my god, it's okay.

SPEAKER_04 (01:06:51):
I thought I was gonna die.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:51):
I saw it when I was 18.
I still have my t-shirt.

SPEAKER_04 (01:06:54):
She was riveted and I was squirming in my seat like
I was a six-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 (01:06:58):
Like, oh no.

SPEAKER_04 (01:07:01):
This is oh and I try to tell her that it was over at
the intermission, and the catsare still on the fucking stage.
Cut me a break.
Sorry, I digress.

SPEAKER_03 (01:07:13):
You are a great aunt.
Anyway, all right, back to Yoda.
In 2019, the song was selectedby the Library of Congress for
preservation in the UnitedStates National Recording
Registry for being culturally,historically, and aesthetically
significant.
The song's mention of LeonardSkinner, a boy.
Oh no, we're not on Yoda, we'reon Hello Mada, Hello Fada.

(01:07:36):
We moved on.
Ay, ay, ay.
Uh, the song's mention ofLeonard Skinner, um, spelled S-K
I N N E R.
Um, a boy at the camp who gotwhat's that word?
I have no idea.
Some kind of poisoning.
Some kind of poisoning uh lastnight after dinner was an

(01:07:58):
inspiration for the name of theband Leonard Skinnard, although
the band's name was alsoinspired by a physical education
instructor of the same name.
Wow.
That's a lot of people to benamed Leonard Skinnard.
I did not know that the bandLeonard Skinnard was named after
a gym teacher.

(01:08:19):
That's the funnest fact on sofar today.
The song is a parody thatcomplains about the fictional
Camp Granada.
Here I am at Camp Granada.
And is set to the tune of AmalCare Ponchelli Dance of the

(01:08:39):
Hours from the opera Giafonda.
Okay.
The name derives from the firstlines, hello Mutta, Hello Fada,
here I am at Camp Granada.
Camp is very entertaining.
And they say that we'll have funif it stops raining.
The lyrics go on to describeunpleasant, dangerous, and

(01:09:01):
tragic developments, such asfellow campers going missing and
contract contracting shouldn'tthat be contracting?
Oh, it is.
Oh my, it's bedtime.
Or contracting deadly illnesses.

(01:09:21):
He asks how his precious littlebrother is doing and begs to be
taken home, afraid of being leftout in the forest and fearing
getting eaten by a bear,promising to behave and even to
let his aunt hug and kiss him.
At the end, he notes that therain has stopped and fun
activities such as swimming,sailing, and baseball have

(01:09:42):
begun, and asks his parents tokindly disregard this letter.
The following year, Alan Shermanreleased a sequel song set to
the same melody, Return to CampGranada.
In this version, the boy writesto his parents again, but this
time he wants to stay, and hisyounger brother is attending the
camp as well.
He describes another set ofdisastrous events, including a

(01:10:03):
compound fracture, uninhabitablebunks, outdoor bathrooms, and
Lenny Bruce being brought in toentertain the campers.
It's probably a poor choice ofentertainment.
The song scored number two onthe Billboard Hot 100 list for
three weeks, beginning on August24th, 1963.
It was kept from number one byboth fingertips by little Stevie

(01:10:28):
Wonder and My Boyfriend's Backby the Angels.

SPEAKER_05 (01:10:31):
He's gonna be in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 (01:10:47):
All right, Sherman wrote a new back to camp Granada
version, Hello Mutta, Hello Fada64, for a May 27, 1964
performance on the Tonight Showstarring Johnny Carson.
Sherman began that version bygiving a camp whistle, followed
by his spelling Granada's name,and then sticks out his tongue.

(01:11:09):
In that version, the narrator isback at camp recovering from his
compound fracture, where somethings like the food have
improved, because the littleblack things in it are not
moving.
However, no one knows where histrunk is and his bunk is where
the skunk is.
The narrator wishes that theshowers that have thin doors

(01:11:33):
were moved indoors.
The narrator takes swimminglessons from an overweight
woman, a whale in a bikini.

SPEAKER_04 (01:11:41):
That seems problematic.

SPEAKER_03 (01:11:43):
It does.
Why was she wearing a bikinithough?
But anyway, uh Lenny Bruce wasscheduled to entertain there at
the camp.
The narrator loves the camp,missing the poker games, and
requesting unduent.
I don't know what that word is.
He requested something.
Um the narrator is taking careof his once homesick younger

(01:12:06):
brother who does not know how toblow his nose.
Oh my gosh.
Speaking of my youngest, to thisday, she is 23 years old and she
does not know how to blow hernose.
I never was able to teach her,and I tried.
Um Andy has a bad weddingproblem.
Uh, the version was released asa single in 1964.

