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is nationally renowned for his weekly two-hour radio festival of mad music and crazy comedy heard on radio stations coast to coast. It's a free-wheeling unpredictable mix of music and comedy. The Doctor plays new funny songs sent in by amateur and professional singers and comedians. |
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Here's what's on the latest Dr. Demento Show:
Show date: Jan 4, 2009 Click here to listen.
EASY SONGS FOR HARD TIMES 0901: Our first show of 2009 spotlights the economy. We're calling it "Easy Songs For Hard Times." Along with songs inspired by the current SNAFU, I located some songs from the early 1930s when we were experiencing some very similar situations. Some of those songs are surprisingly cheerful! We could use a little of that cheer today. |
December 29, 2008
HOLIDAY HIATUS
The Demento Society's shipping department is closed until
Jan. 5, 2009. We are still accepting orders but none will
be processed or shipped until then.
The radio show and our online streaming are still full
speed ahead.
Happy New Year!
November 30, 2008
CHRISTMAS AND COUNTDOWN SHOWS NOW AVAILABLE IN BULK PACKAGES
People enjoyed the packages of Halloween shows we offered recently, so we're
adding some more for the holidays. With these bulk packages, you get five
shows, but the cost is only $9.00, instead of the $10.00 you would pay to
get them separately.
Here is the posting schedule for our new packages:
Christmas, Hanukkah, and Funny 25 2007: AVAILABLE NOW
available December 7:
Christmas, Hanukkah, and Funny 25 2006
Funny 25's 1992-1996
available December 14:
Christmas, Hanukkah, and Funny 25 (uncensored) 2005
Funny 25's 1997-2001
available December 21:
Christmas Through The Years (selected shows from 1974 to 2002)
Funny 25's 2002-2006 (including 2005 uncensored)
available December 28:
Top 50 from 1972 (4 hours), top 20 from 1974 (2 hours), top 50 from 1977 (4 hours)
Check here to purchase any of the packages.
October 27, 2008
HALLOWEEN SHOWS NOW AVAILABLE IN BULK PACKAGES - SAVE MONEY!
Hi gang, webmaster Mysterious Mose here...just thought I'd let you
know that we have now reactivated all the old Halloween shows. Plus,
we've added a new feature that lets you buy multiple shows at once.
You can now buy two different packages of Halloween shows at $9.00
apiece for five shows, which saves you $1.00 over buying them separately.
Let us know how you like the new feature. Hopefully we will add more
packages in the near future.
MM
September 11, 2008
Fairy tales...
A previously unreleased recording by Dr. Demento is now available for
download at cdbaby.com and at
iTunes. This is a set of three fairy
tales - "Little Red Riding Hood," "Rumpelstiltskin" and "Rapunzel" --
read by Dr. D with music by Artie Barnes (of Barnes & Barnes). These
are not spoofs -- Dr. Demento tells these timeless tales the way they
were written.
To locate these, just go to cdbaby.com or
iTunes.com and enter "Dr.
Demento" in the search function.
(Note: cdbaby.com does not make these available on physical CD's, as
was reported in the most recent Demento Society News).
September 3, 2008
ATTENTION SONGWRITERS
Dr. Demento is among the judges for the Comedy/Novelty category in the
International Songwriting Competition for 2008.
The other judges in this category are "Weird Al" Yankovic, Sandra Bernhard,
David Brenner, and Jack Records/Warner Bros. Records senior VP Peter
Strickland.
The Songwriting Competition is open to amateurs and professionals. You can
submit entries on CD, tape, or mp3. Judging will be based on the quality of
the song, not the performance.
There is also a Lyrics Only category for written lyrics.
There are 20 categories in all. Prizes include guitars and other musical
instruments and equipment, and there is an overall grand prize of $25,000.
For complete rules and other details including entry fees visit
http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/
Deadline for entries is October 15, 2008.
September 3, 2008
A DEMENTED HALLOWEEN!
We will be presenting spectacular new Dr. Demento shows for Halloween once
again this year...on the radio the last two weekends in October, and
available online at 12:01 AM on Monday, October 20 and Monday, October 27.
Beginning Monday, September 15, our older archived Halloween shows will
be unavailable for purchase, at least for awhile...so if you'd like to
order any of those older shows, be sure and do it before September
15, after which they will all vanish like ghosts and goblins at daybreak.
June 13, 2008
NEW 2008 MEMBERSHIP KIT NOW AVAILABLE!
