Hello Friends! Here is a little clip of a yellow parakeet singing a familiar song, while also providing percussion! Can you name that tune? If NOT then make up something! Either way, let us know in the comments!
Weird Al appeared on The Blocks Podcast w/ Neal Brennan earlier today. At one point in the interview (11:40) Brennan asked if Yankovic believed himself to be neurotic in any way. Al then quickly reported that folks have mentioned to him that he may be on “the spectrum” which we assume means autism spectrum. He seems to suspect that this is true.
This writer can not find an prior instance of Yankovic revealing this about himself. This is big news to me because I have been a fan of Mr Yankovic since I was a kid in the 80s. I also received a formal diagnosis of Autism about 11 years ago.
We heavily feature his music on our streaming radio channel. It’s been that way since we started. He is a big deal around here. It is a big deal to me to know that such a successful humorist and nerd is also autistic. I am sure this will mean a lot to other folks with autism as well.
A quick google search reviles that people have been debating if this was the case for quite some time. There are threads about it on Reddit, Quora and WrongPlanet. Weird Al has also done benefit work for Autism service organizations.
In the interview, Yankovic does seem a little flippant about it though. Some folks in the autism community are against self-diagnosis. Personally, I more or less diagnosed myself at first. Shortly after, I consulted professionals. My hunches were verified. This type of thing happens to a lot of us that were not diagnosed during childhood.
I can’t speak for every autistic person, but I would like Weird Al to go ahead and get an assessment. If his hunches are correct, it can result in positive validation for our community. If not, then at least we know for sure that he is a “normie” after all.
Somebody in a Facebook group asked this question. “Has anyone ever recorded a parody of Weird Al?” That sounds backwards, right? Well, the answer is yes and in the worst way.
“Horoscope For Today” is an original song by Weird Al Yankovic. It is not a parody of anything. It’s a ska-inspired goofy rant about newspaper horoscopes. The track appeared on his 1999 album, Running With Scissors.
“Endoscope” by Steve Goodie is a parody of the Yankovic song and it’s all about having a colonoscopy. Good times. The track appeared on his 2016 release What, And Quit Showbiz??!! and on The Fump Volume 55.
For more information, see this article: 9 Frequently Asked Questions About Colonoscopy
“Spooky” was originally an instrumental tune by saxophonist Mike Sharpe. It charted as an instrumental in 1967 hitting No. 57 in the US. One year later vocals were added by Dennis Yost and the song was re-released as by Classics IV. That’s the version featured above. This version went on to hit No. 3 in the USA and 46 in the UK.
Shortly after, Dusty Springfield released her version, with genders flipped. This version is my favorite but does not lend itself to the Halloween season quite as well.
Eleven years later, a band called The Atlanta Rhythm Section recorded a nice 70s pop-rock version. Man the bass playing on this kicks ass.
Martha Reeves went on to recreate the song in the first person. This time it’s a Spooky Old Lady and she specifically mentions Halloween. It appeared on her 1986 album In the Midnight Hour.
Daniel Ash, best known for he work with goth-rockers Bauhaus and the new wave Love And Rockets released his take in 2006.
It got the Latin Jazz treatment earlier this year by the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band on the 2023 CD, Vox Humana featuring Janis Siegel on vocals.
And if you are curious about how the original 1966 instrumental sounded, here it is!
That’s a lot of versions. There are probably dozens of others. If you know of one that we missed, let us know in the comments!
As a GenXer with extensive knowledge about popular music, I find it difficult to resolve this question. The question is, who has had more influence on music and music culture?
This short video piece by DW proudly claims that the answer is Kraftwerk. It’s fun to watch because they didn’t get the same respect in Germany that they first got in places like Detroit, New York and Sao Paulo until many decades later.
I am not sure I can agree with the video or not. I would love to find out what our readers think. Please, by all means, leave a comment below!
Back in 1987, The Star Trek franchise had established a strong cult following after a string of successful motion pictures and decades of reruns of the original series on TV. Public enthusiasm was so strong that the now ubiquitous reboot, Star Trek: The Next Generation. began in the Fall.
But this song is not about TNG. A British novelty music act called The Firm created “this song”Star Trekkin'” with lyrics based on catch phrases and dialog from Star Trek: The Original Series which originally aired in the 1960s.
They tried to get the track published on a major label but they all declined. So the band decided self-published single on 7 in 45 RPM. The original run was just 500 copies. These original pressings are highly collectible today.
The song caught on, but not in North America, It hit number one in The UK and charted in Australia, Japan and parts of Europe. The group subsequently included the song on their first album.
The music video is weird and goofy. It utilized crude puppetry and stop frame animation. It’s so bad that it’s good. It kind of reminds me of Robot Chicken. The original print is believed to be lost today. YouTube has a a few attempts at recovery. The best one I could find is included at the top
Back in North America, “Star Trekkin'” was released on Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time in 1988, Dr. Demento: 20th Anniversary Collection in 1991, and Dr. Demento: Hits from Outer Space in 2006.
I had a very cool and strange roommate my sophomore year in college. He was lucky enough to own one of the compilations. I had never heard the syndicated radio show, but I had seen music video specials, so I was aware of the good doctor. This was not quite the beginning of my love affair with novelty records but Dr D has obviously been a huge influence on me and this radio channel.
Of course we also love Star Trek around here too.
Please do not apply makeup to a real cat. This is just PRETEND. I used the Bing AI image generator to create these. They are for concept purposes only. The best examples from the AI session appear on this blog.
At first I wanted to see what the AI would come up with for a “Cat in Clown Makeup”. After the first batch of images, I decided that the hairless sphynx cat would look best as a clown.
Then I decided to ask the AI to create cartoon style images.
Isn’t he cute?
I hope you enjoyed these weird images!
I asked the AI chat bot to write a funny poem about the cloaca. This is what it spit out. It’s so bad that it’s good. (I corrected the errors in punctuation)
In nature’s chamber, tucked away
Where secrets dwell and creatures play
A cloaca sits, both weird and grand
A quirky spot in life’s vast land
A multitasking space it is
Where things converge in cloacal bliss
Digestion’s done, waste finds its way
A one-stop shop, come what may
But wait, there’s more, a funny twist
Reproduction’s on its quirky list
Eggs may hatch or babes be born
Cloaca’s like a magic horn
It’s not just birds, it’s all around
In reptiles too, it can be found
Amphibians and more embrace
Cloaca’s charm, in every case.
So here’s to cloacas, strange and rare
A quirky wonder beyond compare
In nature’s sketch, a comic feat
A cloaca’s tale, both odd and sweet!
FunHouse Radio 