Favourite Novelty Songs

[Markxxx]

I miss the days when you could count on at least one really good novelty song per year :)

What are some of your favourite novelty songs

My favourites would be

1) Guitarzan (Ray Stevens)
2) Temptation (Red Ingle & The Natural Seven featuring Cinderella G. Stump (Jo Stafford)
3) The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun (Julie Brown)

And you?

[Bob Ducca]

"Existential Blues" by Tom "T-Bone" Stankus.

[Clothahump]

"Crabs walk sideways" - the Smothers Brothers

Pretty much all of Weird Al's stuff.

[Khadaji]

Flying Purple Eater (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVbGnspgy_8) was one of my favorites as a youth.

Witch Doctor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlPVuIDsCag) is fun. This vid is bizarre too. I'd like to see the women without their makeup - they have rockin' bods!

[Claire Beauchamp]

Yup ... gotta love a good novelty song.

A lot of the stuff Dr. Demento played was great, but they were rarely what you'd call hits (They're Coming to Take Me Away, Fish Heads, etc.). Also a lot of Weird Al is parody, so I'm not sure you could say they're true novelty songs.

The Streak - Ray Stevens
Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini -- ??
Valley Girl - The Zappas
King Tut - Steve Martin
My Girl Bill - Jim Stafford (had a huge crush on him as a wee girl)
Telephone Man -- ?? (was considered the height of naughtiness when I was in high school)

[Rufus Xavier]

"Existential Blues" by Tom "T-Bone" Stankus.

You took mine, so I'll just say "My Ding-a-Ling" by Chuck Berry. :)

[Krokodil]

"My Ding-a-Ling"--Chuck Berry
"A Boy Named Sue"--Johnny Cash, written by Shel Silverstein
"The No No Song"--Ringo Starr

[RikWriter]

Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues by Todd Snider.

[Ponch8]

"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam (even though it's an anthem of the crappy White Sox)
"They're Coming to Take Me Away" by Napoleon XVI

[Claire Beauchamp]

"I Love You Period" - Dan Baird

[Khadaji]

Zombie Jamoree (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2c8zUwELPk)

[Stephe96]

Yellow Submarine. Because it's, you know, the Beatles...

[tds1273]

Since my first pick is off the board with the second post, I'll go with "On the Shoulders of Freaks" by Hennry Phillips. Followed up by Eric Idle's "The Galaxy Song", and then maybe something by MC Hawking.

[Icerigger]

Convoy

Was the dark of the moon, on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth, pullin' logs

[shecrab]

Bananaphone by Raffi (or others). Incredibly silly, but it makes a great ringtone for your cell. If you can find it.

[Tangent]

"I Love You Period" - Dan Baird

I like that one too!


Also:

Little Arrows by Leapy Lee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvXDxobNteA&feature=related) (caution: you'll be singing this song the rest of the day :) )

[Ol'Gaffer]

Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues by Todd Snider.

That's a great song. Now that's alternative to alternative...

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

I love Richard Cheese's work. Does that count? ;)

[kunilou]

Dueling Tubas by Martin Mull. The only novelty song I have on my mp3.

[RealityChuck]

The champs of novelty songs, with some of my favorites:

Spike Jones
Cocktails for Two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyE9ORHxX_g)
Der Fuhrer's Face
Clink Clink Another Drink
All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

Tom Lehrer
We Will All Go Together When We Go
Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park
My Old Town
Pollution
The Elements

Flanders and Swann
Madiera, M'Dear (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW_zi8n4HDQ)
A Transport of Delight
The Gas Man Cometh
Bedstead Men
The Hippopotamus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjnOj9O16_I)

Allan Sherman
Hello Muddah, Hello Fadda

Christine Nelson
Driving Test

The Bonzo Dog Band
The Intro and the Outro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bxv_HLwT7U)
Death Cab for Cutie
Urban Spaceman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbLDI5lNdRQ)
The Equestrian Statue
Beautiful Zelda
My Pink Half of the Drainpipe
Dr. Jazz
Jazz: Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold
Ali Baba's Camel
Hunting Tigers out in "Indiah"
Look Out There's a Monster Coming.

Martin Mull
Licks Off Of Records
(How Could I Not Miss) A Girl Your Size?
Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope

Blotto
I Wanna Be a Lifeguard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMlyqKa1p78)
We Are the Nowtones.

