Like Whatever
Join Heather and Nicole as we discuss all things Gen-X with personal nostalgia, current events, and an advocacy for the rights of all humans. From music to movies to television and so much more, revisit the generational trauma we all experienced as we talk about it all. Take a break from today and travel back to the long hot summer days of the 80s and 90s. Come on slackers, fuck around and find out with us!
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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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Two best friends fucking fast We're missing two arcades We're having a blast Seeing these dreams beyond screens It was all bad like you know Tatter forever Never never never lapping Jerry our story forever We'll take you back like whatever Welcome to Like Whatever a podcast for by and about Gen X I'm Nicole and this is my BFFF Heather Hello So today Um Dick Cheney passed away.
SPEAKER_03:I heard um RIP's wondering why all the flags are housed out he's uh um I was actually wondering if um the White House was going to lower because um well Dick Cheney wasn't necessarily a great guy um as far as I go politically, he did um endorse Kamala Harris in this last election. Um really yeah. He said the biggest threat to America Donald Trump.
SPEAKER_04:I mean I'm gonna have to agree. I can't say that. Federal worker here.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So um, so yeah, so he he he did have some good in him. Um, but still, um he also shot his friend in the face. He did once, so you know. I mean, but who hasn't? That's a good gen X memory, is all. Who hasn't shot their friend in the face? For real. Um, oh, I also wanted to talk to you about uh devil in disguise. Yeah. Um, did we've you've I haven't finished it. I have not finished it. Oh, you haven't finished it. Oh, I finished it.
SPEAKER_04:No, I got distracted. I don't know by what, but I did get distracted.
SPEAKER_03:Probably doing your hair.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah, I did my hair.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04: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 black because it was a little bit too bright for me.
SPEAKER_03:Throw some black in it was. But um, yeah, so Devil in Disguise is the John Wayne Gacy um show on Peacock. So how far have you gotten in it?
SPEAKER_04: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: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:The story is pretty fucked up.
SPEAKER_03:It is, but I think I mean there are parts that I thought have been very slow. Yeah. And drunk out.
SPEAKER_04:That might have been the problem.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. But yeah. I I I like to sit and binge a couple episodes in a row, and this is one of those ones where sometimes after one, I'm like, yeah, that that was a lot. I'm I don't think I can do this for another hour.
SPEAKER_04:So here's the thing about John Wayne Gacy. Also, do you know why they call them by all three names by serial killers and stuff? Um, and assassins are called by all three names. No. So that you don't confuse another John Gacy. John Gacy. Oh. Yeah. Yep. So another poor John Gacy somewhere. Yeah. It doesn't have to be a good one. Although I don't know why Ted Bundy is just Ted Bundy, but because he was cute. Yeah. Um yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. The guy who plays Gacy is fantastic. He looks just like him.
SPEAKER_04:He does. I heard an interview with him. He said he people tell him that all the time before he did it, and he was like, Yeah, thanks.
SPEAKER_03:Gee, thanks. But yeah, I think what draws me in so much to serial killers is the psychological part of it because I've always been into that sort of thing. And he's just so twisted in his thinking, like, I'm not gay, it's not my fault, it's their fault. They're like, seriously. It's and I think he believes it.
SPEAKER_04:Well, so here's the thing John Wayne Gacy is one of the ones that is like the quintessential story of how a serial killer starts. That's a fly, not a spider. I was gonna move it for you, but it's a fly. No, I'm not scared of spiders. Um so what happens is the first time they kill is kind of an accident.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and that's what happened with it.
SPEAKER_04: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: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:No, they don't. And they have they have recently identified another victim that's not been that long because now with DNA, but I think they said I forget how many, how many, um uh how much people is left that they have that they can get DNA from. Like there's a lot of it. So I think they're still trying to work through, still trying to work through. And now with DNA they can, but you know, it costs a lot of money.
SPEAKER_03:And yeah, well, they said that um there's seven unnamed graves.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so that must have been one of those that they figured out. But yeah, it's an excellent watch. I would highly recommend it, but whew. Yeah. Make sure you're in the right state of mind to be watching it because it's horrifying. And that lady that plays the mom, like the main mom, she was just fantastic. Like wow.
SPEAKER_04:That's the only reason he got caught. Mm-hmm. Was because of him. That was the last one that it was somebody who they saw him in the drugstore with somebody whose parents cared about him. The rest of them were runaways and drug addicts, and I mean that's how they all get away with it.
SPEAKER_03:Well, it sounded like earlier on peop um parents were going to the police in Chicago, and the police were just Yeah. You know, it's just a bad kid. So, but and that never made any sense to me either. Whether your kid's a drug addict or a prostitute or whatever, they're still missing. So it's called The Last Dad. Yeah, I know, but that bothers me. But speaking of like in your feels, 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 way or the other. So she I heard her on NPR earlier today. They were interviewing her. Um, and she has a new album that came out on Halloween, and it's very um like the pagan religion is a lot through the lyrics. Um, it it it's good. I I listened to it on the way down here, that's why I didn't listen to last week. Um really got me in my feels. Like, I'm definitely gonna have some songs to talk about with my therapist. Excellent. This week. Yeah. Good times when you have something to talk about with your therapist. Yeah, we're we've been using Taylor Swift songs because we're both fans, and um, not that that ever gets old, but I I almost want to message her. Like, I don't have contact with her, I'd have to message her through the that she works for. But um, I almost want to tell her to listen to this album before we meet on Thursday. I haven't decided if I'm gonna do that yet. Because I could tell her about it on Thursday and then we can discuss the following week. But yeah, it's it's really good.
SPEAKER_04:So I had my therapist last night, and then we're moving to monthly for Christmas, um, because I don't have time for it. But uh, we just got to talk about all the fun drum I've had. She, I just as soon as we started, I was like, hold up. I got tea for ya. Well, let me spill it, and then we'll talk about me. And then we didn't even need to talk about me. Yeah. Because the tea was enough.
SPEAKER_03:Well, the tea is indirectly about it affects you 100%. So that that counts. Yeah. Good times. All right. Did you have anything else you wanted to add? I know you said you've just been in a work frenzy. Yeah, working is yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So this time of year, it's weird because everybody thinks it's like, you know, Christmas season really doesn't kick off until um Black Friday. I mean, typically, I guess for everybody in the world, that's when it kicks off. Unfortunately, for the United States Postal Service, all those lovely little catalogs that you get, they start rolling out within the last two weeks. They start rolling their Christmas stuff out.
SPEAKER_05:Right.
SPEAKER_04:So, and they go hot and heavy at you. Yeah, yeah. So that's what it's been like the last uh you know week or so.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah. Um, do you get a more do you have more packages yet too?
SPEAKER_04:No, not yet.
SPEAKER_03:Because I'm surprised people in this economy and with the tariff crap aren't ordering ahead of time early.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know. I am a little bit worried about that, that they're not gonna order. Um, because now that we don't have uh we don't have as much Amazon as we used to, we don't have FedEx, and we don't have UPS, although we are getting UPS back. Um it's all stuff that's sent through the post office, and like whoever they have, they don't have a deal with Walmart, and Walmart has its own people now too. Um so packages are not picking up, but the mail volume has definitely gone up in the last week. And it's mostly junk. It's mostly junk catalogs and worst. Yeah, it's it's a lot of and that stuff I know no one cares, but when your regular your little envelopes mail comes, it all comes in in order in a sequence, and it comes in these big trays, blah, blah, blah. And um, but magazines and stuff like that come separately, not in that. So we have to put that in there. Yeah. So like they we have these tubs that they put our we call them flats, um, in and they pile them up, and every tub that we get is like a f is gener generally about a foot. And so we count everything in feet. So like between yesterday and today, I probably had 10 or 15 feet of flats, which is like just stupid amounts. And then you have to put them in, it's the whole thing. And let me tell you something being a male person is a lot harder than you actually think it is.