The 2008 Demento Society membership kit is ready for shipment, and we
are now accepting orders.
We do apologize for the delay. Unlike what happened in past years, we
were unable to accept payment (or deposit checks) before the product
was ready to ship.
In any case, it's here!. The Basement Tapes CD (number 16!) is one of
our best ever, in our opinion. Once again we're very happy to include
the #1 song from the most recent Funny 25 countdown -- "Cellular
Degeneration" by Sudden Death. Along with such Basement Tapes
veterans as Robert Lund, The Four Postmen, Power Salad, Paul and
Storm, Steve Goodie, Tim Cavanagh and The Great Luke Ski, we're proud
to spotlight such newcomers as Project Sisyphus (a clever,
brilliantly produced song parody), Holly Tannen (a charming, witty
tune about life in Mendocino, California), Jellyside Downe (a
slightly naughty bit about life in Ireland) and Antsy McClain and the
Trailer Park Troubadours (with the best bumper sticker song we've
heard in years). And for those who get depressed with today's
headlines (hard to avoid sometimes) the Austin Lounge Lizards are
here to remind us "We've Been Through Some Crappy Times Before." On a
related subject, we're happy to be able to include a song heard on
the show every election year: "The One That Doesn't Suck So Bad" by
New York's multi-talented Barry Mitchell. Finally (next to last on
the disc, actually) is "The Arkansas Traveler" by Len Spencer.
Recorded in 1902, it was a huge hit in its day, the best selling
comedy record ever at that time. While we've often included old 78's
from the Demento Archives on our Basement Tapes, this is our first
wax cylinder recording. The sound is amazingly lifelike and clear,
considering that it was recorded well over a century ago.
As always, the membership kit includes an 8x10 photo which Dr.
Demento will personally sign for every member. This time it's
something a little bit different. It was taken before Dr. Demento
became Dr. Demento. A long time before, as a matter of fact. The
Doctor-to-be was four years old. His dad, like so many fathers, loved
to take snapshots of his kids. What makes this one unusual, and
prophetic, is that in this picture the future Doctor was holding a
record!
The 2008 membership kit also includes a membership card, a photo
button (with that "Kid Demento" snapshot), a discount coupon, a
newsletter subscription, and a bonus item. This year the bonus is a
"Certificate of Recognition" printed on deluxe diploma paper.
Best news of all...with everything from gasoline to cornflakes going
through the roof, we're holding the line on the price; it's the same
as last year.
Are you ready for some Dementia?!! Simply click
[here] for the
membership application.
June 27, 2008
NEW DEMENTO SOCIETY NEWS ON THE WAY
A new paper issue of the Demento Society News is currently being
mailed to all up-to-date Demento Society members.
June 27, 2008
GEORGE CARLIN, R. I. P.
We were all immensely saddened to learn of the death of George Carlin
on June 22.
Of all comedians he had the greatest command of the English language,
the greatest sensitivity to the ever-shifting meanings and
implications of the words he loved so well.
By that I mean all words, not just the "seven dirty words" that
redoubled his fame after they were involved in that Supreme Court
decision in 1978 (in which the court held that the FCC was justified
in punishing a non-commercial station that played Carlin's "Filthy
Words," an expanded followup to his famous "Seven Words You Can Never
Say On Television.")
After launching his career in the 1960s as a relatively orthodox
supper club comic, George soon allied himself with the emerging
counterculture. He grew his hair long and became thoroughly
subversive...and purged his act of anything he didn't truly believe
in. As the decades passed he became darker, more cynical, a bit of a
curmudgeon perhaps...but never lost his amazing powers of
observation, or his talent for eloquently cataloguing everything
that's illogical, irrational or just plain annoying about everything
from refrigerators to religion. He was not only the most eloquent of
comedians, but the most true to himself.
George Carlin has been heard more often on the Dr. Demento Show than
any other standup comedian. A few routines, such as "Ice Box Man,"
"Fussy Eater" and "Baseball/Football," accounted for the lion's share
of those plays...but then Carlin was nearly unique among standup
comedians in how well his routines stood up when heard over and over
again, long after one knew all the punch lines.
On July 5-6 our show will feature an extended tribute, including
excerpts from our interviews with George (he was a lively, warm and
gracious guest on the show three different times) plus three favorite
Carlin recordings (including a radio edit of "Seven Words," made by
our former colleague Damaskas with assistance from Musical Mike...an
edit which George himself admired). The online version of the show,
available for streaming starting Monday, July 7, will feature an
additional 20+ minutes of Carlin, including more interviews plus "Ice
Box Man" and the complete and uncensored "Filthy Words." (Parental
discretion advised!)
