# Novelty Songs post-1984 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350 "2013-11-07T18:50:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/41 "2013-11-08T04:08:31Z")
Are people using “1-hit wonder” and “novelty song” interchangebly? ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/42 "2013-11-08T05:12:42Z")
Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off - Joe Nichols, 2005. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/43 "2013-11-08T05:16:07Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Are people using “1-hit wonder” and “novelty song” interchangebly? I’d think they were if not for the inclusion of Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, and The Offspring. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/44 "2013-11-08T15:37:56Z")
For something really modern, there’s the entire output of Bo Burnham. My current favorite is [“Oh Bo”](http://youtu.be/dcLFmN7aJe0). Another that came to mind, Wally Pleasant. See [“Stupid Day Job”](http://youtu.be/DBP-Xi2Fe0g). Surely Jonathan Coulton qualifies? Plenty of his songs are done for comedic effect, such as [“Re: Your Brains”](http://youtu.be/nNIsHCa99pY). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/45 "2013-11-08T17:11:56Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Are people using “1-hit wonder” and “novelty song” interchangebly? > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’d think they were if not for the inclusion of Barenaked Ladies, They Might Be Giants, and The Offspring. [This is a novelty song and Chuck Berry is hardly a one hit wonder.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaEC-lWSlmI) ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/46 "2013-11-08T17:23:35Z")
[She’s talking again](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6C95Vy8jeg) by Henry Philips [100 Things Every Man Should Know](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgyrWoD9-04) by Tim Wilson [Dear Santa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuxKqybDe14) by Sean Morey [Don’t Look Now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icty9EfDTCs) by Rodney Carrington And a personal favorite: [Internet Porn](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4vX7u73tvQ) by Da Vinci’s Notebook ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/47 "2013-11-08T17:27:05Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > If Sir Mix-A-Lot’s _Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts)_ doesn’t qualify as a novelty song, then I’m just unclear on the entire concept. I took that song completely at face value. I had no idea it was a ‘novelty song’ until I started going to some white clubs and seeing white people going all bananas about it. I had already been a fan of Sir Mixalot, though, before Baby Got Back ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/48 "2013-11-08T17:34:22Z")
Corky and the Juice Pigs - I’m The Only Gay Eskimo Anything by Stephen Lynch - If I Were Gay, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/49 "2013-11-08T17:55:55Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [This is a novelty song and Chuck Berry is hardly a one hit wonder.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaEC-lWSlmI) No argument from me. But both “If I Had A Million Dollars” and “One Week” are pretty representative of the Barenaked Ladies oeuvre. And “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” wasn’t a novelty either, it was a single song from a concept album that focused on the lives of people not living the American Dream. In this case, the poser. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/50 "2013-11-08T18:06:40Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > and there’s the [Dr. Demento website.](http://www.drdemento.com/) Or [Dr. Demento’s playlist](http://dmdb.org/playlists/). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/51 "2013-11-08T18:50:45Z")
Oh, surprised I’m the first to think of Jonathan Coulton’s “Code Monkey”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/52 "2013-11-08T19:20:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > “If I Had a Million Dollars”? …but not a real green dress, that’s cruel? Okay, well, I only heard it that one time. I didn’t know they were _serious_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/53 "2013-11-08T19:58:25Z")
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer? I’m not sure who does that. It probably doesn’t count, but my first thought was Eric Cartman’s verision of Come Sail Away. ETA: I’m not sure Grandma was after 1984, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/54 "2013-11-08T20:06:02Z")
I looked it up and it was definitely pre-1984. So just pretend I never posted. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/55 "2013-11-08T21:39:45Z")
Throw in some Mojo Nixon like “Elvis is Everywhere” Pac Man Fever? by… the guy who did Pac Man Fever? Billy Crystal’s You Look Mahvelous and Rodney Dangerfield’s No Respect? Dennis Leary’s Asshole There was some song in the 80’s about Vietnam is was a terrible bunch of samples and “rapping” over music I forget the name now The Rapping Duke… i forget who did this one also ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/56 "2013-11-08T21:46:14Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > Pac Man Fever? by… the guy who did Pac Man Fever? Buckner & Garcia, but it was 1982. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/57 "2013-11-08T21:54:45Z")
> [@BurnMeUp](#): > > There was some song in the 80’s about Vietnam is was a terrible bunch of samples and “rapping” over music I forget the name now “19” by Paul Hardcastle. That’s not a novelty song, just a one-hit wonder. > **[19 (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19_(song))** > > "19" is a song by British musician Paul Hardcastle, released as the first single from his self-titled fourth studio album Paul Hardcastle (1985). > The song has a strong anti-war message, focusing on the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War and the effect it had on the soldiers who served. The track was notable for early use of sampled and processed speech, in particular a synthesized stutter effect used on the words "nineteen" and "destruction" and “Saigon”. It also includes various no... [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JcFFEjq5Ap8/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGGUgXyhTMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDxKzpkfbzU9aSh4e05RVwUXE1AQg "Paul Hardcastle - 19 (Nineteen)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcFFEjq5Ap8) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/58 "2013-11-08T21:59:04Z")
Bill Engvall and Travis Tritt collaborated on a song based on Engvall’s trademark comedy routine, “Here’s Your Sign”. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/59 "2013-11-10T06:06:19Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > “Istanbul (Not Constantinople)” and “Particle Man” by They Might Be Giants. “Istanbul” was originally recorded in the 1950s, and was a big hit at the time. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350/60 "2013-11-10T06:09:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses That song is from 1981, and even says so early on. Who would think it would still get played more than 30 years later, long after the singer’s death? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/novelty-songs-post-1984/673350.md?page=4)