SPEAKER_03:I know you see us riding around in the cool little truck all the time, but it is it is much more difficult job than I think, and and until you do it, you do not know how I would like to take this opportunity to let people know that uh postal employees appreciate a tip around the holidays. Um so if you are feeling so inclined, hook them up.
SPEAKER_04:We also like when you leave snacks out. Yes. Um in the summer it's nice because people leave water, frozen water, Gatorade or whatever. This time of year when it's starting to get chilly, and so PSA, because it is getting dark earlier now. Um just leave your porch light on. Even if you don't think you're getting a package, this is for for all your package delivery people. It just makes things a million times easier if your porch light is on. So we're not tripping over, and especially at fucking Christmas time with the goddamn Christmas decorations in the middle of the goddamn yard. I can't even tell you how many times I have face planted in the middle of somebody's yard.
SPEAKER_03:I'm pretty sure you actually told us last Christmas time.
SPEAKER_04:Because of your stupid starshine things. God, there's there's there's extension 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 to bed. Yeah. Then you can turn it off. Yep. And be kind. Yeah. Be patient.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Alrighty. So before we get started, I'd like to ask everyone to like, share, rate, review. Please. Find us wherever you listen to podcasts. Please. Follow us on all the socials at Like Whatever Pod. Please. And we are on YouTube. Still a work in progress. Yep. And you can send us an email to likewhateverpod at gmail.com. Please. All right. So this is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. And I don't know why it took me so long, but I'm excited for it. I think it's gonna be fun. So today we're gonna fuck around and find out about Dr. Demento. So I don't know who remembers Dr. Demento. Um, did you listen to him at all? Or do you know of him? Okay. So when I was growing up, um uh the town I lived in at radio station, and every I want to say Sunday night, I'm pretty sure, um, they had um Dr. Demento, what is it? Slam Willcast. Um I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, it was a nationwide radio show, but it aired on our local radio station on Sunday nights. And Dr. Demento played silly funny songs, and I loved it. And I used to sit up with my tape recorder and my tape and record all the funny songs and then listen to them on my Walkman. I do only know the one. Which one? They're coming to take you away.
SPEAKER_04:Oh, yeah, you can't do that. My dad sings that all the time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. But um, I uh it's funny going back now as an adult because back when this was airing, I was young, 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:People talk about the music today. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_03:I don't know. Well, it's I'm not saying it's any better or worse today. It's just always been there. Always. Um, and everybody's parents always hated it.
unknown:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:All right, here we go. Dr. Demento was born April 2nd, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Uh, he's an American radio broadcaster, record collector, and musicologist whose cult favorite radio program, the Dr. Demento Show, aired from 1971 to 2010. I had no idea it ran that long. I was gonna say I did not know because I listened to it in the 80s.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, that's a long time.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um, and it revitalized the appreciation of novelty music. Since 2010, the Dr. Demento Show has been produced as a weekly online-only program. There you go. I know. And as I was doing this, I was like, I should listen to that, but I never will. But anyway, um, Barry Hansen's interest in novelty songs started at a young age. In a 2023 interview with the Long Beach Post, he recalled when I was four years old, my dad brought home a 78 RPM record of Cocktails for Two by Spike Jones, and that was in 1945. Uh, and it immediately became my favorite song. Also, on the other side was Leave the Dishes in the Sink, 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 the record player, so I wouldn't have to beg them to put on whatever I wanted to play. Hansen started collecting records from resale shops when he was 11 years old, taking a particular interest in discarded rhythm and blues records from local jukeboxes. Oh, smart. Yeah. As a teenager, he listened to late night AM radio programs that featured the music of blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters, and Jimmy Reed. By the time he was in high school, Hansen had accumulated a voluminous record collection and was uh and he started DJing at local sock hop dances. He studied music theory at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and wrote his undergraduate thesis on early 20th century opera. Yeah, I know. It's a very wide gamut of music. Um, Hansen worked as a program director at KRRC, Reed's 10-Watt radio station, and he hosted a program called Musical Museum, which featured an eclectic blend of obscure folk, RB, country and western, and world music selected from his ever-growing collection. That's so funny. He got it like his own show and used all his own records. I wonder if that was common back then. Uh, after graduating from Reed College in 1963, Hansen became a key contributor contributor to the Little Sandy Review, a pioneering and influential folk and blues music magazine. He earned a master's degree in folklore and ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology. There you go. Ethnomusicology. Got it. From the University of California, LA.
SPEAKER_04:I did not know that you could get a degree in folklore. That might have changed everything.
SPEAKER_03:In the late 1960s, he produced compilation rec recordings and worked as a talent scout for the specialty records label. In 1970, Hansen's friend Steven Siegel, a disc jockey at the Freeform rock station KPPC in Los Angeles, asked him to bring some rare early rock and roll discs to play as a guest. Hansen was popular with listeners and earned his own evening slot. His programming featured mostly blues and do-up music, but he noticed that listeners responded enthusiastically to novelty and comedy songs. One particular audience favorite was Transfusion from 1956 by the Nervous Norvus, a sound effects-laden novelty tune about a daring but reckless driver. In a 1980 interview with the Washington Post, Hansen recalled that KPPC's secretary remarked that he had to be demented to play Transfusion on the radio. Everyone else at the station had a name, Outrageous Nevada, the obscene Steve, Steve and Clean. So I became Dr. Demento. The Dr. Demento show aired weekly on KPPC uh in 1971, moved to radio station KMET in 1972, and was syndicated in 1974. See, syndicated was that what I said? I don't remember. That was like a whole 10 minutes ago. I'm gonna take credit for it. Um the show let you the show introduced the work of novelty music artists Spike Jones, Alan Sherman, and uh Stan Freeberg to new audiences and a popularized song such as Dead Puppies.
SPEAKER_04:I know that one.
SPEAKER_03:I know in 1977 by Ogden Odsell and Ben Fencer's Fish Heads, 1978 by Barnes and Noble. Or no, Barnes and Barnes. Close. Yeah, fishheads still will get stuck in my head.
SPEAKER_04:It literally just got stuck.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I haven't heard it since the 80s, but every once in a while I just start singing fish heads in my head. I don't know why. Uh and the ever-popular Grandma got run over by a rain gun. I gotta tell you, I did not know it was that old. 1979. Yeah, I know, me neither. I thought it came out when I was a teenager. Yeah. Uh and that was done by Elmo and Patsy. Uh Hansen began appearing as Dr. Demento at special events, spinning records, and greeting crowds in his trademark top hat and tuxedo with red accessories. After going into national syndication, the show settled into a two-hour format that included three segments. An opening segment featuring Hansen selections and listener requests, a segment dedicated to a particular theme such as Halloween or Christmas music, and a final segment called The Funny Five, featuring a countdown of the week's most requested songs. That's where I had my tape recorder out. Right. Because those were the ones I wanted. Sure. Um, Hansen closed the show with his trademark sign-off. Don't forget to stay demented. At the height of its popularity, the Dr. Dementor show was syndicated on more than 200 stations. In addition to playing listener request, the show strengthened its connection to its audience by airing songs that were performed by listeners. One listener who contributed music to the show was a teenager who would later become known as Weird Al Yankovic. Look at that. Yankovic's breakaway song on the Dr. Demento show was My Bologna. My Bologna. That was in 1979. Wow. It was a parody of My Sharona by the neck. My Bologna, which I know it's baloney, but that doesn't run with My Sharona. Um, topped the funny five, and its popularity on the show helped Yankovic build momentum towards an enormously successful career as a novelty song performer and composer. Hansen appeared in many of Yankovic's music videos, including Ricky in 1983, I Love Rocky Road in 1983, and I lost on Jeopardy in 1984, which is another one that gets stuck in my head often. I don't know why, but just out of nowhere. He also appeared on Yankovic's 1989 comedy film UHF in the biographical parody film Weird Weird, the Al Yankovic story in 2022, Hansen is portrayed by actor Rain Wilson. Oh, I bet that's good. I know.