(01:12:26):
It reached number 18 on Canada'schum charts.
Uh Sherman wrote a third versionfor and acted in a 1965 TV
commercial for a board gameabout Camp Granada, a real
rotten camp.
The original version alsoreached number nine on the pop
standard singles chart.

SPEAKER_04 (01:12:46):
All right.
I think we should bring one ofthe girls on here.

SPEAKER_03 (01:12:50):
Ooh.
Or both of them.
Or both of them.
That would be fine.
I don't think I don't think mymiddle one would do it.
The little one would.
My youngest one will amuse me.
She'll do what I ask.
Except come visit me.
But anyway.
Um all right.
My next one is the lumberjacksong by Monty Python in 1975.

(01:13:13):
Do you know this song?
The lumberjack song uh is acomedy song by the comedy troupe
Monty Python.
The song was written andcomposed by Terry Jones, Michael
Palin, and Fred Tomlinson.
Um it first appeared in theninth episode of Monty Python's
Flying Circus, The Ant, anIntroduction, on BBC One, uh on

(01:13:35):
14th of December 1969.
The song has since beenperformed in several forms,
including film, stage, and LP,each time started from a
different skit.
At an NPR interview in 2007,Palin stated that the scene of
the whole scene and the wholesong were created in about 15
minutes, concluding a day's workwhen the Python crew was stuck

(01:13:58):
and unable to come up with aconclusion to the barbershop
sketch that preceded it.
On November 14, 1975, theLumberjack song was released on
as a single in the UK, um,backed with the spam song.

SPEAKER_05 (01:14:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 (01:14:15):
That one I know.

SPEAKER_04 (01:14:17):
My dad was a huge Monty Python fan.

SPEAKER_03 (01:14:19):
Yeah.
The A-Side produced uh by Pythondevotee George Harrison was
recorded at the Workhouse Studioin London on October 3rd, 1975,
and mixed at Harrison's FriarPark home the following day.
A year later, the single wasreissued on the 19th of November
1976 as the first half of thedouble single released Python on

(01:14:42):
Song.
This version of the song hasnever been released on CD,
although a remix containingalternate vocal takes from the
session was included on thecompilation album Monty Python
Sings.
Um and finally, we just did aquick one on that.

(01:15:03):
I'm probably gonna do MontyPython at some point.
Okay.
Um one song that I added thatI'm gonna skip over because
we're running long is EddieMurphy released an album in
1983, and I'm assuming that'swhere Party All the Time came
from.
Although the first song on thealbum was um not a word I'm
gonna say on here.
Right.
Um, but this song, Boogie inyour butt, um, was on there.

(01:15:26):
So look that up because uh Idon't remember that one, but I
was gonna include it.
But anyway, my final song, whichwas my absolute favorite Dr.
Demento song, My Dingling byChuck Berry in 1972.

SPEAKER_04 (01:15:40):
I do know that one.

SPEAKER_03 (01:15:41):
This song makes me laugh to this day.
I still know every single word.
It is my favorite novelty songof all time.
All right, so My Dingling is anovelty song written and
recorded by Dave BartholBartholomew.
Um, it was covered by ChuckBerry in 1972 and became his
only number one Billboard Hot100 single in the United States.

(01:16:03):
How fucking crazy is that?
How crazy is that?
Um, later that year, a longerversion was included on the
album, the London Chuck BerrySessions.
Guitarist Oni McIntyre andRobbie McIntosh, a drummer who
later formed the Average WhiteBand, played on the single along
with Nick Potter of the Britishband Vandergraf Generation on

(01:16:26):
bass.
My Dingaling was originallyrecorded by Dave Bartholomew in
1952 for King Records.
When Bartholomew moved toImperial Records, he re-recorded
the song under the new titleLittle Girl Sing Ting Aling.
Mmm, that doesn't sound good.
Uh in 1954, the Bees on Imperialreleased a version titled Toy

(01:16:52):
Bell.
Doug Clark and the Hot Nutsrecorded it in 1961 on their
album Nuts to You.
Uh and it was part of their liveact for many years.
Barry recorded a version calledMy Tambourine in 1968, but the
version that topped the chartswas recorded live during the
Lancaster Arts Fest Festival atthe Locarno Ballroom in

(01:17:16):
Coventry, England on February3rd, 1972, by the Pi Mobile
Recording Unit, engineered byAlan Perkins, where Barry,
backed by the Roy Young band,topped a bill, which also
included Slade, George Carlin,Billy Preston, and Pink Floyd.

(01:17:38):
And George Carlin.

SPEAKER_04 (01:17:40):
How can we put the most random things together?