[Bryan Ekers]

Pretty much anything by Lehrer.

[blondebear]

Snoopy vs The Red Baron (http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Vf9cgYA4CxY/RxIjzlJxXzI/AAAAAAAABHU/kA6PvmEr6oQ/s400/Zion%2007%20322.jpg)

[Greg Charles]

The Laughing Gnome (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8thn6BbzVs4&feature=related) by David Bowie.

"'Ere now, what that's clicking noise?" "That's Fred. He's a metro-gnome!"

[BaneSidhe]

Anything by Ray Stevens gets my vote. My dad got me hooked thru "Shriner's Convention" when I was a kid. Between us yelling "YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S GOT A FEZ WITH A PROPELLER ON TOP!!" and making motorcycle revving noises for about a month, my mom was so close to killing us, then finding where Ray Stevens lived and beating him to death for the song.

Tom Lerher is a fave too. "Poisoning Pigeons In The Park" especially.

[Alastair Moonsong]

Voltaire:
Brains (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgDvRi3h_0w)
When You're Evil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUITn7I9-f0)

MC Lars:
This Gigantic Robot Kills (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvaFDqJleWM)
iGeneration (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhY5k_5WPCA)
Hot Topic is Not Punk Rock (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjmmZEq5b-8&feature=related)
Space Game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js6qvQJ48c8)

Dr. Bombay:
Calcutta (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6r1GrApjiM)
S.O.S. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q94pHFb8hVo&feature=related)
Rice and Curry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTiMV1Vv1Tw&feature=related)

Caramell:
Vad Heter Du (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QnHzov9jxo)
Diskotek (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VWIFSkljs&feature=related)

Dr. Steel:
Planet X Marks the Spot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0dOUX46e2o)
Back and Forth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVvlVHdLCx0&feature=related)
Build the Robots (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci9CCvTHvpM&feature=related)
Childhood A-Go-Go (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkf1qiIScmw)

Zombie Girl:
Creepy Crawler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKUnUOXYig)
Blood, Brains, and Rock 'n Roll (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs6E2ig_5QY&feature=related)

Anything by Tom Lehrer

Possibly more that I cannot currently remember.

[kitemaker_chuck]

"Let It All Hang Out!"
by the Hombres

[Covered_In_Bees!]

"Tunak Tunak Tun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bAN7Ts0xBo)" - Daler Mehndi

Not sure if it counts as "novelty" but it's definately a joke song among my group of friends. If we need something wacky, this gets played eventually.

[BigBertha]

Oh my god-Guitarzan was my first.
I'm A Lumberjack and I'm Okay
Do The Nothing by Martin Mull
Hard Magic by Divine

[BigBertha]

forgot
I Don't Wanna be a Homosexual by Sloppy Seconds

[Argent Towers]

"Cover of the Rolling Stone" by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show

[E-Sabbath]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhaDtSBmIrI
The Merry Minuet, Kingston Trio. Still applicable!

[maplekiwi]

"If it wasn't for your gumboots" by NZ comedian Fredd Dagg
"Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour on the Bedpost Over Night " Lonnie Donegan
"My voice keeps Changing On Me" the version I know was John Hore but it may have been a cover

[don't ask]

In the 1970s I seemed to have the only copy of National Lampoon's Lemmings in Australia. I had bought it secondhand and no-one had heard of it. I used to play it as though it was a serious music concert and my stoned friends would be in raptures as it unfolded. Belushi's Lonely At the Bottom piss take of Cocker, Chevy Chase doing Denver in Colorado - "hey, Colorado's calling me.....HEY YOU" and Christopher Guest doing Positively Wall Street. And of course Farmer Yassir praising the peace loving suicidal hippies - "long hair, short hair what's the difference once the head's blowed off?"

I wish Graeme hadn't lost it, I'd put it on now.

[cosmosdan]

Lots of Good ones here. When I did a single act I used to include a lot of novelty songs. I tried to talk the band into doing GiTarzan knowing the audience would love it live but they were far too cool for such nonsense.

I'd record Dr Dimento looking for new funny songs to do. Dead Puppies was a good one. For raunchy novelty songs the audience loved The Rodeo Song "You Piss Me Off!! You Fucking Jerk" and the Asshole Song "Were you born an asshole or did you work on it your whole life?" and Seven Old Ladies an old Irish Pub tune.