SPEAKER_04: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 happening down the road from here. So there is a lot of of activity out there. So I can't edit it off. Big tire place is on fire down the road and put a lot of pollution in there. Yes, and there's not so there's a lot of activity because they're like right across from the firehouse, kind of caddy wompously over there. Anyway, that's kind of and I'm not gonna be able to edit it out. So if you hear it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. So like last week with the wind, yeah. This week we got emergency crew. All right. Uh Hanson drew on his work as a record compilation producer when Warner Brothers released the anthology Dr. Demento's Delights in 1975, which includes the novelty songs Hello Mutta. Hello Fada.
SPEAKER_04:Hello Mada.
SPEAKER_03:Hello, Fada.
SPEAKER_04:I know that one too. Yep. Actually, no, a lot of these that I didn't realize I was gonna know.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Um, that was 1963 uh by Alan Sherman and the cockroach that ate Cincinnati in 1973 by Possum.
SPEAKER_04:I don't know that one. I don't either.
SPEAKER_03:Uh several similar compilations followed. In 1980, Rhino Records released Dr. Demento's Dementia Royale, which gathers the oddities pencil neck geek. No, I know that one uh in 1977, uh, performed by professional wrestler Fred Blassi and Making Love in a Superoo in 1979 by Damascus. I don't know that one either. I don't either. Rhino's Dr. Demento um 25th anniversary collection in 1995, sold well, and collected the novelty song Nuggets The Curly Shuffle in 1983.
unknown:Sorry.
SPEAKER_04:I I don't like the three stooges.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:By jump and I think it's because we're girls, and I think it's just a girl boy thing. I think so too. My dad loves it. And I'm like, this is the stupidest fucking thing I've ever watched in my this is like the hugest waste.
SPEAKER_03:And I love physical comedy, but it is so stupid. It's just awful.
SPEAKER_04:It makes no sense at all. Like at least physical comedy should make sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this just uh Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Um deal with it. And let's see. So the curly shuffle and rubber biscuit in 1956 by the Chips.
SPEAKER_04:Don't know that one either. I feel like I do, but I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_03: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:Oh my god, I love the dead milkman.
SPEAKER_03:I know. And actor William Shatner. Oh my god, I love actor William Shatner. Maybe you need to get um clearly I do. And Dr. Demento covered in punk. Guess what?
SPEAKER_04:I'm gonna be listening to on my way home.
SPEAKER_03:Uh yeah, William Shatner performed punk rock renditions of songs popularized by the Dr. Demento show.
SPEAKER_04:I cannot wait for this.
SPEAKER_03:Hansen's personal collection includes more than 300,000 records. His book on the history of blues music, Rhino's Cruise Through the Blues, was published in 2000, and he was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in twenty nine. In 2010, as radio stations trended away from syndicated music programs, the Dr. Demento show transitioned to an online format with a subscription service. Oh, that's why I haven't listened to it. I have to pay for it. All right, so that's a history of Dr. Demento. I thought that was really interesting. So I went and just picked out some of my favorite songs. Um, actually, one of them isn't my favorite, but it I yeah, anyway, we'll get to it. Um, so Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes in 1978.
SPEAKER_04:Not Barnes and Noble.
SPEAKER_03:Fish Heads is a novelty song by comedy rock duo Barnes and Barnes, released as a single in 1978 and later featured on the 1980 album Vu Baha.
unknown:Yep.
SPEAKER_03:It was the most requested song on the Dr. Demento radio show, and a music video for the song made in 1980 was in regular rotation on MTV. Do you remember it had like fish heads in it? Like real ones and their mouths would move. Vaguely. Yeah. The song was featured on Barnes and Barnes 1982 Fish Heads Greatest Hits, 12 Inch on Rhino Records. The duo was formed in 1970 by actor Bill Moomy and Robert Hamer, uh, who were high school classmates originally as a private home recording project. The lyrics are an absurdist's celebration of fishheads, describing them in the high-pitched chorus as roly-poly and delicious to eat. The verses describe various things they mostly can't do, such as play baseball, wear sweaters, play the drums, and drink cappuccino in Italian restaurants. Now, why can they oriental women?
SPEAKER_04:Okay. Why can't they drink cappuccino? They got mouth. Hmm. That's a good question. That doesn't say they can't digest cappuccino. But they're still drinking it.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you're gonna have to take that up at Barnes and Barnes.
SPEAKER_04:Maybe it's the Oriental ribbon that are a problem.
SPEAKER_03: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 people advertise them?
SPEAKER_04:Yes. That is fine, I believe. Okay. You just can't call people Oriental. I'm not really up to date on the political correctness of the word Oriental, but I feel like it's bad when you're talking like I feel like it's when it's the rug, it is the actual name of the rug.
SPEAKER_03:That's what I thought, but it still makes me cringe.
SPEAKER_04:Or like it's a rug from the Orient. I'm not like you can call it the Orient Express.
SPEAKER_03:True. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:I think the problem with people is you're just jamming all of Asians into one instead of their each denominator.
SPEAKER_03:There are a lot of Asian countries.
SPEAKER_04:Not denominations, but the the word I'm looking for is like denominators.
SPEAKER_03:Native lands.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah. Cultures. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Um, I'm glad we cleared that up. Yeah. Um actor Bill Paxton, a filmmaker at the time, directed and appeared in the music video for the song, along with cinematographer Rocky Shank and Robert Hamer's girlfriend at the time.
SPEAKER_04:I feel like Bill Paxton shows up everywhere.
SPEAKER_03:He does. He's amazing.
SPEAKER_04:Like, what is up with him?
SPEAKER_03:I love him so much.
SPEAKER_04:Does he just not have anything else to do in the world?
SPEAKER_03:I watch Twister every single time. It's a little bit more than a little bit. Like he's literally everywhere.
SPEAKER_04: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:Oh yeah, we talked about that. Um
SPEAKER_04:Uh yeah, so move over rose. Whatever episode that was. Something to do with move over rose.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, and one of uh um um Barnes and Barnes girlfriends designed the costumes. Uh the video aired on NBC television on Saturday Night Live on December 6, 1980, and the following week. Dr. Demento had a cameo as the bum. He later recalled how he discovered the song, in that Barnes and Barnes had originally submitted a song about vomit that he knew would never pass his home station's broadcast standards and practices. And he asked the duo for something that was arable on the radio and was sent fish heads. So, yeah, I don't, I mean, of all the songs he played, I don't see why a song about vomit was I don't know that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_04:It was the 80s, it was a wild time.
SPEAKER_03:It really was.
SPEAKER_04:Um can't talk about vomit, but you can't snort cake off the back of a toilet and a McDonald's, but you know, whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Um, and that word bum too. For some reason, that has become very inappropriate for me. Really?
