# Weirdest songs to ever hit the Top 40 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927 "2006-10-10T14:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/21 "2006-10-10T17:26:28Z")
I too nominate any and all novelty songs, like: “Monster Mash,” which hit #1 in October of 1962 and then made back up to #10 ten years later in May of 1972. “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” which peaked at #1 in August of 1960. “Come on-a My House,” which hit #1 sometime in 1951. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/22 "2006-10-10T17:29:55Z")
_Thriller_ by Michael Jackson. Lyrics, theme & a voice-over by Vincent Price. In a musical genre dominated by love songs. The artist’s later problems only making things _stranger_. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/23 "2006-10-10T17:30:08Z")
“Tennessee Bird Walk” was another outta-left-field radio hit. “…oh remember me, my darling, when spring is in the air and the bald-headed birds are whispering everywhere When you see them walkin’ southward in their dirty underwear That’s the Tennessee Bird Walk (chirp chirp)…” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/24 "2006-10-10T17:41:19Z")
Two more ultra-weirdies from right around the same time as “Rock On”: **Hocus Pocus** by Focus, and Blue Swede’s version of **Hooked on a Feeling** (Hooga-chacka, hooga hooga!). ---
**Author:** ![nvad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@nvad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nvad)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/25 "2006-10-10T18:04:53Z")
No mention of Muskrat Love yet? Now THAT is weird… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/26 "2006-10-10T18:16:03Z")
On WMOT, JAZZ 89, I just heard a Jazz version of the old _Spiderman_ TV show theme. Some info– > [@](#): > > Spiderman (04) > Name: Frank Vignola & Joe Ascione > Name of CD: 33 and a Third (04) > Track Label: Hyena ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/27 "2006-10-10T18:53:36Z")
King Missile’s “Detachable Penis” was a brief enjoyable hit on mainstream radio in the '90s 🙂 In fact, I’m humming it right now, and can’t get it out of my head… ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/28 "2006-10-10T18:58:46Z")
Loudon Wainwright – [Dead Skunk in The Middle of The Road.](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/wainwright-loudon-dead-skunk-lyrics.html) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/29 "2006-10-10T19:00:46Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. [/QUOTE] Just out of curiosity, what do you find weird about this song? Is it because of the souped up disco version that Madonna did? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/30 "2006-10-10T19:02:01Z")
Before I post any nominations, one question: Are these weird songs, or songs that are weird relative to the popular music trends of the era? ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/31 "2006-10-10T19:07:25Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Gilbert O’Sullivan’s [Clare](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/o-sullivan-gilbert-clare-lyrics.html). Nothing like a song about pedophia & incest to get into the Top 40. [/QUOTE] And then there’s Gary Puckett and the Union Gap’s “Young Girl.” “My love for you is way outta line…” [http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.hart/lyricsu/union.html](http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.hart/lyricsu/union.html) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/32 "2006-10-10T19:07:52Z")
My Name is Mud, by Primus. The bass is practically a drum, the guitar squeals, there’s a dialogue excerpt from “Deliverance,” and the lyrics are about a self-described “boring sonsabitch” - an unemployed, mentally unstable alcoholic who wears only navy blue clothing. And he’s telling us the tale of how he beat a friend to death with a baseball bat for informing him that his name is really Alowishus Devadandner Abercrombie, not Mud. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/33 "2006-10-10T19:23:58Z")
For me, it has to be **YMCA** by _The Village People_ It never ceases to amaze me when people celebrate, en mass, a wedding or even little Nathan’s Bar Mitzvah by dancing and singing to the glorification of anonymous gay sex at the mother of all boarding/bath houses: \*Young man - there’s a place you can go I said - young man, when you’re short on your dough You can stay there, and I’m sure you will find Many ways to have a good time. It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A. It’s fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A. They have everything for young men to enjoy. You can hang out with all the boys.\* I believe it made it to #2 but never #1, but definitely held a Top 40 spot for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/34 "2006-10-10T19:34:40Z")
White Rabbit. Jefferson Airplane. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/35 "2006-10-10T19:58:05Z")
Good call on Gary Puckett- “Young Girl” makes “You’re Sixteen” look like “Ava Maria”. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/36 "2006-10-10T20:07:24Z")
**Governor** , my OP wasn’t clear, but what I originally had in mind were songs that didn’t sound like your usual top 40 hit- for example, if one of Zamfir’s pan flute epics made the top 40 (one did in the UK IIRC), or a cut from Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music. Some have followed with nominations that are weird musically, others lyrically. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/37 "2006-10-10T20:13:29Z")
The strangest one that I can immediately think of is “Mmm mmm mmm mmm” by the Crash Test Dummies which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 ([cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mmm_Mmm_Mmm_Mmm)). It’s certainly an usual ditty in the context of top 40 pop tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/38 "2006-10-10T20:23:07Z")
[QUOTE=Spoons] 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. [/QUOTE] **That’ll Be The Day** was on TV the other day. Great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/39 "2006-10-10T20:30:05Z")
Another one I just thought of, “Mother’s Little Helper” by the Stones- an upbeat ditty about recreational pill popping, featuring sitar as the lead instrument- at least I think it’s a sitar. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927/40 "2006-10-10T20:33:07Z")
Hands down, 1972’s “My Ding-a-Ling” by Chuck Berry, his only #1 hit in the US. Yes, the man who wrote and performed such rock classics as “Johnny B. Goode”, “Roll over, Beethoven”, “Rock and Roll Music”, and “School Day”, scored his only #1 with an audience sing-along novelty that relies on the double entendre “playing with your own ding-a-ling”. Second place: Sister Janet Mead’s 1973 rock-n-roll version of the Lord’s Prayer. #4 in the US, 3 million copies sold worldwide. Religious questions aside, you’d have to admit that’s unusual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-songs-to-ever-hit-the-top-40/375927.md?page=3)