One of the great Pun Novelty songs Wet Dream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l1GvDWtccI) by Kip Oddotta

[Zabali_Clawbane]

Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_and_Barnes) is a favorite of mine.

[cosmosdan]

King Tut

[Zabali_Clawbane]

Also, Particle Man, The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas, Istanbul Not Constantinople, and Dead, (to name just a few) by They Might Be Giants.

[Zabali_Clawbane]

Forgot Birdhouse In Your Soul by TMBG!

[Khadaji]

Snoopy vs The Red Baron (http://lh6.ggpht.com/_Vf9cgYA4CxY/RxIjzlJxXzI/AAAAAAAABHU/kA6PvmEr6oQ/s400/Zion%2007%20322.jpg)

OK, I gotta ask: What on earth does your link have to do with the song?

[Sigmagirl]

[The Bonzo Dog Band
The Intro and the Outro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bxv_HLwT7U)
Death Cab for Cutie
Urban Spaceman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbLDI5lNdRQ)
The Equestrian Statue
Beautiful Zelda
My Pink Half of the Drainpipe
Dr. Jazz
Jazz: Delicious Hot, Disgusting Cold
Ali Baba's Camel
Hunting Tigers out in "Indiah"
Look Out There's a Monster Coming.

No mention of Bonzo would be complete without the haunting "Tubas in the Moonlight."

[tdn]

Earache My Eye

[Labdad]

"Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus:

Slip the blood to me, Bud

Shoot the juice to me, Bruce

Pass the crimson to me, Jimson

Pass the claret to me, Barrett

Put a gallon in me, Alan

Second "Telephone Man" by Meri Wilson.

[acetylene]

Boogie in Your Butt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIcnJ-DLeeA) by Eddie Murphy

[BrotherCadfael]

Most of mine (especially Tom Lehrer) are already listed, but here are three more:

"Monster Mash" by Bobby (Boris) Pickett
"Hey, There Little Red Riding Hood" by Sam the Sham
"Hail to the Colo-Rectal Surgeons (Workin' Where the Sun Don't Shine)" by Bowser & Blue

[Claire Beauchamp]

One of the great Pun Novelty songs Wet Dream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l1GvDWtccI) by Kip Oddotta

Oh god I love that. LOL

I don't really think of "Cover of the Rolling Stone" as a novelty song, but if you're going to include that, then you gotta include "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh I think.

Then, on an unrelated-except-in-my-own-mind note, there's "Uneasy Rider" by Charlie Daniels.

"I ain't even got a garage, you can ask my wife."

[Saintly Loser]

Mojo Nixon's Elvis Is Everywhere. Also his Orenthal James (Was A Mighty Bad Man). What the hell, pretty much anything he ever recorded. Including Don Henley Must Die and Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child.

Not sure exactly what counts as a "novelty song", but if these qualify, they're a few of my favorites.

[initech]

"One More Minute" by Weird Al.

[cosmosdan]

Dam these are some fun songs. I may have to include a few on the occasions I dust off my act and do a night

Uneasy Rider would be great.

More contempoary are "Title of the song" done by an accapela group that also does My enormous Penis both on Youtube {at work can't link}

and The revenge Song and Trauma to the Groin by a Bob and Tom guest aslo on YT

[schnuckiputzi]

Jonathan Coulton has some great ones, including "Re: Your Brain", IMO, the best zombie song ever, "Curl", and "Strollertown".

[cosmosdan]

"One More Minute" by Weird Al.

Great Song.

[Wile E]

"I Lost on Jeopardy", by Weird Al (and most of his other stuff, too)

Pretty much everything by Alan Sherman whom I grew up listening to, I didn't learn of Tom Lehrer until I was an adult. I memorized all the songs from Sherman's album, "My Son the Nut" and still sing them to this day. I use "I See Bones" regularly at work when looking at x-rays.

[Saintly Loser]

Then, on an unrelated-except-in-my-own-mind note, there's "Uneasy Rider" by Charlie Daniels.

"I ain't even got a garage, you can ask my wife."

Funny song, from a guy who turned into a real wingnut later in life.

[Jettboy]

While not a 'novelty song' in the strictest sense of the term, Cowboy Love by the Reverend Horton Heat makes me laugh like a stoned monkey. Dig...