(note: Word of Carlin's death reached us after our June 28-29 show
was already on its way to stations, and after the current issue of
the Demento Society News had gone to press).
May 3, 2008
NEW DR. DEMENTO SHOW FEATURE - FOR ONLINE LISTENERS ONLY
Starting with the first weekend of May each new Dr. Demento Show will have
an extra segment for online listeners only. Each Bonus Segment will have 10
minutes or more of songs that do not appear on that week's radio show.
Online listeners will generally hear the Bonus Segment after the Demented
News during the first hour of the program. The bonus segments will be heard
on both the 32Kbps and the 128Kbps streams.
March 11, 2008
TOPICS FOR THE SECOND QUARTER of 2008
| show # | date (Sundays) |
| 08-14 | 4-6 | Baseball |
| 08-15 | 4-13 | Ourselves (songs with "I" or "me" in the title) |
| 08-16 | 4-20 | Earth Day |
| 08-17 | 4-27 | Top Ten |
| 08-18 | 5-4 | tobacco |
| 08-19 | 5-11 | mothers |
| 08-20 | 5-18 | alcohol |
| 08-21 | 5-25 | Top Ten |
| 08-22 | 6-1 | Demented Dance Party |
| 08-23 | 6-8 | women |
| 08-24 | 6-15 | men |
| 08-25 | 6-22 | summer |
| 08-26 | 6-29 | Top Ten / America |
January 24, 2008
ABOUT OUR "REQUEST A SONG" PAGE...
For over a decade, dating back before we had a proper website of our own,
Very Keri has very graciously hosted our request page. Before that, Keri
was a loyal member of the phone crew on the L.A. local edition of the Dr.
Demento Show.
As part of a general upgrade of www.drdemento.com, the "Request A Song" page
is now part of our own site.
You can still enter Keri's world by visiting www.clamhead.com.
A thousand thanks to Keri for being way ahead of the curve, and making it
possible for listeners to request songs online over the years.
Yours in dementia - Dr Demento
January 21, 2008
2008 MEMBERSHIP KIT COMING THIS SPRING...
We're busily putting together a new Demento Society membership kit
for 2008, including Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes #16. We're very
excited about it and know you'll love it!
We are a bit behind schedule this year but hope to have the new
package ready to ship sometime in the spring of 2008.
Due to the policies of our online partners, we are not able to accept
advance payments this year. Any payments already sent will be
returned. As soon as the package is ready to ship, we'll let you know
in this space, on the radio show and in our newsletter. I promise
it'll be worth the wait!
We still have the 2007 and 2006 membership kits in stock...but for
how long, we don't know. Get 'em while you can!
January 21, 2008
REGARDING CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS...
When you order online, you will get an email reply from Yahoo Small
Business. This form may imply that your credit card has already been
charged at that point. In fact, your credit card account will not be
charged until your order (including membership kits) is actually
shipped.
January 5, 2008
A COUPLE OF CHANGES...
I've decided to make a couple of changes in the Dr. Demento show, effective
with show 08-01 airing Jan. 5-6 (and available for streaming Jan. 7).
First of all, we've reduced the number of commercial breaks. This will allow
for more flexibility and longer uninterrupted sets. (The overall timing of
the show remains about the same).
Secondly...I'm changing the countdown from a weekly Funny Five to a monthly
Top Ten. This will allow us to bring more variety and surprises to the
show, and reduce the amount of repetition from one week to the next.
The Top Ten shows will air on the last weekend of each month; on these
shows, the Top Ten will take the place of a special topic. On the remaining
shows, we will be able to cover the special topics more extensively than in
the past.
We'll still have the same unpredictable mix of mad music and crazy comedy,
old and new.
I'd welcome your comments, and do keep those requests coming!
- Dr. Demento
P.S. The on-air announcement of these changes in this weekend's show contains a
little erroneous info: The monthly countdown will be a Top Ten, not a Funny
Five as the announcement says. Also, it will be Jan. 26-27, which is three
weeks from this weekend, not four.