SPEAKER_03 (01:17:46):
Uh Boston radio station WMEX disc jockey Jim
Connors was credited with a goldrecord for discovering the song
and pushing it to number oneover the airwaves and amongst
his peers in the United States.
Billboard ranked it as thenumber 15 song for 1972.
The song is based on the melodyof the 19th century folk song

(01:18:06):
Little Brown Jug.
Bartholomew's 1952 versioncontains a shave and a haircut
motif.
The lyrics consistently exercisethe double entendre in that a
penis could just as easily besubstituted for the toy bells,
and the song would make wouldstill make sense.

(01:18:28):
The Bartholomew and Barryversions have different lyrics,
but both follow that pattern.
The lyrics with their sly toneand innuendo uh caused many
radio stations to refuse to playit.
British mortality, no Britishmorality.
Campaigner Mary Whitehouse triedunsuccessfully to get the song

(01:18:51):
banned.
Whitehouse wrote to the BBC'sdirector general claiming that
one teacher told us of how shefound a class of small boys with
their trousers undone singingthe song and giving it the
indecent interpretation, which,in spite of all the hullabaloo,
is so obvious.

SPEAKER_04 (01:19:11):
I love that word hullabaloo.

SPEAKER_03 (01:19:13):
It's a great word.
We trust you will agree with usthat it is no part of the
function of the BBC to be thevehicle of songs which stimulate
this kind of behavior, indeed,quite the reverse.
But I'm bumped.
In Icons of Rock, Scott Schindercalls the song a sophomoric

(01:19:36):
double entendra-laden ode tomasturbation.
Robert guy.
Yeah.
Uh remarked that the songpermitted a lot of 12-year-olds
new insight into the Moribundconcept of dirty.
For a rerun of American Top 40,some stations like WOGL in

(01:19:59):
Philadelphia replaced the songwith an optional extra when it
aired a rerun of a November18th, 1972 broadcast of AT40,
where it ranked at number 14 onDecember 6, 2008.
Among other stations, most ClearChannel owned radio stations to
whom the AT40 1970s rebroadcastswere contracted did not air the

(01:20:22):
rebroadcast that same weekend,although it was because they
were playing Christmas music andnot because of the controversy.

SPEAKER_04 (01:20:32):
Christmas music ruins everything.

SPEAKER_03 (01:20:34):
Even back in 1972, some stations would refuse to
play the song on AT40 even whenit reached number one.
The controversy was lampooned inthe Simpsons episode Lisa's
Pony, in which a Springfieldelementary school student
attempts to sing the song duringthe school's talent show.
He barely finishes the firstline of the refrain before the

(01:20:56):
irate principal Skinner pusheshim off the stage, angrily
proclaiming, This act is over.
That scene was sampled by StephLondon and Skepta in their 2017
song Dingling.
Wow.
Yeah.
So if you don't remember mydingling, you gotta listen.

(01:21:17):
Yeah.
I stopped off in the vestibuleevery time that bell would ring.
Catch me playing with myding-ling a ling.
Oh, my dingling.
Alright, I'm done.
Because we'll get sued if yousing anymore.
Okay.
Not that anybody listens.
Not that anybody can even tellwhat I'm singing.
Um, so yeah, that's that's myDr.

(01:21:39):
Demento.
That was fun.
Thank you.
I think so too.
They're coming to take me away.

SPEAKER_04 (01:21:44):
Ha ha.
That's great.
That that one is the one I mostremember.
Okay, gotcha.
Mostly because my dad would singit all the time.
Mostly everything I remember isjust because my dad has
repeated.
Someday I I my dad is a weird.
Like if you ever wonder where Iget my weirdness from, 100% my

(01:22:07):
father.
100%.

SPEAKER_03 (01:22:08):
Her mom is so just soft and sweet and kind and
normal.

SPEAKER_04 (01:22:13):
And my dad is just not.
And my dad gives zero fucksabout what anybody thinks of him
at all, ever.
For real.

SPEAKER_03 (01:22:23):
You think Heather gives zero fucks?

SPEAKER_04 (01:22:25):
He will wear my mom's slippers everywhere and
doesn't give he just doesn'tcare.

SPEAKER_03 (01:22:30):
No, he doesn't.

SPEAKER_04 (01:22:31):
Now you know who my dad is.
He doesn't care.
Yep.
Um, thank you.
That was good.
Thank you.
That was lovely.
Thank you.
It was fun.
Uh, thanks everybody forlistening.
Thanks.
Uh, you can like, share, rate,and review.
Please.
You can find us where you listento all the podcasts.

(01:22:53):
You can follow us on all thesocials at like whatever pod.
Please.
You can send us um email.
Hold on, because I had a goodone and then I fucking forgot
what it was.
You can send us an email aboutwhat your favorite Dr.
Demento song is.
To likewhateverpod at gmail.comor don't like whatever.

(01:23:18):
Whatever.

SPEAKER_03 (01:23:20):
Bye.

unknown (01:23:21):
Coming to take us away.