I know that us as a couple,
Will cause talk but I wouldn't mind,
Those cowboys will be pea green with envy,
When they see his cute behind.

That's why each night by the campfire,
I thank my lucky stars above,
For inter-racial cowboy homo 'kinda love

[blondebear]

OK, I gotta ask: What on earth does your link have to do with the song?

:smack: Nothing, actually. Nice picture though, eh?

Let me try it again...Snoopy vs The Red Baron (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxzg_iM-T4E)

[WOOKINPANUB]

There's Junkfood Junkie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJhWgQxKg4g)by Larry Groce. Also a couple that were popular in the '80s. . . Teenage Enema Nurse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJWAMd2IbI) and Gidget Goes to Hell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mviuRqLhndw). I'm not sure how well known the last two are, but they played like crazy in SoCAl and are both really fun songs on their own, novelty aspect aside.

[Shirley Ujest]

My Ding A Ling is just awesome. I had an opportunity to sing a bit of it the other day before my younger friends and their all-boy children.

None of them had ever heard it.


WHAT is wrong with this country when you dont' know the lyrics to My Ding A Ling?!

[Claire Beauchamp]

More contempoary are "Title of the song" done by an accapela group that also does My enormous Penis both on Youtube {at work can't link}

Ben Folds just yesterday released an album he compiled of college a capella groups doing covers of his songs. Saw him in concert recently and he had one of the groups on to do a few songs. They not only did something of his but two other contemporary hits (can't remember what they were ... argh). Pretty funny.

Also, if you've never seen Ben in concert where he covers the Dr. Dre rap "Bitches Ain't Shit" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTiG_Tw_Jg), you've missed a true treat.

[Enright3]

Prisoner of Love [Aka the Prison bitch song] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XEGriugHoY)
My Enormous Penis - Da Vinci's Notebook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9iiU6NDxIo)

[gwendee]

If Weird Al's song parodies count then I must cast my vote for Allan Sherman. I like most of them but my favorites are:

Here's To The Crabgrass
Old King Louie
Sir Greenbaum

and one that's not a parody: Hail to Thee Fat Person

[Claire Beauchamp]

If we're including parodies, there's also "Bloat On" by Cheech and Chong.

[Tool of the Conspiracy]

Forgot Birdhouse In Your Soul by TMBG!

That's a novelty song? We made it the second dance at our wedding reception!

Mojo Nixon's Elvis Is Everywhere. Also his Orenthal James (Was A Mighty Bad Man). What the hell, pretty much anything he ever recorded. Including Don Henley Must Die and Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child.

Also "She's Vibrator Dependent", "Stuffin Martha's Muffin", "Pirate Radio"...

I don't know how to define "novelty song" either.
"Fire Water Burn" by Bloodhound Gang
"David Duchovny" by Bree Sharp
"Scurvy" by Captain Bogg and Salty
"Dingo" by Chub
"Tiger Woods" by Dan Bern
"The Picard Song" by DarkMateria
The Star Trek songs by James Lileks
"Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton and Ellen McLain (from Portal)
"Detachable Penis" by King Missile
"Flower" by Liz Phair

Then there's the category of ironic covers:
"I Will Survive" by Cake
"Bombtrack" by Duckmandu
"Baby Got Back" by Jonathan Coulton
Anything by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
"Straight Out of Compton" by Nina Gordon

I'm not even going to start listing mash-ups that combine songs chosen for their wrongness together.

[Simmerdown]

Blind Man's Penis by John Trubee. See and hear it here (broken link):

http:/ /www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH8uZgtztok

[mbh]

"ILBT's" and "The Worry Song" by Joe Walsh.

"Roland the Roadie and Gertrude the Groupie" by Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

"The Masochism Tango" by Tom Lehrer.

A whole lot of songs by Spike Jones and the City Slickers. "My Old Flame", "Beetlebum", "Pal-Yat-Chee", "You Always Hurt The One You Love", and many others.

[sqweels]

If we're including parodies, there's also "Bloat On" by Cheech and Chong.
Aw, that song's no good. "Black Lassie" by C&C is much better.

"Aw, shuddup yourself, I wasn't gonna say 'bitch'"

[TruCelt]

Can't believe I'm the first with this: Fats Waller Your Feets too Big (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE-maxEOc4Q)

Also another vote for "Poisoning Pidgeons in the Park"

The Cigar Song, Brad Paisley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoBmCl-q_54)

[rowrrbazzle]

Most of my have been mentioned, including "On the Shoulders of Freaks". But here are a few more.