TOPICS FOR THE FIRST QUARTER of 2008
| show # | date (Sundays) |
| 08-01 | 1-6 | Babies |
| 08-02 | 1-13 | I Am |
| 08-03 | 1-20 | I Like / I Hate |
| 08-04 | 1-27 | Top Ten |
| 08-05 | 2-3 | Tropical Tunes (incl. Hawaii) |
| 08-06 | 2-10 | Love songs |
| 08-07 | 2-17 | Birds |
| 08-08 | 2-24 | Top Ten |
| 08-09 | 3-2 | D-pod shuffle |
| 08-10 | 3-9 | Celebrities |
| 08-11 | 3-16 | Green (Spring/St Patrick's) |
| 08-12 | 3-23 | Kids |
| 08-13 | 3-30 | Top Ten |
November 23, 2007
CHANGE IS ON THE WAY
drdemento.com and drdemento.net now have a new webmaster, "Mysterious
Mose."
He has been a loyal listener for many years and has very impressive
technical credentials.
We will be taking many steps in the coming months to improve our sites. A
major priority will be to upgrade the audio streaming service, to make it
easier and more enjoyable to hear the show online.
Mose welcomes your comments and suggestions. He can be reached at
webmaster@drdemento.com.
-Dr. Demento
October 6, 2007
A note from Dr. Demento...
Recently a few people have written scathing online denunciations of Talonian Productions, the company that produces and distributes the Dr. Demento Show.
Talonian is not what some uninformed denouncers have claimed. Talonian Productions is wholly owned by myself. Talonian currently employs a manager, Arthyr Chadbourne, and a webmaster.
For many years the show was supported by national advertisers. The fees they paid supported the entire budget of the show and enabled me to make a living. That's the way radio is supposed to work.
In the past few years advertiser support for the show has evaporated. I've heard various explanations of this, but the most sensible one seems to be that our listenership is spread too thinly among various demographic groups. Advertisers prefer programming that appeals to particular segments (such as women aged 18-34 or men 30-45) so that they can reach listeners prepared to buy their products in a more efficient manner. I was always proud that the show appealed to entire families, but that is starting to look like more of a curse than a blessing.
Therefore, though we still have some fine stations carrying the show, we are not making enough from radio to support it.
For that reason, we decided to launch a fee-based Internet service. We felt this offered a chance for the show to become self-supporting once again, and in addition made it possible for people in areas not served by one of our radio affiliates (which is most of the country, alas) to hear the show.
Many listeners have been happy with this service. Others have complained, mostly to such forums as rec.music.dementia. Most often, they are unhappy that our Internet streams are not free of charge. It may be true, as the old song said, that "the best things in life are free"...but we do have to pay royalties to the creators of the songs we play, and we also have to pay for the website's own operation...and I do have to make a living somehow. Therefore, we charge *a very modest fee for the streaming -- a rate we feel is fair to ourselves and our audience.
Several of the show's radio affiliates stream their own programming, free of charge (the expense is defrayed by advertising). Since we don't share in the stations' ad revenue, we have asked them to discontinue their streams while our show is on. Most stations have been very understanding about this.
I have loved doing this show for 37 years, and have felt incredibly lucky to have made a living from something I love. However, unless the show's financial situation changes soon I will be unable to continue the show much longer.
Thank you for your understanding and support!
-Dr. Demento
GET YOUR 2007 MEMBERSHIP KIT NOW!
The Demento Society Blue Ribbon Membership kit for 2007 is still available for a limited time only.
The package includes a genuine Dr Demento blue ribbon, just like the blue ribbons they give out at the fair (but demented!!) It also includes a membership card, button, bumper sticker, and discount coupon...and, as always, an extra-special CD, available only to Demento Society Members. Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes #15 features many of the most requested songs of the past year, including the top two songs and many others featured on the Funny 25 countdown! Along with all this you get an 8x10 color photo personally autographed to you by Dr. Demento himself.
Membership dues are the same as last year -- just $34.90 including shipping for kits delivered in the USA. International memberships are $41.95 including shipping.
Don't delay, order yours today! Simply go to our Online Store page.
Wwwwwwwwwwind Up Your Computer!
THE DEMENTO ONLINE CLUB
The insider's best direct path to gleefully insane musical pleasures!
As you know, a new Dr. Demento Show can be heard online each week, along with many older shows, in streaming audio for $2 per show. By joining the DEMENTO ONLINE CLUB, you can save money, hear more shows in better sound, and get lots of exciting extras!
Find your favorite shows from the past and present, most available in high quality 96Kbps stereo, or 128Kbps stereo for more recent additions!
(High speed connection required for high quality streams.)
Demento Online Club Features:
- A NEW show each week.
- Upon subscription you will automatically receive the three most recent shows FREE!