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, like are you calling the entire city of Philadelphia inappropriate? Because they literally call everyone a bum. I had 20 years of season tickets, and we had this little old man, and I'm sure you remember him. That's that I'm sure he's dead now. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That used to say, you bum!
SPEAKER_03:Andy Reid, you're a bum. Well, you know what? I so I guess my problem is because this recently happened to me. I heard a person around my age recently call the homeless bums. And I think that's what I have as well. There's a difference.
SPEAKER_04:I do know that there is a difference between homeless and bums, and bums are the ones that ride the trains and go around. And I think it's acceptable to call them bums, although I don't think they exist anymore because I feel like it's really hard to jump a train.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. That's something I always wish I had done.
SPEAKER_04:Jumped a train?
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:You probably still can. I don't know where you're gonna go. There's one that goes through Frankfurt. There's one that goes through Frankfurt real slow. It's just got chicken feet on it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and sometimes when they're like switching lanes or something, they're they're stopped. Yeah. But usually I'm on my way somewhere and it's not.
SPEAKER_04:No, are they called hobos?
SPEAKER_03:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Those are hobos. I'm sorry. Disregard everything I just said. I don't know if bum is socially acceptable. It is in Philadelphia. Well, everybody is a bum.
SPEAKER_03:There's no cooth in Philly.
SPEAKER_04:No, there is no we're proud of it. There is no economic distinction from a bum of any other kind. Everyone, no matter your economic status, you are a bum. Correct. Okay, we gotta hold on a second. Okay, we have a special segment. Are you people ready? Week three. Hit that hit that music.
SPEAKER_01:Because I repeat your life, we're lucky, sex and freestyle.
SPEAKER_03:So continuing with Nicole's diary from 1984, I can't wait. Uh, if you'll recall two weeks ago we discussed my slumber party on March 31st, late one. Was late because of chicken pox.
SPEAKER_04:Chicken pox.
SPEAKER_03:And then last week we discussed the next day where we played jokes on each other. Correct.
SPEAKER_04:We didn't get into what?
SPEAKER_03:All right, here's Monday, April 2nd. Uh-oh.
unknown:All right.
SPEAKER_04:We're going back to school.
SPEAKER_03:Today I went back to school. Yes. From the weekend. We had a college bowl in science because I was a nerd the whole time I was in school. Yes. A college bowl is a thing where we ask questions on our unit that are that we study and have a test or a quiz. Right. Got it. Yeah. Um, and that was in um Miss Irwin's class. I a little side note. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Well, she you probably that's good that you did that because you might not have remembered.
SPEAKER_03:I would have never remembered. Um, I took cans into science class. I'm going to assume that was for a food drive for um Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_04:But where were you making telephones? No, it was March. Why would you be bringing stuff for Thanksgiving?
SPEAKER_03:Oh shit, that's right. April 2nd. I'm thinking because now it's almost. Why did I would I have taken cans into science class?
SPEAKER_04:I'm thinking you're making a telephone.
SPEAKER_03:Probably. All right. Here's here's a tragedy. I had a substitute for Miss Booten. Oh Lord.
unknown:God damn.
SPEAKER_03:Everybody was so bad when you had substitutes. They didn't know how to act. Nope. And in in parentheses, that was reading in language arts, by the way. Oh. You wouldn't have remembered. I studied for my social studies test. Good job. And my science test. Nice. Uh, and practiced my flute. Good job. All right. So this line when I first read it, I was like, where's this going? I blew up my mom's uh purple rabbit for Easter. That was worth putting, you know, the big blow-up plastic Easter bunnies. All right. Yeah. So I guess it was noteworthy that I did that.
SPEAKER_04:She probably wouldn't lunch you before.
SPEAKER_03:I ate lunch with Daphne. Daphne is my best friend. That's nice. You know what's funny about Daphne is um she um now is works with an agency that my um office works with. So I see her occasionally. Um, and you know, this was elementary school. We grew apart, you know, of course, as school went on, but it's still kind of neat, and I can't wait to see her at something again so I can tell her. Because actually this diary came from Daphne, which I didn't realize at first. Um, but it says from Daphne to Nicole. Um and did I write something out? Oh, yeah, and then I have um her address, her birthday. Her favorite things are kittens and puppies, of course. And and just a little noodle to the side with a star. She's my best friend.
SPEAKER_04:Oh where's my fucking star?
SPEAKER_03:Be jealous.
SPEAKER_04:I ain't getting no goddamn aside.
SPEAKER_03:Well, my therapist has me journaling now, so maybe I'll give you a best friend spot for this. You know what?
SPEAKER_04:I get I didn't not only do I get an assign, I get a whole fucking podcast. Daphne.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Daphne.
SPEAKER_04:Suck it. Did she puke on your shoes? No.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, I didn't. Unless I got food poisoning when I was 11.
SPEAKER_04:But we'll find out later.
SPEAKER_03:We'll see what happens. Yep. Right, so that's this week's edition of Nicole's Diary. Nicole's Diary. Woo! Back to our silly songs with Dr. Demento. Um all right, so we're still on fish heads. The 1980s in 1985, the video was incorporated into several episodes of the Nickelodeon sketch show Turkey Television. Never heard of it? I vaguely remember well, that was before I had well, obviously I was still a kid then. I didn't even know Nickelodeon was on in 1985. Yeah, they had uh you can't do that on television. Well, I didn't have cable. And when I was at my dad's for the weekend where he had cable, I was only watching MTV. Right, sure. Sure, sure. Um, the song is featured in the Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror 7, which is a great Simpsons episode. I mean, all of the Tree House of Horrors are yeah, all the Simpsons Halloween's are just the best. Um Alan Arkin sings the song in the 1993 movie Indian Summer. In the 2017 television episode Goodwill of Holt and Catch Fire, Joe and Haley listen to the song while driving in Joe's car. Never heard of Holt and Catch Fire. And yeah, so that's it for fish heads. Fish heads. Eat them up, yum. Okay.
SPEAKER_04:Um still don't understand why they can't drink cappuccino.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know. I didn't. Well, I guess I'll have to move on. All right. Next, they're coming to take me away. Ha ha by Napoleon the 14th in 1974. They're Coming to Take Me Away. Ha ha is a 1966 novelty record written and performed by Jerry Samuels, billed as Napoleon the 14th, and released on Warner Brothers Records. The song became an instant success in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 popular music singles. I think it's so funny because last week you did music as well, which is why I almost didn't do it this week. But I was like, what better encapsulates a generation than the music? So we really can't do too many music podcasts. Um, but even the song like Ghostbusters, why was that at number one? Like it's such a cheesy song. I mean, I get it, but I guess it is most popular song. But anyway, yeah. So number three in um on August 13th, and it was number one on the Cash Box Top 100 pop single charts, 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 a first-person narrative who seems to be addressing a lost love. He describes his declining mental state in the wake of her departure and expresses excitement about his forthcoming admission to the psychiatric hospital.
SPEAKER_04:I can tell you that I have never identified it with anything more than the excitement about an up a forthcoming admission to a psychiatric hospital because I would give literally anything to have a lovely vacant.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, really, you can stay in bed all day.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, I used to work in psychiatric hospitals, give you pills to put you to sleep.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_03:You don't have to talk to anybody if you don't want to.
SPEAKER_04:Amazing.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. However, the final verse reveals that the narrator is not addressing a woman but a runaway dog. They'll find you yet, and when they do, they'll put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt. I mean could be a woman too. Well, Samuels feared that the song would be perceived as disrespectful towards those with mental illness.