"The Hate Song" from The MAD Show
"Ill Wind", Flanders and Swann
"The Gnu Song", ditto

[jayjay]

Waaaaaay back in 1992, Dr. Demento featured a song that I still remember, even if I don't remember who did it. It was a parody of Glinda's "Come out, come out" song from the Wizard of Oz, except it was about Clinton.

o/` Come out, come out,
wherever you've been.
'Cause being a liberal's
no longer a sin.
We bring you good news,
or haven't you heard?
When he fell out of Arkansas
a miracle occurred. o/`

[LonesomePolecat]

"National Brotherhood Week" and "Vatican Rag", Tom Lehrer

"A Mother's Lament," Cream

I don't know if they count as novelty songs or not, but Warren Zevon's "Mr. Bad Example" and "Rotweiler Blues" crack me up every time.

[Boyo Jim]

The most hilariously bad song ever,The Most Unwanted Song (http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/04/a-scientific-at.html)

[Dung Beetle]

"One More Minute" by Weird Al.

I seriously considered using this at my wedding, but I wasn’t sure if many people would find it humorous (including my husband)!

My brother, my cousin, and I went through a great Ray Stevens phase when we were teenagers. My most fondly remembered is the one about the pirate who wants to sing and dance (hmm, I see it is called The Pirate Song), and of course The Mississippi Squirrel Revival. We were all amused as adults when the cousin moved to Pascagoulah, that sleepy little town.

[jayjay]

There was a Ray Stevens song that consisted of nothing but (not real) chickens clucking and crowing the tune of "In The Mood". Every time I hear that damn thing I see a fully realized Muppet Show sketch in my head...

[AskNott]

"Roomful of Clues" by Doug and the Slugs
"Lonesome Cowboy Bert" by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
"Magdalena" also by FZ&MoI
"You're Breakin' My Heart" by Harry Nillson
"Take 54" also by HN
"Faraway Eyes" by The Rolling Stones

If you can find "You Don't Have To Call Me Darlin' " by David Allen Coe on a jukebox anywhere, people will sing along, sometimes a the top of their lungs.

[Claire Beauchamp]

If you can find "You Don't Have To Call Me Darlin' " by David Allen Coe on a jukebox anywhere, people will sing along, sometimes a the top of their lungs.

Actually, it's You Never Even Called Me By My Name (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEo8poVlQrM). It's sometimes referred as "The Best Country Song in the World" because of the last verse. Just about all of DAC's songs would fit into this category, albeit the majority would have parental warning stickers.

[freckafree]

My favorite Spike Jones tune: Pal-Yat-Chee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7EobJgARUo)

[Ferd Burfel]

Some of my favorites have already been named, but I'll add these.

Please Mr. Custer by Larry Verne

Leader Of The Laundromat by The Detergents

Tennessee Bird Walk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-OrVQaqkg0) by Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan

Who Put The Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ5_SyvxDXE) by Harry "The Hipster" Gibson

Dancin' Fool by Frank Zappa

Disco Sucks (http://chuckmaultsby.net/id11.html) by Chuck Wagon and the Wheels

God's Own Drunk by Jimmy Buffett (the live version from You Had To Be There!)

[FlyingRat]

One song that came to mind was Scatman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpHLEm9-0bg) by Scatman John. Not a "novelty" song in the sense of some of the others posted here, but it certainly is novel.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the background, and it's actually pretty amazing: Scatman John, aka John Paul Larkin (http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/pioneers/scatman.html), was an American jazz musician who suffered from severe stuttering all his life. While initially a jazz pianist, in his 50's he discovered that he could parlay his stuttering into an innate talent for scat-singing, and went on to release three albums. The lyrics to his initial hit "Scatman" were meant to inspire children who stuttered. He was the recipient of multiple awards for his community outreach before he passed away in 1999.

Awesome.

[Hometownboy]

A few of my favorites:

[B]Asylum Street Spankers
If You Loved Me ("You'd sleep on the wet spot; you'd buy my tampons," etc.)

Austin Lounge Lizards
The Shallow End of the Gene Pool
Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers On Drugs
Merchant's Lunch
Will There Be Banjo Players in Heaven?

