Hey, remember MAD magazine? What, me worry? I read MAD“? Alfred E. Newman? “
When I discovered MAD back in junior high, it was like The Holy Grail to my annoying little prepubescent, die-laughing-at-farts stage of immaturity.
I can recall that back in junior high some of my buddies’ moms frowned hard on MAD magazine, one even going so far as actually forbidding her son to even look at them. (Yeah, he had to sneak peeks at such porn over at my house, but only when his mom was safely out of town.)
We didn’t have the phrases “helicopter moms” or “the dumbing down of America” back in the fifties, but that particular periodical seemed to strike disgust in the hearts and minds of those humorless moms who’d already prematurely hitched their fifth graders’ wagons to the Harvard or Bust star.
I didn’t get it then and I still don’t get it now, not really. I mean, did MAD damage me? Quite the contrary. Sure, it bent me, but in a good way. What it did is teach me about the power and value of satire, which I quickly learned to emulate. It taught me the joys of puns. The joys of poetry, as well (well, considering the source, I guess… doggerel would be the more correctly descriptive terminology at that stage of my development). And despite some parents’ negative opinion of said magazine, by very early on it had sent me well on my way to becoming a wordsmith, a writer, and a serious lifelong reader. So no, my MAD years certainly didn’t hamstring me literarily.
Oh, I admit I was a mediocre student in school (in most classes that is, but never in English!). True, I’m one of those who became the solid scholar after getting my bachelor’s degree. But the truth is I was an “English major” before I actually became an English major.
But OK. Time for me to get down to brass tacks, to nail down the theme of this post. So yeah, what’s the actual theme here? Well to begin with, ever hear of one… Dr. Demento? No? OK:
FROM WIKIPEDIA: “When Barret Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, recently ended his weekly show, he had spent 55 years spinning weird, silly, or otherwise strange songs on the radio or online. No mere fringe figure, he was an influential figure in American comedy and one of the most important cultural libertarians of his era.
“That might seem far-fetched to people who grew up in a post-SNL, post-Seinfeld world. But in the early 1970s, all that lay in the future. Television shows still had to pass strict censorial review to be aired, and the same code policed much of what could be heard on mainstream radio. Hansen’s program pushed against those strictures.
“Listeners never knew what Hansen might play. One moment might bring a sweet, old novelty song like the Playmates’ “Beep Beep” about a “little Nash Rambler” that turned out to be more powerful than the Cadillac it was racing. The next moment you might hear a risqué song about sex, like Ruth Wallis’ “Davy’s Dinghy” (it’s not about his boat). There was drug humor, from the relatively tame “Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent” to a mid-’90s parody of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” called “The Devil Went Down to Jamaica” (“Johnny roll a ball of hash, and make sure it’s the bomb/’Cause the devil’s got the kind of stuff they smoked in Vietnam”). “Cows With Guns,” about bovines revolting against slaughter under the leadership of Cow Tse-tung, would compete with classic comic songs from Spike Jones and Tom Lehrer.“
COWS WITH GUNS by Dana Lyons
So in short, all I really want to do here is to be your Dr. Demento. Just for a day. I wanna play being a DJ, just for you. And I’ve selected 13 recordings right here from my collection of funny-bone novelties, and I’m sincerely hoping you give my humble collection a shot. I believe we’re all in dire need of some smiles here in the world of 2026. So… whattaya say? Huh? You game?????
(Click below before scrolling for some healthy little belly laughs)
By the way, Dr. Demento helped bring “Weird Al” Yankovic to national attention.
OK, but the theme here is not to be Dr. Demento per se, but the genre of the recordings he was known for collecting and sharing: novelty songs. Humorous little, often-one-hit wonders, all very much molded in the same vein as MAD magazine’s satirical humor.
Dr. D was a Pied Piper of Hamelin to me over a sizeable span of my younger days.
So please, indulge me. Buckle up my friend. Sit back and enjoy what I’m about to share with you. You’re going for a ride.
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Most of you are probably familiar with the artist, Peter Sellers, who played Inspector Clouseau in the original Pink Panther franchise. He was also featured prominently in the political satire and black comedy film, Doctor Strangelove Or : How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
So check him out in this one..
SHE LOVES YOU (BEATLES’ COVER) by Peter Sellers
OK. So, moving right along. Here’s another. And I seriously doubt George Carlin needs an introduction. Enjoy,
ICE BOX MAN by George Carlin
THE HOCKEY SONG by Warren Zevon
Now when I think of Warren Zevon, “Wererwolves of London” is the first song that pops into my mind. “The Hockey Song,” however, is a much lesser known ballad, but even more creative and humorous in my own humble opinion. I’m always surprised at how many tell me they’ve never heard it.
But you know, even if you’re not into hockey, I’m betting this one will score a smile on your face…
But now for something completely different:
THE SONG OF THE SEWER by Art Carney
The actor, Art Carney, played Ed Norton, Ralph Cramden’s (Jackie Gleason’s) city sewer-cleaner sidekick on the 1950s sitcom, The Honeymooners. This one-hit wonder of his however surprisingly climbed nearly to the top of the charts back in 1955. Novelty songs can sometimes do that.
(I apologize for poor quality of the algorhithm-generated captions in many of these videos. Right from the start, “I work in a sewer” gets displayed as “I wake in a sewer.” But whatta you gonna do?)
This next one is absolutely insane. It was recorded in Mr. White’s hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts, which you’ll be able to quickly recognize by his Massachusetts accent and by the story itself.
Don White is an award-winning American folk singer/songwriter, comedian, author, and storyteller from Lynn, Massachusetts. I once performed a cover of this one at an open-mic, and because of the lyrics… suffice it to say it was a big hit.
THE BALLAD OF LIJAH THE PRECOCIOUS ORCHARD QUEEN by Don White
(Ditto on the poor captions.)
THE MUSHROOM STORY by Todd Snider (a football story??)
According to a Rolling Stone obituary, Todd Snider was a witty, sarcastic, and sometimes dark singer/songwriter whose genre was labelled alt-country. He wasn’t the most successful artist to come out of Nashville, but he had the knack for becoming the favorite artist of hardcore music fans.
And now, Happy Halloween:
DINNER WITH DRAC PT. 1 by John Zacherle
When you think of Halloween music, very like it’s “The Monster Mash” that automatically comes to mind. I’ve always found The Mash entertaining, but “Dinner With Drac” is a close second, in my humble opinion. Take a listen.
FLUSHED FROM THE BATHROOM OF YOUR HEART by Johnny Cash
Old Johnny Cash needs no introduction whatsoever. But he did put out a handful of well-known novelty songs in his lifetime. Like “Boy Named Sue” (written by Shel Silverstein). and “That Dirty Old Egg Suckin’ Dog.” But this one I actually found useful each year when I was teaching my freshman classes about similes and metaphors. I always referred to this one as The Metaphor Song.
IN SPITE OF OURSELVES by John Prine and Iris Dement
OK. here’s a perennial hoot, on the slightly risque side. John Prine himself explains this one in his introduction.
BLACK DENIM TROUSERS AND MOTORCYCLE BOOTS by Vaughn Monroe
OK. And long before “Leader of the Pack,” this old badass motorcycle ballad hit the top 100. This is the one that back in ’55 inspired me to clothespin an ace of spades card straight into the spokes of my bicycle to produce that desirable revving motorcycle roar as I pedaled. Yep. On the sidewalks of Dover-Foxcroft, I would “transform” into The Terror of Highway 101.”
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