SPEAKER_04:Not even a little bit.
SPEAKER_03:Right. And plus back then, for someone to worry about how something was perceived is just like, wow, he's way ahead of his own. Especially a mentally ill I know. Uh, and he deliberately worded the last line. So you realize that the person is talking about a dog having left him, not a human. So go ahead.
SPEAKER_04:Does that make it any better though? I mean Okay, here's I I get it because I would go mentally ill if my dog just ran away and I couldn't find him. Would I go mentally ill if anybody else left me? Probably not.
SPEAKER_03:Um but yeah, how does it? I mean, I would see it more as you'd want to do it so that you don't look like stalkerish.
SPEAKER_04:Well, but you're saying I'm going to a mental station over my dog, which you know, we're talking about the 70s, people were not as crazy about their dogs as they are these days.
SPEAKER_03:That is true.
SPEAKER_04:Where like more a person would be more he really was ahead of his time. You would be more inclined to go crazy over another human being than a than a pet. Just saying.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Pets were not people then. Samuel said, Okay, I felt it would 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 the rhythm of the old Scottish tune, The Campbells Are Coming. Uh, the song is driven by a snare drum, bass drum, tambourine, and hand clap rhythm. The vocal is spoken rhythmically rather than sung melodically, while the vocal pitch rises and falls at key points to create an unusual glissando effect, augmented by the sound of wailing sirens.
SPEAKER_04:I love a song with wailing sirens.
SPEAKER_03:Uh according to Samuel, the vocal pitch shift was achieved by manipulating the recording set speed of his vocal track, a multi-track variation on the technique used by Ross Agdesarian in creating the original Chipmunks novelty songs. Yeah, right. The song does go up, doesn't it? Mm-hmm. Yep. At the time the song was written, Samuels was working as a recording engineer at the Associated Recording Studios in New York. Samuels used a variable frequency oscillator to alter the 60 hertz uh frequency of the hysteric hysteresis motor of a multi-track tape recording machine. This this this song is giving me the business.
SPEAKER_04:I knew all that.
SPEAKER_03:I'm trying to read all this, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:I know stuff about multi-track tape recording machines.
SPEAKER_03:He first recorded the rhythmic track, uh, then overdubbed the vocal track while slowing the tape at the end of each chorus and reciting the words in the time with the slowing beat. So when it was played back at normal speed, the tempo would be steady, but the pitch of his voice would rise. Some tracks were treated with intermittent tape-based echo effects created by an echoplex. I have one.
unknown:I don't know.
SPEAKER_03: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 siren effects that gradually rose and fell with the pitch of his vocals.
SPEAKER_04:I love a siren effect. Nothing better.
SPEAKER_03:All right, so my next one is really the one that I really remember riding in the car 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 Kip Ada in 1984. And I'm just gonna call him Kip from here on out through this because that last name is hard to say. Um, Wet Dream by Kip is a humorous and innuendo lead-in song that uses clever wordplay, puns, and aquatic imagery, imagery to tell a comical story. The song's lyrics playfully describe a series of events that occur while the narrator is driving in downtown Atlantis. Uh, a fictional underwater sea during the Is it fictional though? I don't know. Like, there's a lot of things I don't believe in most things. Like, I'm very science-based in my head. Same. But why couldn't Atlantis have existed and fallen into the ocean? It could. Yeah. I mean, Florida's about to. 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 unusual time in a leap year.
SPEAKER_04:Leap year.
SPEAKER_03:Throughout the song, the narrator's car, a rented stingray, experiences mechanical issues like overheating and a blown seal, uh, which serve as metaphors for his own personal issues and frustrations.
SPEAKER_04:Sure.
SPEAKER_03:A blown what? Um, these car troubles are used to create a comical parallel with the narrator's romantic misadventures. The recurring phrase wet dream serves as a humorous double entendre. While it initially appears to describe a dream related to water or aquatic life, it's revealed that the narrator is actually using it to refer to his romantic encounters. And for those of you that don't remember, I think I had a wet dream moving through the golf stream. I don't know it. Ooh. Wet dream. All right. Um, and a woman with the zodiac sign aquarium leading to more wordplay and humor. As the song progresses, the narrative humorously unfolds with wordplay involving various sea creatures and fish-related terms such as midnight bait and a few minnows. The climax of the song involves, no pun intended, uh involves a humorous but a m confrontation with a jealous and aggressive character, the Haddock, leading to a pun-filled fight where various fish-related terms are used in a comic manner. Ultimately, the song uses aquatic and fishing imagery to create a whimsical and lighthearted atmosphere while the narrator's romantic escapades serve as the central theme. The song's humor arises from its clever wordplay and the unexpected twists and turns in the narrative, making it a playful and entertaining piece with 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 by Weird Al Yankovic, and it came out in 1981. It's crazy that we've had Weird Owl our whole entire lives.
SPEAKER_04:That's gonna be a tough one to lose. Yeah. That's gonna be a real tough one to lose. Because I mean, you don't really think about Weird Owl on the daily. No, but I feel like when he's gone, it's gonna be pretty upsetting. Yeah, and he has literally like spoofed everybody.
SPEAKER_03:Everybody. Everybody. It's it's so good. Like a surgeon. Oh, the very first. Um, okay. So Yoda is a song by Weird Al Yankovic from his third album, Dare to Be Stupid, in 1985. I feel like that was his most popular album because I remember that album title. Um, it is a parody of the song Lola by the Kinks, inspired by the events of the movie The Empire Strikes Back. The song is told from the point of view of Jedi in training Luke Skywalker and concerns his dealings with Master Yoda on the planet Dagobah. Dagobah. Dagobah. I don't know anything about Star Wars, but I do know that that's Dagobah. Okay. Uh, the song was initially written and recorded in 1980 during the original release of The Empire Strikes Back and achieved success on the Dr. Demento show. However, securing permission from both Star Wars creator George Lucas and Lola songwriter Ray Davies, delayed the physical release of the song for about five years.
SPEAKER_04: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 summer blockbusters. Yes. Yes. It's a good episode.
SPEAKER_03:It's a very good episode. Uh Yoda was never released as a single, nor was a music video ever made for it. Nevertheless, the parody has gone on to be one of Yankovic's most famous songs. It was released twice in 1994 on his second greatest hits set and the box set um Permanent Records and also on the 2009 compilation The Essential World The Essential Weird Ow Yankovic. The song is also a staple during Yankovic's live shows, and an idiosyncric idiosyncratic chant dubbed the Yoda chant is often performed during the song's middle portions.
SPEAKER_04:I bet that a Weird Owl concert is probably the fucking funnest evening that you will ever have.
SPEAKER_03:So much fun. So much fun. Because everybody there will be goofy.
SPEAKER_04: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: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 this morning, and she has a new it's either a book or documentary or something out. I don't know. But she is 79 years old and still performing. Yeah. She's she's a beast nuts. Yeah, she's yeah, like she's uh I think she's a vampire. Probably. Because she still looks exactly the same, which granted I know it's plastic surgery.
SPEAKER_05:Well, yeah.
SPEAKER_03:But yeah, she still sounds the same, like almost 80 years old and still performing. That's nuts.
SPEAKER_04:Speaking of that, can we just digress for a second? Of course. So that I can say that your your BFF Taylor's boyfriend fiance after that hit Sunday night, I would seriously be contemplating retirement.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, Mr. Positive Pants was looking at Grimace and really hard after that.