The Bobs
Kill Your Television (lyrics from bumper stickers)
Meat on the Moon
Elwood P. Decker
Spray
Too Cool to Care

Buchanan & Goodman
Flying Saucer, Parts 1 & 2

Christine Lavin
What Was I Thinking?
Nobody's Fat in Aspen

Da Vinci's Notebook
Internet Porn

Dierdre Flint
The Boob Fairy Never Came for Me

Edd Byrnes & Connie Stevens
Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb

Hudson & Landry
Two Top 40 DJs (yes, it got airplay on Top 40 stations with a sense of humor)

Lonnie Wayne Flemmer
Alien Abduction Probe

Paul Peterson
She Can't Find Her Keys



and lots, lots more

[Robot Arm]

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBxZGQ1dJk)'s a video of Steve Goodman singing A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request on one of the rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field. It's a great song; a lifelong Cubs fan describes his ideal funeral, designed to commemorate the heartaches that his loyalty has brought.Goodman was diagnosed with leukemia in his early 20's, and knew he was living on borrowed time. He died at 36. Some of his ashes are scattered on the field behind him in the video.

Another favorite group is Uncle Bonsai. I've always thought they should be a favorite of Tom Lehrer fans; they have some of the same playful cleverness in their lyrics. Bonsai songs tend to span the satire/sentimental spectrum; occasionally at either extreme, often somewhere in the middle.

Sadly, there's very little of them on the web.

Cheerleaders on Drugs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRymnWJJey8) on youtube
I Awoke in Iowa (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2792399) on myspace
Four songs (http://www.unclebonsai.com/audio.htm) on unclebonsai.com
Someone lipsyncing to Penis Envy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-xeI2ehwSU) on youtube

[born too late]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Ween yet. The obvious: Voodoo Lady, Push th' Little Daisies. Other gems: Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain, The Stallion pt3, Spinal Meningitis, etc. They are brilliant and talented (and yet often lowbrow) satirist/mimics of almost every musical convention ever.

Also, can't forget Tenacious D.

[RealityChuck]

Soupy Sales
The Mouse
Pafalafaka

Mad
It's a Gas! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWe1KvHzVx4)
I Accidentally Messed Up His Hair
The Biggest Mouth in Town
Don't Put Onions on your Hamburger.

[Lute Skywatcher]

There was a Ray Stevens song that consisted of nothing but (not real) chickens clucking and crowing the tune of "In The Mood". Every time I hear that damn thing I see a fully realized Muppet Show sketch in my head...Does it sound like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5GCBoTG4H0)?

The bad chickens cluck to Steppenwolf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrzylHjYP5Q).

[jayjay]

Does it sound like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5GCBoTG4H0)?

The bad chickens cluck to Steppenwolf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrzylHjYP5Q).

I'll check it when I get home. Whatever net nanny we use here thinks YouTube is a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

(And yet they allow the Dope. Go figure.)

[Robot Arm]

The bad chickens cluck to Steppenwolf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrzylHjYP5Q).Hatched to Be Wild

[Lute Skywatcher]

Two from The Medallions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Medallions):
Buick '59 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG0TJlXZjC0)
'59 Volvo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxUH8SE5jbI)

[Markxxx]

My Ding A Ling is just awesome. I had an opportunity to sing a bit of it the other day before my younger friends and their all-boy children.

None of them had ever heard it.


WHAT is wrong with this country when you dont' know the lyrics to My Ding A Ling?!

Because now-a-days singers don't use innuendo they just say the word outright

[maplekiwi]

& the catchphrases thread reminded me of NZ comedy great Fred Dagg. His novelty songs "If not for your gumboots where would you be" & "we don't know how lucky we are , mate" are on Youtube.

[Beware of Doug]

(No, not the one you're thinking of. This one turned up on a record date in 1932, and AFAIK, only I and 7 or 8 other crazy middle-aged-bachelor collectors know about it. And yes, I own a copy of the original 78.)

I found a peanut. I found a peanut.
Where did you find it? Where did you find it?
Found it in my pocket. Found it in my pocket.
Whatcha gonna do with it? Whatcha gonna do with it?
I'm gonna eat-tit. I'm gonna eat-tit.
What's it gonna taste like? What's it gonna taste like?
Looks like a peanut, feels like a peanut,
Tastes like a peanut, ya gosh darn fool.

