SOMEONE'S STEPPED OVER "My Dead Dog Rover," it's true that "Everybody Wants My Fanny," there's nothing to eat but "Moose Turd Pie"--and Dr. Demento couldn't be happier. He's celebrating his radio show's 25th anniversary with a 36-song, two-CD box set of novelty madness.
"I didn't plan it this way," says Dr. Demento's alter-ego, Barry Hansen, of his radio show phenomenon, "but it gradually grew and took over my life." The 54-year-old "musicologist" began broadcasting blues and '50s rock while still in college, but by 1970 had earned his on-air degree as "Dr. Demento."
"In the fall of '73, all of a sudden, I was the No. 1--rated show in Los Angeles on Sunday nights," he says, "and that made syndicators interested."
The following year he hit national syndication gold, and songs like "The Purple People Eater" have been doing "The Monster Mash" on over 100 coast-to-coast stations ever since. (The Dr. Demento Show isn't broadcast locally, but a heavy-duty FM antenna can catch the show from Phoenix's KZON (101.5 and Tucson translator 100.5)
The Doctor notes his personal collection consists of "only
a quarter-million recordings, but it's the quality that counts,"
and he knows a good novelty song when he hears one.
"It has to be exciting, interesting and funny, preferably in both words and music. It has to be musically listenable so you can be entertained," he explains. "Some songs can entertain you just because they're so bad, but I like to say that the only bad music is boring music, of which we have an enormous supply, as always."
Dr. Demento's playlist isn't confined by any one style or era--it's open to the whole spectrum of weirdness, and it's anything but boring. "I play anything that's funny or bizarre, but it ranges across all different genres of music. When pressed to describe it in a few words, I say it's 'mad music and crazy comedy.' "
The animated DJ cites Napoleon The XIV's classic 1960s hit, "They're Coming To Take Me Away," as an example of a definitive novelty record. "There wasn't even a band on that one except for people slapping things," he notes with a chuckle. "There's no song to it, but it was something that just came out of the sky."
Hardly an oldies-only haven, the two-hour weekly radio show has been in constant evolution throughout its quarter century. "There's a lot more new material now than there used to be," he says. "In the '70s probably a third, if not more of the show, was old 78s from before the 'rock era,' and most of the rest of it was from the '60s, from the era of the novelty 45. But now a tremendous amount of the material I play was created in the last 10 years or so."
Dr. Demento's unbridled enthusiasm and infectious good nature have inspired countless listeners to get in on the act. "A large proportion of my newer material comes from do-it-yourself home studios and small record companies," he says. "That's because the major labels haven't really shown a lot of interest in the novelty song genre in recent years, outside of 'Weird Al' and Ray Stevens, but there's as much of it being made as ever. People are just doing it themselves."
One of those active listeners in the late 1970s was "Weird Al" Yankovic, who made his debut on The Dr. Demento Show. "He started sending me songs when he was 16. The first big step for him was 'My Bologna' (a parody of The Knack's "My Sharona"), which became a No. 1 request item on my show.
"Then came 'Another One Rides The Bus' (a variation of Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust"). Al took his savings and pressed that one up himself, then it came out nationally."
"Weird Al" has gone on to win two Grammy Awards, while selling one platinum and four gold LPs, and is still a big draw on The Doctor Demento Show. "He gets by far the most requests of anyone I've played on my show. Right now he runs two-to-one ahead of any other artist (in requests)."
One of the first national sensations created by the show, however, was the 1975 revival of long-forgotten Benny Bell. "His song, 'Shaving Cream,' was originally recorded in 1946 for what they called back then the 'party record market'--things that were not quite pornography, but certainly couldn't be played on the radio.
"He put out many records, that was just one of them," Dr. Demento continues. "I discovered it in a thrift store in the early '70s and started playing it on my show, then (New York's) WNBC added it on their regular playlist, and it was re-issued on Vanguard Records. It got as high as No. 30 on the Billboard charts."
The good Doctor was hardly surprised at the record's new-found success. "It was just part of a swell of dementia that was gathering a lot of momentum at that time," he offers with his patented zeal.
More than merely funny or whimsical, Dr. Demento's collection of musical mischief is seen as a widespread attack on the boring, bland world around us. "For many people it's been an escape from the banalities of the '70s or the tensions of the '90s," he says, "but I do play things that relate to current events."
Dr. Demento also sees his radio show and CD anthologies as a perfect counterpoint to the "practical" world. "If you listen to serious music all week, my show, I think, in some ways is the dessert that tops off the meal."
It's now 25 years into his strange musical banquet, and Dr. Demento still cherishes responses and interaction from his listeners. "People can send me anything, anything at all," he chirps cheerfully. "No dead puppies, please, but anything else is fine."