SPEAKER_04:That one, that one is a that was a soul shaker right there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. I imagine when he went home and took his shirt off, Taylor was like, oh my god, that is the biggest bruise I've ever seen in my whole entire life.
SPEAKER_04:Man, but let me just say, just so for let's take a football break.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_04:There was no Eagles football on this weekend. Correct. Which on one side of it, uh, no Eagles. On the other side of it, yay, no Eagles. Because then you can actually enjoy the fucking game.
SPEAKER_03: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:Um by the way, we did win because like everybody else. Everyone else lost. So technically we won in our bye week. 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 everything I had hoped for. Edge of your seat. It was great. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_03:And while I do love um Taylor's fiance, I'm not necessarily I'm not a Chiefs fan. I will root for them because I want um Taylor's fiance to win. Right. But I love Josh Allen and the Bills.
SPEAKER_04:I just was I was I didn't care who won. I really didn't.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's true too. I didn't care. Yeah, it doesn't affect us.
SPEAKER_04:It just was I was like all day long, I was like, oh man, you know, I I woke up thinking, man, I really I cannot wait to see that Kansas City built. I don't know why.
SPEAKER_03:I was just I mean, I guess because I knew how it was gonna go and Well, it's fun because there are weeks where you're like, man, that's gonna be a good game. I can't wait. And then a lot of times it's like 40 to 7 and you're like, well, that sucked. But it It was everything down to the wire. Like Mahomes had plenty of time to win that game and didn't I mean it was 22 seconds with one timeout, but it's Patrick Mahomes. He has come back and won those plenty of times.
SPEAKER_04:It was just a great weekend.
SPEAKER_03:It was this great Sunday for it was a really good Sunday, it was yeah, and then Monday night was even better.
SPEAKER_04:And they got the the kicker, that kicker kicked the 68 yarder. Yeah, record. Did you see the other coach, the other special teams coach came over and hugged him and told him he was proud of him? Oh that's a pretty fucking impressive 68 yards.
SPEAKER_02:I was pissed because I didn't get to see last night's game because I have YouTube TV and YouTube TV, for whatever reason, they've been running a banner about ABC and Disney, and then like Friday I went to turn on ABC and I don't have it anymore.
SPEAKER_03: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 all that matters. Whether I watched it or not, they lost. Um I watched the first half, and then I had to go to sleep. Yeah, yeah. All right. Uh let's see. Yoda, back to uh Yoda. Yoda was originally written by Weird Al Yankovic in 1980 when an epic scene epic space opera, The Empire Strikes Back, was playing in theaters. The film introduced the character of Yoda, the ancient Jedi master who trains Luke in the ways of the force following the demise of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yokov Yankovit but Yankovic Yankovit Weird Al Yankovic. Weird Al. Just call him Weird Al. Okay, Weird Owl. I'm tired. Uh Weird Owl later jokingly said that prior to The Empire Strikes Back, the thought of writing a song about Yoda had never occurred to me. He considered writing a song based on the breakout character, but was unable to find a suitable piece of parody until one of his friends proposed that he use Lola, which I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of myself since I was such a huge Kinks fan. Uh Weird Owl wrote and recorded a version of the song using only an accordion with musical Mike Kiefer blowing milk bubbles and making hand sounds. Are milk bubbles actually bubbles?
SPEAKER_04:I don't have any idea what a milk bubbles are.
SPEAKER_03:Like it's not capitalized, so I would assume it's what the hell are they doing down there? Yeah. Um out of control. And making hand sounds on a four-track cassette Porta Studio. This version of Yoda was a success on the Dr. Demento show and peaked at number one on the Funny Five countdown for several weeks. This early demo was later released on the sixth volume of Dr. Demento's bass tape. Yankovic wanted to uh include the songs on one of his albums since the demo version had been so popular. However, securing permission from both George Lucas and the Kinks delayed the physical release of the song, as I said. Uh although Lucas eventually gave Weird Owl permission, the song's publishers turned down uh Yankovic. Yoda might have remained unreleased had it not been for a chance encounter between Weird Owl and Ray Davies, who wrote Lola. When Weird Owl asked him why he had not given his permission, Davies responded that he had never been asked. Davies ultimately gave Weird Owl permission to record the song, and the song was later released on Weird Owl's third album, Dare to Be Stupid. For subsequent parodies, Weird Owl has attempted to approach the songwriters themselves for permission rather than their publishers whenever possible. That's pretty shitty. Publishers are supposed to work for the artists. Yes. Anyway. Yoda was re-recorded on February 20th, 1985. This version of the song does not feature an accordion and is truer musically to the original Kink song. Weirdell later said it's kind of a backlash from the first album where we had accordion on everything. It just became a little overwhelming to me.
SPEAKER_04:I find all accordion overwhelming.
SPEAKER_03:Man, I have always been obsessed with accordions, and if I were to learn another instrument, that would probably be it. Like I can play a number of instruments, but I've always been fascinated with the accordion.
SPEAKER_04:I cannot play any instruments.
SPEAKER_03:I can't read music too. Maybe I'll get like a little hand accordion. Like I don't want one of the great big ones, but I can't read shoe music. I used to write music. I can read music, and I used to write it. I wrote some really bad songs in the 80s, but I was. Where are they living now? We're gonna need to find that. I remember one of them was called Doya.
SPEAKER_04:Is that in this little book here?
SPEAKER_03:Uh no, that was after that. I I wrote the music on the keyboard and I wrote the lyrics, and I used to make my stepsister sing it with me. Yeah. I think we're gonna need to hear it. Yeah, I'm not doing it. Anyway, um next one, Hello Mutta, Hello Fada by Alan Sherman in 1976. I always love this song, it's just such a sweet, precious little song. Like it's this kid that's away at camp and everything is going for shit. And he's trying to be upbeat in this letter to his parents. But anyway, uh Hello Mutta, Hello Fada, uh, a letter from camp is a novelty song written by Alan Sherman, released in 1963. Um, the melody is taken from the ballet 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 by Sherman and Lou Bush. Alan based the lyrics on letters of complaint, which he had received from his son Robert Sherman, who was attending Camp Champlain, a summer camp in Westport, New York. I did not know that part. And I think that's super cute.
SPEAKER_04:I did know that.
SPEAKER_03:Okay.
SPEAKER_04: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 I think there's an episode about space that we did last year.
SPEAKER_03:I never went to camp either.
SPEAKER_04:I wanted to go to camp. I don't know why. I would have hated every millisecond I was there. But all I wanted to do was to go to one of these camps in upstate New York. Really? Yes.
unknown:Hmm.
SPEAKER_04:I would have hated it. And I would have demanded someone come get me.
SPEAKER_03:Oh yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_04:Because it would have been everything I hate.
SPEAKER_03:Which is why your parents didn't let you go. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04:They were not gonna spend money when they would just have to turn around and come get me. Yes. Like they would just leave and then they would probably just go sleep in the van. Yes. And then come back 20 minutes later because I'd be like, mmm, fuck this. And I am not the type that would call and be like, please come. I would just fucking leave. Uh-huh. I would pack my shit and start walking.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, the call would come from the camp counselor, right? Because she's missing.
SPEAKER_04: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:And you were eight. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:So I don't I don't know why I wanted to. I don't know if it was like I mean 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 in concept.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:But when it comes to actually doing them, I just have zero interest in it. Like I don't want to do like I think maybe I just want to like watch it on TV.
SPEAKER_03:Well, and didn't you say your dad worked at a camp?
SPEAKER_04:We lived at a camp. Right. Yeah, a day camp.