[dropzone]

Because now-a-days singers don't use innuendo they just say the word outright And this is where The Kids These Days get it wrong: the censored versions are FUNNIER. Compare the uncensored version of Adam Sandler's "Piece of Shit Car" with the radio edit. Sound effects beat dirty words when you want to be funny. Obviously, that doesn't hold when you are trying to be serious. Then it's just lame.

[jayjay]

Does it sound like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5GCBoTG4H0)?


That's it exactly, Lute! Thanks!

[LurkMeister]

And this is where The Kids These Days get it wrong: the censored versions are FUNNIER. Compare the uncensored version of Adam Sandler's "Piece of Shit Car" with the radio edit. Sound effects beat dirty words when you want to be funny. Obviously, that doesn't hold when you are trying to be serious. Then it's just lame.

I Bet They Won't Pay This Song on the Radio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXFz7vqbk1o&feature=related) by Eric Idle.

[dropzone]

There's Junkfood Junkie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJhWgQxKg4g)by Larry Groce. Also a couple that were popular in the '80s. . .[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJWAMd2IbI"] I resent his ripoff of Goodman's "Chicken Cordon Blues."

[dropzone]

There's Junkfood Junkie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJhWgQxKg4g)by Larry Groce.What I enjoy is that Larry Groce, upon hearing Cracker's Teen Angst and its "Cause, what the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head," and complaining about it on NPR's "Mountain Stage," has had the guys from Cracker on many times, acoustic and electric.

[Claire Beauchamp]

ooh! ooh! I can't believe I forgot Alice's Restaurant.

[Ponch8]

I should also mention "Timothy" by the Buoys, about how the singer & another man eat their friend after getting trapped in a mine.

[stanger]

"Hello D.J." by Don Bowman, from the 1979 album "Still Fighting Mental Health". Written by Bobby Bare.

If you ever heard this song at all, you probably heard a very "bleeped" version. The unbleeped version was distributed on 45 to radio stations with the big NO AIRPLAY written on it. The album has both versions, and it took me a while to find a copy.

"Pop the top on one more beer,
Hold the phone up to your ear,
Dial that number one more time,
Get that D.J. on the line ......"

[Annie-Xmas]

The first song about John & Lorena here (http://www.yuksrus.com/celebs_the_bobbits.html#bobbsong). A listeneer to Imus called this in and I'm so glad to find the lyrics on line.

Now Peter and John couldn't stay apart too long
So a dick Doc said, "Hey! I can fix your dong"
"A needle and a thread's just the thing you're gonna need"
Then the world held its breath 'til they heard that John peed
(Whizzed, that is)
(Stitched seam, straight stream)

[Thin Ice]

Here are a few:


Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu by Dickey Doo & the Dont's
The Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
Alley Oop by The Hollywood Argyles
Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport by Rolf Harris
The Curley Shuffle by Jump 'n the Saddle

[Thin Ice]

Here's a few more:

Beep Beep by The Playmates
Time Warp from The Rock Horror Picture Show
They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-haa by Napoleon XIV
Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini by Brian Hyland
Convoy by C.W. McCall
Martian Boogie by Brownsville Station

[Nightingale]

Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D-LmRNdQiQ) by Rolf Harris

Along Came Jones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAcLriaEH4U) by The Coasters

Swamp Witch Hattie (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jim_stafford/swamp_witch.html) by Jim Stafford

My dad used to sing those to my brother and me when we were kids. We loved it, and always pretended to be scared of Swamp Witch Hattie.:)

[HelloKitty]

Wildwood Weed was by Jim Stafford, wasn't it?

Also, I didn't see any mention of Rick Dees' Disco Duck!!!

I remember also Mr. Jaws from back in the late 70's...it was a mad-lib style piece where a reporter is interviewing people about seeing a shark...and clips from Glen Campbell, Olivia Newton-John and other 70's hits are spliced together to tell the "story". Our 6th grade funny bones thought it was hilarious!!!

[freckafree]

I should also mention "Timothy" by the Buoys, about how the singer & another man eat their friend after getting trapped in a mine.

I have to admit I never thought of that as a novelty song. I lo-o-o-o-o-oved it when I was, like, 16. Pure melodrama.

