- I’ve seen both him singing Tiptoe and his marriage to Miss Vicky on “Best of Carson” shows, although that was years ago.
–Cliffy
- Have a bunch of his songs on my computer as mp3s.
“Living in the Sunlight, Loving in the Moonlight” is his best piece, IMO.
57 years 361 days.
I remember seeing him on Johnny Carson, though I did miss the marriage with Miss Vicky.
I’m 45, and was thus in third grade when Herbert Khoury* released Tiptoe Through the Tulips. Our school bus driver played the radio, and I can remember a girl named Jodi C. hearing the opening notes of the novelty hit one day and delightedly squealing to one of her friends: “Ooh, listen, it’s Tiny Tim!” My brother Mark was three years old at the time, and our Aunt Karen tried to get him to sing the lyrics for her when she visited us. A few months later, I got my first copy of MAD magazine (after reading the satirical publication for years at the barber shop) as a birthday present. One of the features described and depicted various creatures that were created by superimposing then-current celebrities’ heads onto animal bodies. The Tiny Timpanzee was one denizen of this bestiary.
A short snippet of Tiptoe can be heard here, although the selection was apparently recorded in the mid-1980’s, long after Mr. Tim’s heyday. Still, that’s the voice we all so fondly and/or cringingly remember.
- The real name of Tiny Tim, who’s one of many famous folks mentioned in this article by his fellow Arab-American, Casey Kasem.
41 and seen snippets on clip shows. I’ve seen more of his marraige than him singing. In what year did he get married on the Tonight Show?
TT married Miss Vicki in 1969.
I’ve seen clips of him on Laugh-In. Fairly ridiculous.
But what really creeped me out was the context. It was a Laugh-In reunion show. Everyone else (save Dan Rowan, who was recently departed) was reminiscing about old times, really happy to see each other again. All TT talked about was himself. Not even what he’d done on the show, just his current projects, such as they were. He didn’t directly acknowledge any of the other cast members, and seemed to have no interest in anecdotes that didn’t concern him. Rarely have I seen such a level of self-absorption.
And I’m well aware of how hard and far he fell from grace (I believe he couldn’t even pay off Miss Vicki’s wedding ring). Still, jeez.
Since my first post, I’ve been trying to remember what song he sang on the Jerry Lewis Telethon soon after his Laugh-In appearance. Today it hit me–it was Bill Haley’s Shake, Rattle and Roll. IIRC, he only sang the chorus in his infamous falsetto.
I’m 42. I have seen the entire tape of him singing the song.
I’ve seen clips of his wedding to Miss Vicki.
Weird? This is television. Lots of things are weird…
Cartooniverse
- I’ve seen it.
I’ve also seen a porn flick that featured the song during one of the, uh, “jiggly scenes.” I don’t know what the name of the porn movie was, but it was shot on film (not video) and the “plot” had something to do with some hippies and a college campus, so I’d guess it was made in the 70s.
Come to think of it, I’m not sure it was Tiny Tim’s version of the song that was in the movie, but it might have been. It was either him or a woman singing it.
30, thanks to Nick At Nite I have seen in full several of Tiny Tim’s performance on Laugh In.
I also own a VHS copy of THIS!
I believe that IMDB is wrong and he played the Magnificent Mervo. Either way, you get a scene of him dressed as a clown, sobbing and singing hymns.
Does anybody have his country song If You’re Gonna Leave Me (Then Leave Me Satisfied)? I heard a clip when it was released and it’s stuck with me all these years. This probably due to it being the first time I’d heard him sing in his real voice.
Eve The only other time I’ve heard po-mo used, it mas Moe Syzlack.
- I’ve heard it. Kind of creepy.
Wow. Possibly the most obscure movie trivia question ever: “What film starred Tiny Tim and Peter Krause (from Six Feet Under and Sports Night)?”
I also can’t help noticing that very few of the cast or crew members have been involved in any other projects at all. Interesting.
42…saw it all…
Tiny was a fascinating interview on the Howard Stern show. He seemed borderline
OCD with all of his cleaning regimine. He was evidently quite religeous, and would
not allow any type of blaspheme. (Caused him to shun the show for quite some time. Tiny Was unique.
Back around 1987-88, when ‘Elvis sightings’ were first becoming frequent, a Balt/DC radio station (WAVA-FM?) played a new song by Tiny Tim: “I Saw Elvis Presley Tiptoeing Through the Tulips”.
He sang it in his trademark falsetto, except for the brief passage where he quotes the King as saying, “thank you very much”.
I remember it, I think, from Laugh-in. I am 43.
I’m almost 21, and I’ve never even heard of Tiny Tim, except as a character in a particular Dickens novel. The phrase “tiptoe through the tulips” rings a bell, but I never knew it was a song. Could someone direct me to where I might find a video of this apparently truly eccentric character’s performance of that song?
I’m 17 and have heard it, but was hearing Pepe Le Pew sing it when i was ~5.
It’s disturbing, in the way that kids today will not be prepared to encounter.
Sure, we have Marilyn Manson, but he learned his schtick from Alice Cooper, Like
Rob Zombie and GWAR learned theirs from Kiss, King Crimson and WASP.
If you can handle Tiny Tim, you might be ready for H.R. Puffinstuff.