SPEAKER_03:So maybe you weren't considering that your parents wouldn't be there if you went to camp. I mean. Maybe. Or your dog.
SPEAKER_04:Well, I mean that's just it. We went everywhere. So like why I I'm sure we were in upstate New York. I'm sure we went to these places. I don't know. I just don't know why. I don't know. I think I just you know what it was?
SPEAKER_05:Why?
SPEAKER_04:Because my sister wouldn't have been there. Yeah. I think I just wanted some time away from her. Like maybe if they had sent her to camp, which they did later. She was a camp goer.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, same here. Like I always wanted to go to camp. My sister got to go to camp. Um and she hated it. She literally would not use the restroom for the whole week she was there. I think she peed like three times, and that's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_04:My sister liked going.
SPEAKER_03:She didn't I would have loved it. Just like I would have wanted always wanted to be in dance. And I I had to do stupid girl scouts. And my sister got to go to dance and hated it.
SPEAKER_04:I didn't I wanted to do dance and then I hated it. Um and then I wanted to be a Girl Scout really bad. There was no Girl Scout troop here within the closest one was Georgetown. And okay, so from my house in Defenwick to Georgetown. Well, Georgetown is 17 miles from anywhere. Um that's why that that's why their brewery is 17 mile. Did you know that? Or eight is it?
SPEAKER_03:I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, it's 17 miles from anywhere. Anyhow, so it would have been 17 miles. But back then it might as well have been on the other side of the earth.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Because back then we didn't have highways here.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I know that you don't have children, and uh um but dropping off and picking up a child is a lot as an adult. It really is. Oh, I have no doubt. And my youngest was just the worst because she would just get herself in any situation, just anywhere, and call me and be like, Hey, can you come pick me up two hours from there?
SPEAKER_04:And so when Nicole had children, what was that, 30, almost 30 years ago? Uh 28. Good lord.
unknown:I know.
SPEAKER_04:Um, I was that's this me becoming an aunt. I know I was excited about becoming an aunt. And they love their aunt Heather. Um, I was excited, and I had been waiting for however many years for a a a child, a teenage child to call me and be like, Hey, I need help. Can you come get me? And finally it happened. My youngest, yeah. Yes, like three years ago.
SPEAKER_03:She's always the one making the calls.
SPEAKER_04: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 me the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. Yeah. That your youngest called me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I know. It's it's always made my I I bit you out it, but it's always fun. It's good to know that they trust you. Yeah. You're the one that they reach out to.
SPEAKER_04:Except for that middle one. Caitlin, you little bugger, rat my ass out every time. See, because you can't help it. I know. Well when I when they were, I'm sure I've told the story, but when they're when they were kids, it's you know how you become the fa the fun aunt is you let them do whatever the fuck they want. And they're not supposed to tell. And they're not supposed to tell. Because we get to do fun stuff, like we drink all of the soda, or we they didn't. And it was caffeine-free. So like I don't even know what they thought they were getting. But you make it act like they're getting away with something. I would take them to Dairy Queen for dinner and be like, shh, don't tell your mom. She knew what I was doing because I would be like, Hey, do you might do you care if I because if she had said I really would rather you not, yeah, then I wouldn't.
SPEAKER_03:Oh. But the thing is, I would never say no. Right.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, have fun. I mean, I was told not to buy guinea pigs from my sister's children, and then I brought guinea pigs, so that's different. Yeah. But that's the whole part of being the fun aunt is you build something up to make it so taboo that the drinking a whole bottle of Sprite is like just and then that little pain in the ass would rat me out the millisecond. I mean, I'd be like, oh, your mom'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:She is uh how old now? 25, and she is literally still the same way. Like that child cannot keep a secret to save her life. I used her as my example when I'm trying to like train younger coworkers about telling too much about yourself at work, and then gossip starts, and then you're butthurt because everybody's talking about you. And I'm like, I you feel bad not telling your co-worker something. I don't tell my own daughter things because I know once it comes out of my mouth and in her ears, 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 that out and and act accordingly. We went to friendly that only had ice cream. Okay. Yeah, no secrets there. None. Um little brat.
SPEAKER_04:And I sat through cats for you.
SPEAKER_03:You did.
SPEAKER_04:I was jealous you took them. I mean, I saw cats. I wanted to hang myself the whole fucking time.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my god, it's okay.
SPEAKER_04:I thought I was gonna die.
SPEAKER_02:I saw it when I was 18. I still have my t-shirt.
SPEAKER_04:She was riveted and I was squirming in my seat like I was a six-year-old.
SPEAKER_02:Like, oh no.
SPEAKER_04:This is oh and I try to tell her that it was over at the intermission, and the cats are still on the fucking stage. Cut me a break. Sorry, I digress.
SPEAKER_03:You are a great aunt. Anyway, all right, back to Yoda. In 2019, the song was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry for being culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant. The song's mention of Leonard Skinner, a boy. Oh no, we're not on Yoda, we're on Hello Mada, Hello Fada. We moved on. Ay, ay, ay. Uh, the song's mention of Leonard Skinner, um, spelled S-K I N N E R. Um, a boy at the camp who got what's that word? I have no idea. Some kind of poisoning. Some kind of poisoning uh last night after dinner was an inspiration for the name of the band Leonard Skinnard, although the band's name was also inspired by a physical education instructor of the same name. Wow. That's a lot of people to be named Leonard Skinnard. I did not know that the band Leonard Skinnard was named after a gym teacher. That's the funnest fact on so far today. The song is a parody that complains about the fictional Camp Granada. Here I am at Camp Granada. And is set to the tune of Amal Care Ponchelli Dance of the Hours from the opera Giafonda. Okay. The name derives from the first lines, hello Mutta, Hello Fada, here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. And they say that we'll have fun if it stops raining. The lyrics go on to describe unpleasant, dangerous, and tragic developments, such as fellow campers going missing and contract contracting shouldn't that be contracting? Oh, it is. Oh my, it's bedtime. Or contracting deadly illnesses. He asks how his precious little brother is doing and begs to be taken home, afraid of being left out 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 the rain has stopped and fun activities such as swimming, sailing, and baseball have begun, and asks his parents to kindly disregard this letter. The following year, Alan Sherman released a sequel song set to the same melody, Return to Camp Granada. In this version, the boy writes to his parents again, but this time he wants to stay, and his younger brother is attending the camp as well. He describes another set of disastrous events, including a compound fracture, uninhabitable bunks, outdoor bathrooms, and Lenny Bruce being brought in to entertain the campers. It's probably a poor choice of entertainment. The song scored number two on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks, beginning on August 24th, 1963. It was kept from number one by both fingertips by little Stevie Wonder and My Boyfriend's Back by the Angels.
SPEAKER_05:He's gonna be in trouble.
SPEAKER_03:All right, Sherman wrote a new back to camp Granada version, Hello Mutta, Hello Fada 64, for a May 27, 1964 performance on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. Sherman began that version by giving a camp whistle, followed by his spelling Granada's name, and then sticks out his tongue. In that version, the narrator is back at camp recovering from his compound fracture, where some things like the food have improved, because the little black things in it are not moving. However, no one knows where his trunk is and his bunk is where the skunk is. The narrator wishes that the showers that have thin doors were moved indoors. The narrator takes swimming lessons from an overweight woman, a whale in a bikini.
SPEAKER_04:That seems problematic.