[Claire Beauchamp]

Wildwood Weed was by Jim Stafford, wasn't it?

yup

[Khadaji]

<SNIP>
Swamp Witch Hattie (http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jim_stafford/swamp_witch.html) by Jim Stafford

<SNIP>Good one! I love that song. Most of Jim's stuff could count.

[FriarTed]

Dad always had a special affection for Frank Zappa's Dynamo (or Dinah-Moe) Hum.

[Nightingale]

The funny thing is that I've never actually heard the recorded version of that song. . . I only know my dad singing it and making spooky sound effects in between stanzas.

[daygecko]

Three pages and nobody for "Yes, We Have No Bananas"?!!!

At least MY grandfather taught me well. :cool:

Another of his had only the words "alfalfa hay" sung to the tune of "How Dry I Am," but Google reveals nothing, so it may have been peculiar to him.

[kitemaker_chuck]

Here's another one:

Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road
by Loudon Wainwright the Third

[Booker57]

J.Giles Band "No Anchovies Please"

That's no bowling ball, thats my wife!

[kitemaker_chuck]

There's also:

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take the Garbage Out)

I think that was by Shel Silverstein (not sure of the spelling)

[kitemaker_chuck]

I seem to remember mention of this song from WW2, and I think it might of been by Hoagy Carmichael"

"I'm a Cranky Old Yank in My Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Momma, Singin' those Beato Beato Flat on My Seato Hirohito Blues

(or something like that!)

[Sternvogel]

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini -- ??
Telephone Man -- ?? (was considered the height of naughtiness when I was in high school)

The first is by Brian Hyland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwGnyLPSruA&feature=related), the second by Meri Wilson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO3Iulye-8E).

[BrainGlutton]

Filk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk) is an endless supply of awesome novelty songs.

[jayjay]

Filk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk) is an endless supply of awesome novelty songs.

Which reminds me of one of my favorites, Leslie Fish's "Carmen Miranda's Ghost".

[kaylasdad99]

They weren't novelty songs when they were written, but Jo Stafford and Paul Weston put out a couple of albums of covers under the noms de guerre Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Darlene was the vocalist diva, singing such tunes as "Some Enchanted Evening", totally off-key; Jonathan was her accompanist with the two left hands. AIUI, they had a very difficult time finding sidemen who could provide rhythm without bursting into laughter in the studio, and ruining the take.

I would give quite a lot to be able to obtain CDs of those albums.

[Annie-Xmas]

Folksinger Tom Paxton, who can write songs that make you cry, is also capable of writing songs that will make you laugh. My second favorite is Talking Vietnam Pot Luck Blues (http://www.mydfz.com/Paxton/lyrics/tvnpb.htm). I cannot find the lyrics on line to my favorite "Bring Back the Chair."

The present rules could use revision
Make the obvious decision
Put it all on television.
Let's bring back the chair.
Slap a little makeup to them.
As the juices sizzling through them,
Howard Cosell* will interview them.
Let's bring back the chair.

*Written a while back. Today I'd go with "Oprah Winfrey"

[Crafter_Man]

I really like Heywood Banks (http://www.heywoodbanks.com/). Favs of include Big Butter Jesus, The Pancreas Song, The Revenge Song, and If I had a Bulldozer.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I seem to remember mention of this song from WW2, and I think it might of been by Hoagy Carmichael"

"I'm a Cranky Old Yank in My Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Momma, Singin' those Beato Beato Flat on My Seato Hirohito Blues

(or something like that!)http://ia311337.us.archive.org/1/items/1942bingCrosby/BingCrosby-CrankyOldYank.mp3

[Crafter_Man]

And I just can't get enough of Elektronik Supersonik by Zlad! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp_PIjc2ga4)

[rowrrbazzle]

They weren't novelty songs when they were written, but Jo Stafford and Paul Weston put out a couple of albums of covers under the noms de guerre Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Darlene was the vocalist diva, singing such tunes as "Some Enchanted Evening", totally off-key; Jonathan was her accompanist with the two left hands. AIUI, they had a very difficult time finding sidemen who could provide rhythm without bursting into laughter in the studio, and ruining the take.

I would give quite a lot to be able to obtain CDs of those albums.I'll send you the bill for my finder's fee. :D

http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Darlenes-Greatest-Darlene-Edwards/dp/B0000010KB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1241395930&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Jonathan-Darlenes-Greatest-Hits-II/dp/B0000010KD/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1241395930&sr=8-2