- Live online chats with Dr. Demento. Find people that share your questions and answers while talking online with Dr. D.
- Discussion forum to communicate with other DOC members. You can discuss favorite shows, share your interests and get acquainted with each other in the Forum.
- Bonus MP3 streaming audio (most in high quality 96Kbps or 128Kbps). Both new and old shows available to members only . . . at no extra charge!
- Three free online shows per week your choice from our large library.
- Post your ads in the Classifieds section.
- Get the latest Demento Society newsletter before it’s mailed!
- Updated F.A.Q.’s
All this for only $14.95 per month! ($32 value)
Subscribe for a full year, and as an extra bonus, you’ll receive the Doctor Demento Society membership kit free! A $214.30 value for just $179.40! If you’re already a Society member, you can get a year’s Online Club membership for just $144.50. Either way, you win! A great deal for great fun.
>>> Click Here to Sign Up! <<<
Click here to see our list of streaming shows.
TO OUR LISTENERS...
Conditions in the radio industry continue to change rapidly.
Unfortunately many of these conditions have led to the Dr. Demento Show being available on fewer stations than before. If the show is no longer being heard on the station where you used to hear it, please let the station management know that you want Dr. Demento back.
Dr. Demento is continuing to produce new shows each week (except for very infrequent re-runs), as he has for 37 years. We will continue to make each new Dr. Demento Show available for streaming at our website every Monday.
Dr. Demento and everyone here greatly appreciates your support and hope you will continue to enjoy the show for a long time to come.
ATTENTION WEIRD AL FANS --
"Weird Al" Yankovic has a great new parody song, "You're Pitiful." Due to various bugaboos dreamed up by men in suits, it will not be included on Al's next album.
However, through special arrangement with Weird Al we have made it available as a FREE MP3 DOWNLOAD right here!
You're Pitiful 40kbps
You're Pitiful 96kbps
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RIAA Targets Internet Radio
Excerpts from article by Joe Lewis on Mon, 03/05/2007 - 12:11.
In a decision that could drive the nail in the coffin to Internet
radio providers, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board has endorsed a proposal
by SoundExchange to enact royalty rates for webcasts and streaming music
sites that will stay in effect from 2006 until 2010.
SoundExchange, the royalty
collecting division of the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA), will seek to retroactively charge webcasters for streaming
content delivered throughout 2006 to users, a decision that could send
the sites packing for good.
...
Eliot Van Buskirk and Sean Michaels of
Wired lament the financial implications of the U.S. Copyright Royalty
Board’s decision:
...and would owe this retroactively, in addition to licensing fees going forward. RAIN's
math indicates that the rate would render Internet radio unsustainable,
or at the very least, more ad-laden than terrestrial radio -- and that's
before the songwriters' licenses are taken into account.
And this
Techdirt
piece continues the thought:
- The new rates pretty much decimate a large portion of the industry.
And, it's only going to get worse, as the royalty rates increase at
incredible rates ("2007's rate is a 37.5% increase over 2006; 2008
and 2009's annual increases are about 28% per year; and 2010 adds another
5.5% increase.") Of course, this is utterly backwards and damaging
to the industry itself.
- A webcaster (especially the smaller, independent ones) is a great
means of promotion for artists. It tends to attract more loyal and
well-targeted audiences, who are more likely to want to later go out and
buy a CD, a t-shirt or attend a concert. It lets the industry better
promote material from a wider range of artists. However, in the
industry's desperate need to charge for every single use, they're
effectively killing off yet another wonderful promotional
vehicle.
...
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Join the Demento Online Club’s crusade for better, mind numbing ear-candy while enjoying MAD MUSIC and CRAZY COMEDY right to your home via the Internet. Dr. Demento presents a NEW show each week, commercial free from the fabulous studio close to the famous "Smogberry trees." Find your favorite shows from the past and present, most available in high quality 96Kbps stereo, or 128Kbps stereo for more recent additions!
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MEET THE DR IN PERSON - If you would like Dr. Demento to appear at your next event Click Here.
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ATTENTION RADIO STATIONS: If you are a program director or general manager of an on-the-air radio station, and are interested in the Dr. Demento Show, please click here to contact our clearance office. Thank you!
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The Goose Has Flown... "Dr. Demento Gooses Mother" is now out of print, and no longer available on CD. We still have a few cassettes left.
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The aliens have left the solar system... "They Came From Outer Space" is now out of print, and no longer available.
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Webmasters click here if you would like to link to DrDemento.com.
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