SPEAKER_03:It does. Why was she wearing a bikini though? But anyway, uh Lenny Bruce was scheduled 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 care of his once homesick younger brother who does not know how to blow his nose. Oh my gosh. Speaking of my youngest, to this day, she is 23 years old and she does not know how to blow her nose. I never was able to teach her, and I tried. Um Andy has a bad wedding problem. Uh, the version was released as a single in 1964. It reached number 18 on Canada's chum charts. Uh Sherman wrote a third version for and acted in a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada, a real rotten camp. The original version also reached number nine on the pop standard singles chart.
SPEAKER_04:All right. I think we should bring one of the girls on here.
SPEAKER_03:Ooh. Or both of them. Or both of them. That would be fine. I don't think I don't think my middle 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 lumberjack song by Monty Python in 1975. Do you know this song? The lumberjack song uh is a comedy song by the comedy troupe Monty Python. The song was written and composed by Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Fred Tomlinson. Um it first appeared in the ninth episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Ant, an Introduction, on BBC One, uh on 14th of December 1969. The song has since been performed 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 whole song were created in about 15 minutes, concluding a day's work when the Python crew was stuck and unable to come up with a conclusion to the barbershop sketch that preceded it. On November 14, 1975, the Lumberjack song was released on as a single in the UK, um, backed with the spam song.
SPEAKER_05:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:That one I know.
SPEAKER_04:My dad was a huge Monty Python fan.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. The A-Side produced uh by Python devotee George Harrison was recorded at the Workhouse Studio in London on October 3rd, 1975, and mixed at Harrison's Friar Park home the following day. A year later, the single was reissued on the 19th of November 1976 as the first half of the double single released Python on Song. This version of the song has never been released on CD, although a remix containing alternate vocal takes from the session was included on the compilation album Monty Python Sings. Um and finally, we just did a quick one on that. I'm probably gonna do Monty Python at some point. Okay. Um one song that I added that I'm gonna skip over because we're running long is Eddie Murphy released an album in 1983, and I'm assuming that's where Party All the Time came from. Although the first song on the album was um not a word I'm gonna say on here. Right. Um, but this song, Boogie in your butt, um, was on there. So look that up because uh I don't remember that one, but I was gonna include it. But anyway, my final song, which was my absolute favorite Dr. Demento song, My Dingling by Chuck Berry in 1972.
SPEAKER_04:I do know that one.
SPEAKER_03:This song makes me laugh to this day. I still know every single word. It is my favorite novelty song of all time. All right, so My Dingling is a novelty song written and recorded by Dave Barthol Bartholomew. Um, it was covered by Chuck Berry in 1972 and became his only number one Billboard Hot 100 single in the United States. How fucking crazy is that? How crazy is that? Um, later that year, a longer version was included on the album, the London Chuck Berry Sessions. Guitarist Oni McIntyre and Robbie McIntosh, a drummer who later formed the Average White Band, played on the single along with Nick Potter of the British band Vandergraf Generation on bass. My Dingaling was originally recorded by Dave Bartholomew in 1952 for King Records. When Bartholomew moved to Imperial Records, he re-recorded the song under the new title Little Girl Sing Ting Aling. Mmm, that doesn't sound good. Uh in 1954, the Bees on Imperial released a version titled Toy Bell. Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts recorded it in 1961 on their album Nuts to You. Uh and it was part of their live act for many years. Barry recorded a version called My Tambourine in 1968, but the version that topped the charts was recorded live during the Lancaster Arts Fest Festival at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry, England on February 3rd, 1972, by the Pi Mobile Recording Unit, engineered by Alan Perkins, where Barry, backed by the Roy Young band, topped a bill, which also included Slade, George Carlin, Billy Preston, and Pink Floyd. And George Carlin.
SPEAKER_04:How can we put the most random things together?
SPEAKER_03:Uh Boston radio station WMEX disc jockey Jim Connors was credited with a gold record for discovering the song and pushing it to number one over the airwaves and amongst his peers in the United States. Billboard ranked it as the number 15 song for 1972. The song is based on the melody of the 19th century folk song Little Brown Jug. Bartholomew's 1952 version contains a shave and a haircut motif. The lyrics consistently exercise the double entendre in that a penis could just as easily be substituted for the toy bells, and the song would make would still make sense. The Bartholomew and Barry versions have different lyrics, but both follow that pattern. The lyrics with their sly tone and innuendo uh caused many radio stations to refuse to play it. British mortality, no British morality. Campaigner Mary Whitehouse tried unsuccessfully to get the song banned. Whitehouse wrote to the BBC's director general claiming that one teacher told us of how she found a class of small boys with their trousers undone singing the song and giving it the indecent interpretation, which, in spite of all the hullabaloo, is so obvious.
SPEAKER_04:I love that word hullabaloo.
SPEAKER_03:It's a great word. We trust you will agree with us that it is no part of the function of the BBC to be the vehicle of songs which stimulate this kind of behavior, indeed, quite the reverse. But I'm bumped. In Icons of Rock, Scott Schinder calls the song a sophomoric double entendra-laden ode to masturbation. Robert guy. Yeah. Uh remarked that the song permitted a lot of 12-year-olds new insight into the Moribund concept of dirty. For a rerun of American Top 40, some stations like WOGL in Philadelphia replaced the song with an optional extra when it aired a rerun of a November 18th, 1972 broadcast of AT40, where it ranked at number 14 on December 6, 2008. Among other stations, most Clear Channel owned radio stations to whom the AT40 1970s rebroadcasts were contracted did not air the rebroadcast that same weekend, although it was because they were playing Christmas music and not because of the controversy.
SPEAKER_04:Christmas music ruins everything.
SPEAKER_03:Even back in 1972, some stations would refuse to play the song on AT40 even when it reached number one. The controversy was lampooned in the Simpsons episode Lisa's Pony, in which a Springfield elementary school student attempts to sing the song during the school's talent show. He barely finishes the first line of the refrain before the irate principal Skinner pushes him off the stage, angrily proclaiming, This act is over. That scene was sampled by Steph London and Skepta in their 2017 song Dingling. Wow. Yeah. So if you don't remember my dingling, you gotta listen. Yeah. I stopped off in the vestibule every time that bell would ring. Catch me playing with my ding-ling a ling. Oh, my dingling. Alright, I'm done. Because we'll get sued if you sing anymore. Okay. Not that anybody listens. Not that anybody can even tell what I'm singing. Um, so yeah, that's that's my Dr. Demento. That was fun. Thank you. I think so too. They're coming to take me away.
SPEAKER_04:Ha ha. That's great. That that one is the one I most remember. Okay, gotcha. Mostly because my dad would sing it all the time. Mostly everything I remember is just because my dad has repeated. Someday I I my dad is a weird. Like if you ever wonder where I get my weirdness from, 100% my father. 100%.
SPEAKER_03:Her mom is so just soft and sweet and kind and normal.
SPEAKER_04:And my dad is just not. And my dad gives zero fucks about what anybody thinks of him at all, ever. For real.
SPEAKER_03:You think Heather gives zero fucks?
SPEAKER_04:He will wear my mom's slippers everywhere and doesn't give he just doesn't care.
SPEAKER_03:No, he doesn't.
SPEAKER_04: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 for listening. Thanks. Uh, you can like, share, rate, and review. Please. You can find us where you listen to all the podcasts. You can follow us on all the socials at like whatever pod. Please. You can send us um email. Hold on, because I had a good one and then I fucking forgot what it was. You can send us an email about what your favorite Dr. Demento song is. To likewhateverpod at gmail.com or don't like whatever. Whatever.
SPEAKER_03:Bye.
unknown:Coming to take us away.
