What better song to listen to on World Snake Day? “Boa Constrictor” was written by Shel Silverstein. Johhny Cash covered the song for his comedy album Everybody Loves A Nut in 1966.
The lyrics later appeared in a collection of poems, lyrics and stories called Where The Sidewalk Ends. first published in 1974.
I had this book myself as a child as well as the sequel, A Light In The Attic. I recommend booth books to any kid age 5-12. There is also a musical record to go with the first book.
It’s hard to call a song by Devo a favorite because I have like 20 of them. This one is from the very early times of the band. The music video is delightful. The sounds and music are weird. This track and many other classics can be found on the album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!.
It’s always fun to see a hetero love song flipped into a gay one. If the singer can’t manage to jump on Stacy’s Dad, he can call me anytime.
Sub-Radio is the name of the Washington DC area band. They just released an album called 1990something. I’m guessing that’s when they were all born.
Today is National Simplicity Day. This track fits perfectly. Released in 1968, it was actually a b-side for the number one hit single “Everyday People”. The b-side surely helped the a-side to top the charts. It’s considered a hit in it’s own right by fans.
Since it’s release has been covered by a number of acts, including Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross & the Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, The Commodores, Miles Davis, The Meters, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Prince, and many others.
It has also been sampled by numerous artists, including 2Pac, Jodeci, Wu-Tang Clan, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Digital Underground, Cypress Hill, Gorillaz, Arrested Development, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Alanis Morissette.
July 10 is National Kitten Day. Ogden Nash famously said, “The trouble with a kitten is that it eventually becomes a cat.
Two years ago we were all shut in watching Tiger King. Even I was sucked into a binge watch. at some point we were treated to this song and music video. I’m presenting it here ironically. It’s so bad that it’s good. It’s so wrong that it’s right.
Joe Exotic appears in the video but he is not the real singer. The Clinton Johnson Band were the true music performers. Exotic hired them. I find the whole thing rather amusing. Look at her feeding the tigers. Why is he dressed like a Spanish mission priest?
The idea that Carol Baskin killed her husband and fed him to tigers is preposterous to this writer. Obviously the husband took money that he hid from the IRS and went to Costa Rica to hump young women and live tax free. Carol may or may not be in on it. Somebody should send investigators to Costa Rica.
I am sorry to learn about the animal abuse and murder that occurred. This was NOT OK. Anyone that abused animals should be brought to justice. Just sayin’
It was 1980. This video is really more of a music film. The music video had not yet been invented. You can see the production value is not up to the level of the music videos that came out only a few years later. MTV was still on the horizon.
“Fashion” was a glam-rock touchstone. It appeared on Bowie’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) album, which featured the singles “Ashes To Ashes”, “Fashion”, “Scary Monsters” and “Up The Hill Backwards”. The track now appears on various greatest hits compilations such as ChangesBowie2.
David Bowie loved fashion but he was also critical of the concept. Fashion is a paradox. To be the most fashionable you must appear unimpressed even if you are thrilled. Look at the facial expressions made by models as they prance the runway. They always look angry and/or annoyed.
You might be less than impressed to learn that today is Fashion Day. It’s a trendy new observance, so you may not have heard of it. Look to FunHouse Radio to keep you in the know.
I can’t think of a better track to celebrate National Video Game Day. The story behind this track is pretty interesting.
It’s hard to track down the original recording of this song because it’s been redone a number of times and the original was released only in Japan.
In 1986, a Japanese talk show called All Night Nippon held a contest that asked fans to mail-in their own lyrics written to the tune of the Super Mario theme song. A winner was selected and singer Hiroko Taniyama is thought to have recorded the vocals but the performance was credited to Princess Peach, a character in the game.
The single was then produced and released on 7inch vinyl and cassette. The original title was “Mario No Daibouken: or “Mario’s Big Adventure”.
The single made it to the top 40 in Japan and was re-recorded in other languages as well but it never quite made it to the English-speaking world.
In his own words, “It’s a song I wrote for my 67 songs in less than 67 Minutes which is a song about a restaurant that everything taste like Chicken”.
Today is National Fried Chicken Day! So if you are allowed to eat fried chicken, have a great time! We’re going to eat some nuggets from the air fryer.
You might have heard us playing this goofy little ditty on the air.
FunHouse Radio 