My choice for second place would be “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac. Odd drumming throughout, McVie & Nicks chanting like two of the Manson girls, Buckingham’s manic screaming, cryptic title and lyrics, culminating in a spastic drum solo and marching band!
But first place, bar none, would have to be “Some Velvet Morning” by Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra. Creepy psychedelic-ish music with odd changes in time signatures (is that what they’re called? Or tempo?) Hazlewood sounding like a Jim Jones-esque faux-preacher/pervert, followed by the disembodied voice of Nancy droning on about God knows what. How this hit #26 on the Top 40 in the mid-60’s no less is unfathomable.
Timothy by The Bouys. (Written by Rupert Holmes, believe it or not. I guess “If you like Pina Coladas, and snacking on a left foot” just wouldn’t work lyrically lyrics) Not many top-40 songs about cannibalism.
I’d love to know how you derive pedophilia and incest from the lyrics of a song about babysitting the boss’ daughter. Would you care to go into detail on that? Please?
“They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Ha,” by Napoleon XIV – Essentially, just a tuneless chant.
“The Flying Saucer” by Dickie Goodman – set up like an interview, with Goodman as a reporter asking about the flying saucer; the “answers” were snippets of popular songs of the time. Goodman had a few other top-40 hits using the same technique.
“Valley Girl” by Frank Zappa – musically very advanced, and certainly not top-40 material, but made a hit because of the Valley Girl slang spoken over the music.
I always that Clare could be taken either way- either Gilbert is a total perv, or the nicest guy on the planet. Keep in mind this is a guy who had another big hit, Get Down, which is not about dancing but about getting his dog down off of the furniture- how quaint is that? But I must say some of the lines from Clare “you’re more than a child” “when you leave I feel I could die” “will you marry me Uncle Ray”- do strike me as creepy in a Micheal Jackson sort of way. If Gary Glitter had recorded the song, we would know for sure.
And yes, most lyric sites have the “Clare” lyrics wrong, it isn’t “will you marry me oh hurray” its “will you marry me Uncle Ray”, Ray being Gilbert’s real name.
I’m not sure if it cracked the Top 40, but I do remember David Essex’ “Rock On” as being pretty popular. And pretty strange.
A thudding bass line, no real percussion to speak of, synthesized strings, horns playing off-key at times…and the weird echo-ey lyrics delivered in a sort of slow chant. References to James Dean and blue suede shoes and a “blue-jean baby queen (prettiest girl I’ve ever seen).”
At a time when Top 40 could accomodate all kinds of genres, along came this, and nobody knew quite what to make of it. But it became popular.
Gilbert O’Sullivan was intentionally perverse with his lyrics; his other big hit was a catchy little pop tune which, upon closer inspection, is about suicide. I totally buy that, with “Claire,” he was pulling the same kind of perverse joke on his audience, and the implications of pedophilia are intentional, but deniable.
I love this song, and it was really before its time in 1973. When I first heard it, as a kid listening to classic radio, I found it to be very mysterious and even ominous. It has a great bass line.
Not to mention that it hit the charts twice more as remakes - the first time (I am aware of) in the 80’s as part of the soundtrack to a “Cory’s” teen-flick. More recently, it was covered by Def Leppard and hit the charts (within the last year).
I first started listiening to Top 40 radio in the early, pre-Beatles, '60s, and the playlists were full of bizarre songs, many of which show up on Dr. Demento today. We had, besides the already mentioned “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, Witch Doctor, The Name Game - and I’m not even counting Purple Polka Dot Bikini.
