The Humpty Dance
Tenacious D has a bunch of them, including Tribute (The Best Song in the World).
Edit: I just remembered The Axis of Awesome’s Four Chords.
The Cameltoe song by Fanny Pack
Southern Culture on the Skids - “Camel Walk”, 1995
1992 - Detachable Penis,King Missile
1985 - Oh Yeah, Yello
The various Crazy Frog songs from about 10 years ago.
Everything ever recorded by Mojo Nixon. Best known are Don Henley Must Die,Debbie Gibson is Pregnant with my Two-headed Love Child and Elvis is Everywhere
I know some people considered The Offspring’s Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) (1998) and Sublime’s Date Rape (1992) to be novelty songs.
How about Fuck Me Ray Bradbury by Rachel Bloom, or Would You Date May Avatar by Felicia Day and The Guild ?
There’s the Barnes and Barnes catalog. “Fish Heads” is their classic but that was from before 1984.
This Is Spinal Tap came out in 1984 so all their stuff is available.
The Arrogant Worms are a good novelty band.
They Might Be Giants has had some novelty songs.
Barbie Girl - Aqua
Birth Control and Beer - Gretchen Phillips
Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses
Cows With Guns - Dana Lyons
The Curly Shuffle - Jump ‘N The Saddle (actually late 1983 but who’s going to check?)
My Baby Don’t Wear No Panties - Mean Gene Kelton
My Wife Thinks You’re Dead - Junior Brown
Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) - The Offspring
Rappin’ Rodney - Rodney Dangerfield (another 1983 song)
That reminds me that Taryn Southern, Julia Price, and Garfunkel and Oates (Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome) all have several good novelty songs.
Tom Smith : Five Years, I’m On Firefly, Return Of The King, Uh Uh
Mikey Mason : She Doesn’t Like Firefly, Bring Back Firefly For Christmas
Leslie Fish : Banned From Argo
ETA : Dagon Tabernacle Choir : Death To The World, Silent Night, Blasphemous Night, Oh Cthulhu
Arkham Carolers : The Carol Of The Old Ones
Bowser and Blue : their whole catalog
I remember a song that cracked me up called Don’t Call Me Dude.
Add William Shatner to almost any song and it becomes a novelty tune!
For example: Bohemian Rhapsody
None of these are novelty songs as the term is normally used.
Did anyone mention Stacys Mom?
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect.
And it doesn’t have to be a parody. So those songs might be novelty depending on the artists intentions.
But if they’re not, then it’s true there has been very, very few novelty songs in the last 30 years.
Wiki lists The Chanukah Song as a novelty song. What definition are you using?
I was a bit too hasty with “The Chanukah Song,” but the rest are commercial singles released by commercial bands. I mean seriously…
“If I Had a Million Dollars”?
“Stacy’s Mom”?
“Don’t Worry Be Happy”?
Why aren’t those just songs?
How about “Too High for the Supermarket” by The Uninvited?
I’m with you on Stacy’s Mom and $1,000,000. I consider both just to be songs. I refuse to hold an opinion regarding Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
I suggested the TMBG songs above, and you have to admit they’re pretty much novelty songs even if TMBG isn’t a novelty band. Istanbul is a cover of a song off an old educational record and Particle Man is pretty nonsensical.
By that logic, this is not a novelty song although Three Dog Night considered it one.
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.