# Weirdest Top 10 Singles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190 "2008-10-09T17:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/61 "2008-10-10T19:25:33Z")
[Sky Pilot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Pilot_(song)) is another song with weird subject matter. Good anti-war song. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/62 "2008-10-10T19:49:50Z")
[Purple People Eater](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9H_cI_WCnE) Hit #1 in 1958. I always liked that the song addresses the two possible interpretations of “purple people eater.” [Monster Mash](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLvMFo_KMHI&feature=related) Hit the charts in 1962, and again in 1970 and 1973. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/63 "2008-10-10T21:34:49Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > anyone remember “Midnight at the Oasis”? I always thought that was pretty weird. Again, I don’t know how high it got on the charts. Brand New Heavies. ‘Sing your Camel to sleep’ ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/64 "2008-10-10T21:56:47Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > [“Sing”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sing_(The_Carpenters_song)), the song started out as a Sesame Street Song, the Carpenter’s recordeed it andd it hit Number 3 on Billboard, Number 1 on the adult Contemporary Chart. > > It’s not necessarily a weird song, its circumstances just seem weird. Or, for that matter, The New Seekers’ _I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)_, which was a Coca-Cola jingle with the references to Coke removed. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/65 "2008-10-10T22:13:32Z")
The Jaynetts’ [Sally Go 'Round the Roses](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Go_'Round_the_Roses), a #2 hit from 1963. Teenage lesbian affair gone horribly wrong? Mind shattered by a powerful religious vision? You make the call! Spooky fuckin’ song. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/66 "2008-10-10T22:24:43Z")
> [@Roadfood](#): > > Whoa, I forgot about that one. Definitely weird, as far as lyrics go. A guy crooning mournfully about his cake being left out in rain and “all the sweet cream icing melting down!”. Yeah, I know, it’s supposed to be symbolic and metaphoric, but still, it’s weird. “I don’t think that I can take it, 'cause it took so long to bake it, and I’ll never have that recipe agaaaaaaaain!” Weirder still is picturing “Dumbledore #1” singing it. I’d have to nominate Blue Swede’s cover of Hooked on a Feeling, just because of that stupid HOOOGA CHAKKA thing they did. Bloodrock’s D.O.A. charted at #36, or it would be right up there too… ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/67 "2008-10-10T22:28:56Z")
Did “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” ever chart? You think the song is funny…until you actually listen to it. And even if it didn’t chart it comes back to haunt us once a year. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/68 "2008-10-10T23:51:28Z")
> [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Did “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” ever chart? > > You think the song is funny…until you actually listen to it. > > And even if it didn’t chart it comes back to haunt us once a year. My grandmother played that song nonstop from December 1 until December 23. Really, her record player had the auto-resart feature, so it just kept playing. It was very traumatizing for me every weekend when I would stay with her during that timeframe. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/69 "2008-10-11T05:36:41Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > “This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us” by Sparks (UK #2) wins, hands down. Never big in the US and I don’t know why. OK, I know, not being an idiot and knowing what the US market likes, but I was a massive Sparks fan then and now. Same with Slade. And The Sweet. And Suzi Quatro, while we are in the "S"es, though that was because she looked like a girl I wanted to have relations with. And because she sang Chapman and Chinn Instant Hits. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/70 "2008-10-11T05:58:28Z")
Nothing Compares To You ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/71 "2008-10-11T08:21:46Z")
Dead Skunk In The Middle of the Road- Loudon Wainwright. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/72 "2008-10-11T09:48:33Z")
I just remember dancin’ and groovin to [Da-do-ron-ron](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgkbyrVq_0w) and [The Grease soundtrack](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmTyAX0lKO4) on Thanksgiving. We used to fuck it up. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/73 "2008-10-11T10:18:50Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > [Monster Mash](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLvMFo_KMHI&feature=related) Hit the charts in 1962, and again in 1970 and 1973. It was like watching a secret clip of Dan Quayle when he thought the cameras were off. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/74 "2008-10-11T10:51:37Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > It was like watching a secret clip of Dan Quayle when he thought the cameras were off. It wasn’t me, my female cousins inundated me with the Cassidy and Grease, it was girl stuff… but they made me dance. Women ask for the baubly legs, I give it. ---
**Author:** ![Lars\_Aruns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c68b51/32.png) [@Lars\_Aruns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lars_Aruns)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/75 "2008-10-11T19:30:20Z")
The song is not particularly weird, but the video is the weirdest one I ever see: [I Like You, by One Track Mind](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHsNk8JJj_A). Remember it? It’s the one with the stuffed dog playing trumpet. And the dancer smelling her armpits. And the [hypnotic spinning disc](http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/SUE/SUE104/hypnotic-disk_~BWBW0819.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/76 "2008-10-11T23:33:35Z")
Wow, 2 pages and no mention of [“Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?configType=BBCOM_SIMPLEDEFAULT&pubList=Billboard&an=bbcom&action=Submit&kw=&exposeNavigation=true&keyword=surfin+bird&searchType=ARTICLE_SEARCH&submit.x=39&submit.y=19)? Peaked at #4, definitely up there on the weird scale. Another one I always bring up on these “weird music” threads is “Run Joey Run” by David Geddes. Peaked at #4 in 1975, and probably the only song to cover teen pregnancy, child abuse and _murder_–all in 3 minutes! ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/77 "2008-10-11T23:57:37Z")
_Tiptoe Through the Tulips_ by Tiny Tim ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/78 "2008-10-12T00:40:40Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > anyone remember “Midnight at the Oasis”? I always thought that was pretty weird. Again, I don’t know how high it got on the charts. [#6, 1974](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3070794&cdi=8861562&cid=08%2F03%2F1974). > [@Doug\_Bowe](#): > > Did “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” ever chart? [Peaked at 25](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=431&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+RingMasters&ci=3089969&cdi=9592244&cid=12%2F22%2F2007). ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/79 "2008-10-12T01:56:45Z")
[Disco Duck](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc5d01_riBo): [25 weeks in the top 100, peaked at #1.](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3070925&cdi=8874791&cid=01%2F29%2F1977) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190/80 "2008-10-12T03:05:44Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > Wow, 2 pages and no mention of [“Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?configType=BBCOM_SIMPLEDEFAULT&pubList=Billboard&an=bbcom&action=Submit&kw=&exposeNavigation=true&keyword=surfin+bird&searchType=ARTICLE_SEARCH&submit.x=39&submit.y=19)? Peaked at #4, definitely up there on the weird scale. Strangely enough, _Surfin’ Bird_ is actually going through a bit of a renaissance (at least iTunes sales are going up), thanks to a bizarre running gag on a recent episode of _Family Guy_. Indeed, everybody’s heard about the bird. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weirdest-top-10-singles/467190.md?page=5)