When I was around the age of 12, every Saturday from 10 AM to noon, I would sit by my radio and listen to the Dr. Demento Show. I was in love with Dr. Demento and his “mad music and crazy comedy” he brought to the airwaves every week. I even joined his fan club – the Demento Society; I still have an autographed picture of the Doctor taped up in my childhood bedroom – the man even announced my birthday on the air! I encourage everyone to visit his website and listen to some of his shows and samples – to this day, it’s a radio show unlike anything else ever done before.
For those unfamiliar with the program, Demento specializes in comedy and novelty music, and covers funny tunes from pretty much every era of recorded music ever. The Doctor, whose real name is Barret Eugene Hansen, is an avid record collector, and his collection of records, tapes, and comedic discs new and old is as far-reaching and vast as the man’s knowledge of satirical music. Long before Adam Sandler was making terrible music albums, long before George Carlin wowed us on compact disc, Demento was spinning the most hilarious, and often risque, records on the planet.
Probably the best thing the Doctor is known for is bringing Weird Al Yankovic to national attention and eventual superstardom. Without the help of the Doctor’s then-popular and widely syndicated program, no one would have ever heard Yankovic’s early parodies of popular songs that would lead him to become a pop star on his own, receiving airplay on MTV, performing to sold-out crowds, and even making his own film, the cult classic, UHF (Demento himself has a cameo in the movie).
I’m giving the Doctor praise today because last week was his last show on traditional radio. A statement published on his Web site explained that financial hardships have forced the show to cease FM radio syndication and instead broadcast solely online. In fact, the only station still carrying the program’s online episdoes, at least for the time being, is the station I discovered Demento on, KACV FM in Amarillo, Texas.
While it’s great that the program is still able to continue via the Internet, the ceasing of traditional broadcasts marks the end of an era for the historic 40-year program, and just another modern-day example of the decline of the business of FM. And so, after the jump, I have provided a short tribute to the Doctor and his weekly whimsical wackiness – just a few of my favorite songs I heard on the Dr. Demento Show. Though I may not be able to literally “wind up” my radio anymore, I’ll be certain to stay demented for years to come.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
250. Rage Against the Machine – How I Could Just Kill a Man
For most of the decade, 3/4 of Rage were in shitty solo projects or the inevitably dreadful Audioslave. The other 1/4 released a new song every once in a while and lived off his earnings from the 90’s (that one is Zach). There were a few reunion shows – most of which sent people to the hospital – but overall the boys weren’t really raging much in the 2000’s. But at the turn of the century, before the nasty breakup, Rage put out their final studio album Renegades, a pretty kickass covers album. And although this Cypress Hill remake is a pretty straightforward take on the original, it still hits hard, the way these guys always knew how to.
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
50. The Thermals – Liquid In, Liquid Out
The shortest song from the group’s poppiest album, and quite a singalong at that. It’s a shame they don’t play this live, but I suppose it was intended as a mere interlude for the middle of the disc. What might have been unintentional is the song’s surefire infectiousness.
My longtime friend Ryan introduced Steely Dan to me when I was in 6th grade. At the time, it was his favorite band, Aja was his favorite album, and “Josie” was his favorite song. I doubt any of that is true today, but for me, the damage had been done. I borrowed his copy of Aja and found my dad’s copy of A Decade of… and subsequently became immersed in jazz-fused rock that would never be duplicated again, and certainly wouldn’t be popular today.
This was around the time the duo made a Grammy-winning comeback with the badass Two Against Nature and the equally impressive Everything Must Go in 1999 and 2001, respectively. But it’s those 70’s classics, particularly the flawless Aja, that still get me every time. Years later, I still discover something new, something underneath, layers and layers of melody, harmony, and cadence that make Steely Dan a timeless force of feel-good rock.
“Lubbock has this way of, while you’re there, making you feel like it’s the most normal place in the world; not until you go away and start comparing your experience there to the outside world do you realize that Lubbock is really one of the strangest places anywhere.†— Joe Ely
“Life in Lubbock, Texas taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you’re going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth. And you should save it for someone you love.â€â€”Butch Hancock
“You either go crazy or play music in Lubbock. There’s not a hell of a lot to do.” – Delbert McClinton
“There was this thing about the horizon in that flat country. When you were out playing, you loved to look and say “Oh, yeah, the earth is round.” And you would be right in the middle of it. I’ve always thought that being in that spot gave you this feeling that you were the center of the universe, that you were really special, and at the same time you were just a speck of absolute nothing.” – Jo Harvey Allen
“Lubbock was just a tiny town, a little oasis in a big old nothingness, and I spent every bit of my waking time just trying to figure out ways of getting out of there. But I really loved all that sky. You gotta fill it up with something, and music is a pretty good thing to fill up emptiness with.” – Joe Ely
Occasionally I browse the pop music world/charts/blogs and see what the kids are listening to. Sometimes I am pleased with what I find, most of the time I am not. This is a journal of my discoveries.
