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2011-11-08 14:30:25

Dr. Demento's Blog - November 8, 2011

Hello again! Our latest show, along with the Top Ten for October (a week late due to Halloween), also has the three winners of the first annual Logan Awards. They are truly three of the most brilliant comedy songs of 2010. The Logan Awards, the brainchild of web-comic creator and sometime comedy musician Robert Balder of thefump.com, were named in honor of the late Logan Whitehurst, who died of brain cancer in 2006 at age 29. Logan�s Goodbye, My 4-Track is in my opinion the finest comedy music CD so far in the 21st century, and his early passing was a huge loss to our culture. I will have a tribute to him on our show for December 3rd, the fifth anniversary of his death.

In other news, Dementia Central has a new roof! The studio where I produce the show and keep many of my CD�s and records sprang a small leak awhile ago, which turned into a big leak when our winter rains came early this year. Fortunately nothing important was severely damaged (except the fax machine, which isn�t used much anymore anyway) but I was very happy to be able to put everything back where it belongs after the job was finished. Anderson Roofing of Bellflower, CA did a fine job and kept disruption to a minimum.

A little Q&A�

Dr D: I heard this song on your show in 1978 or 1979, possibly 1980. It had a bluesy beat, and was sung by a man who, to my ear, sounded black. The subject of the song was throwing up; the gist of it, as well as I can recall, was this gentleman recounting all the people and things he had thrown up on. The one line I seem to recall is �I throw up all over you.� In the background, immediately after this line is sung, a woman�s voice (also black-sounding) is heard to complain, �Why you do that?� -Robert Ferguson (via email)

Robert: You have stumped me, at least for now. Can any readers help? -DrD

Dr D: I was listening to an old show that had songs on it that were a minute long or less. Supposedly they were on an album called Miniatures. There was one that I liked and have been trying to find and it was about a theater intermission if it were only a minute long. It would state the show will start in 45 seconds (ding) and had the sound of popping corn and people scuttling about then and another announcement the show will start in 30 seconds (ding). Do you remember this and is it something I can get? -Richard Alan Pennington (via email)

Richard: I�m happy to report that Miniatures, a 1980 LP compiled by Morgan Fisher, has been reissued on CD as part of a two-disc set with Miniatures Two. It is available from amazon.com and other sources. Miniatures has 51 short pieces by as many artists, famous and obscure, with music ranging from avant garde to very traditional, along with a number of humorous pieces. The one you mention (untitled, like the other tracks) is by Phantom Captain and closed the first side of the original LP. -DrD

Dr D, it seems to have been a while since a compilation has been released. Do you think downloadable music has made this more difficult? Compilations that are put together by musicologists should continue to be relevant--right? Who else is going to expose listeners to novelty music than yourself? -John

John: thanks for the good words! Downloadable music has indeed cut sharply into CD sales. I would like to produce more compilation CD�s but the finances have to make sense. I will of course continue to expose listeners to novelty music on my show, as long as I am able! -DrD

Previous Replies:
2011-11-13 21:00:46 From: Dr. Demento Allan Sherman Johnny - thanks for writing. I agree with you to a point. I would agree that "My Son the Folksinger" is his greatest album cut for cut. The next two are very close, though, and of course "My Son the Nut" has "Hello Mudduh" which was his most popular single song. After that the percentage of fillers increases a bit, but every album through "My Name is Allan" (number six) has at least one track that is absolutely top drawer, and often several. Collector's Choice released CD's of all eight Warner Bros. albums last year, and though there's no music on them that isn't on Rhino Handmade's "My Son the Box," the CC CD's do have booklet notes by Dr. Demento...not exactly chopped liver.
2011-11-11 07:38:21 From: Fat Controller A little Q&A� Hi, Dr. Demento. The song that Robert refers to is a song by The Goodies entitled 'Sick Man Blues'. It was sung by Bill Oddie, and the 'female' voice at the end was that of fellow Goodie Graham Garden. It was off the album 'Nothing To Do With Us' that had other classic songs on such as 'Blowin' Off', 'Cactus In My Y'fronts' (which I have performed many times on stage), and the totally un-p.c. 'She Would n't Understand'. I hope this helps! Fat Controller
2011-11-10 10:17:29 From: Dr. Demento Bob - you are so right, and so is Lee Gillio who emailed me the same answer. The song Robert is looking for is "Sick Man Blues" by the Goodies, the late 1970s-early 1980s BBC-TV comedy team featuring (Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, which also made several LP's and singles. Thanks and congratulations! -DrD
2011-11-09 20:33:25 From: Johnny Allan Sherman Dr. D, in my opinion, every Allan Sherman album was worse than the album the preceded it. I'm not saying they weren't good, just that they weren't as good as the previous album. I'm wondering if you agree with my opinion.
2011-11-08 17:47:12 From: Colorado Russ Dr. Demento Compilation CDs Does this also mean that no more "Basement Tapes" CDs are forthcoming?
2011-11-08 14:57:57 From: Bob Guest Q&A I think the song Robert Ferguson is looking for may be "Sick Man Blues" by The Goodies.