Hands Down, The Most Wonderfully Stupid Hit Record I've Ever Heard

I enjoyed his company and his knowledge.

 

Did Tiny offend you in some way?

 

Wasn't there a group called Trio a few years ago? I believe Klaus Voorman was in it and they had a song by that title. I think I saw a copy of the CD about a month ago in a Cocoanuts bargin bin for $2.....if fact I almost bought it.

 

Read the interview sometime; that--and his music--are offensive enough.

ED

 

There was also The Trio - "Da Da Da (I Don't Love You You Don't Love Me Aha Aha Aha)" which was featured in a VW commercial a couple of years back.

Huge hit in the UK, going to number 2.

 

Read that interview...no need to keep on enlightening me...I'm enlightened...see, I read the interveiw and met the man...You just read the interveiw...In the words of Jay Black...I'm throwing away the key and (I'm) locking the door on this one...From the words of John Lennon...No Reply...Please? And last but not least the Serpent Power...It's an "Endless Tunnel" of disagreement.

 

Earache My Eye-Cheech & Chong
Basketball Jones-Cheech & Chong
The Bertha Butt Boogie-The Jimmy Castor Bunch
Telephone Man-Meri Wilson


More later...

 

The Beatles LOVED Tiny Tim circa 1968. They even put Tiny on one of their Christmas records singing "Nowhere Man"!

 

Ditto on Telephone Man!

 

They knew there real Tiny...I believe John was friends with Tiny also...He was a trip. Gotta love him!

 

If you insist upon being the President of the Tiny Tim Fan Club, start your own thread; I'm tired of hearing about the creep.

ED

 

I think Chris got it right; probably The Trio. Don't remember it making the US charts.

ED

 

Thats the one. I remember first hearing it on Dr. Demento many years ago. Was just in high school. I thought it was cool of VW to use that one for an ad campaign (and I usually hate hearing music I like used in advertising)

 

"Sylvia's Mother" by Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. The melodrama, the over-the-top vocals -- "...and the op-er-a-tor said forty cents more for the next...three...minutes". (Yes, I know the song is *supposed* to sound stupid because it's a parody).

Jim W.

 

Consider youself hugged...I insist on nothing...If ever I was President of a Fan Club...It would have to be THE AIMEE MANN FAN CLUB...

 

Yea, I felt the same way about that song! I do dig "Cover Of The Rolling Stone"...

 

My choice too Ascot. This song is my kryptonite. I can't imagine why it was popular in the 60's or why it still gets airplay on oldies stations today.

 

To our eternal shame! There was a story going round at the time that the song was written by a professor of music to illustrate the inanity of pop music.

Another favourite of mine was Gordon is a ***** by Jilted John - but I suspect it may have just been a British thing ....

 

I think it better if we don't go into novelty records in the UK chart or people will get the wrong idea of these fair Isles.

I mean
The FirmStar Trekkin' and
Splodgenessabounds Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps Please

are at the milder end of the scale

All the best - Andrew

 

Ed, I love "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman" -- not only is the song wonderfully stupid, complete with fake ending, but the title is even more so!

And indeed, I give my second to the song Ian was trying to remember -- "Da Da Da" by Trio. It actually got some airplay on Top 40-style stations after it was re-serviced to radio in the wake of the VW commercial. Around the same time, I found the original vinyl EP for cheap at a used record store. Yes, it qualifies. It IS wonderfully stupid.

Another wonderfully stupid song is "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground. Funny stuff! "People say you look like MC Hammer on crack!" And as the single version fades out, it even proclaims, "Let's get stupid!"

There are a lot of wonderfully stupid songs out there, and they aren't going away any time soon. I have to give a heads-up to a recent hit by Avril Lavigne, "Sk8er Boi" (!). Fans of stupid songs will absolutely love it! First, the opening lines:

"He was a boy
She was a girl
Can I make it any more obvious?"

It's about a snobby girl who thumbs her nose at a cute guy because he's a "Sk8er Boi" (sic). Well, a few years later, the guy has become -- get this -- a Rock Star! And this makes the girl drool (figuratively speaking). Now, wait a minute. He was uncool because he rode a skateboard, and now he's hot stuff because he's a ROCK STAR?

Anyway, she manages to get to the show, and it turns out that our ex-Sk8er Boi has a new babe, and our Heroine gets dissed in true Alanis "I don't know what irony is, but I'll sing about it anyway" Morrisette fashion, as the two lovebirds go to the studio to sing a song he wrote about a girl he used to know...

It sounds as if I'm making fun of the song. That's because I am! But I love this song because it's so silly!

 

"Surfin' Bird"- The Trashmen.

Absolutely love it to pieces, but could you ever in a million years predict that a record like that would be a hit, much less a classic?

 

The Three Little Pigs-Green Jello

 

Tim,

Great post! Good to know you love inanity as much as I do Funny thing is, I bought that CD(on the Stardust label out of Canada)not for "Kaiser Bill"--didn't know it was on there, delighted, obviously, that it was--but for more obvious instrumetal hits like the San Remo Golden Strings' "Hungry For Love," the Brass Ring's "Phoenix Love Theme" and Raymond LeFevre's "Soul Coaxing(Ame Caline), none the kind of music that turns up much on reissues(never did, even on vinyl).

It's heartening to know that even now, dumb songs are still around. I wasn't aware of the Avril Lavigne recording; sounds good, and when I see a copy of her album used I'll snag it.

I'll also add to the list the Legendary Stardust Cowboy's "Paralyzed" which must be heard to be believed(true of all wonderfully dumb singles), though sadly it did not make any national charts(once you hear it, you'll know why).

As for "The Name Game" my fondness for it is this: not only inventive, but taken from a children's rhyming game kids knew back in the early '60s. Ah well, one man's kryptonite is another man's Excalibur.

ED

 

You can't, Rich; that was the joy of the music back then--the utter unpredictability of what would sell and what would not. And to think it rode up the charts with "Louie, Louie"!

So, yes, there was a time when dumb dementia not only sold, but thrived. Rock'n'Roll just wouldn't be the same without such liberating, mindless ditties.

ED