FunHouse Radio

Parodies, Novelty Records, Outsider Music, Trite Dance Music, Oddities, Memes, Mashups, Comedy, & Cringe

“The Witch” by Henner Hoir & The Rattles Original 1970 English Version. Check Out The German Version Too. Skip The Re-Recorded Misfire.

Posted on 2022-10-11 by Wacky Alex

The Rattles were a rock band from Hamburg Germany. They are best known for the hit single “The Witch” sung in English and released in 1970 at the height of psychedelia.

Here we have a recovered copy of the original music film, probably from a VHS tape. Someone attempted to re-include the music but it falls out of sync eventually. The colors are muted as well and that makes it extra creepy. What’s not to love about this?

The single reached number 4 in Germany, 8 in the UK and 79 in the US. It was included on the album also called The Witch in 1971. We love the cover-art

Henner Hoir was a band member at the time. He eventually left The Rattles to go solo and perform in other bands. The song was also released under his name and was included on several Henner Hoir greatest hits compilations. For this reason it is frequently credited to him alone rather than the band. It’s kind of odd because he is not even the vocalist. The lead vocals on this track are by Edna Bejarano. She also sang the German version.

Herr Hoir went on to record the song again with an entirely different band called The Rivets. In this writers opinion, it’s a disappointing remake. It’s lacks the energy and pensive character of the original.

The song faded into obscurity in North America but reemerged in recent years as DJS and music fans dig for deeper cuts for their Halloween season playlists. FunHouse Radio is no exception. The remastered English version is in rotation for the season.

Columbia from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Nell Campbell, LOVES FunHouse Radio & We Love Her More!

Posted on 2022-10-11 by Wacky Alex

How cool is this? About a year ago this fanboy sent a Cameo request to Nell Campbell. She was gracious enough to accept. Then, she divinely over-delivered. We found the video she sent back to be kind and encouraging.

This is actually raw footage. We asked Nell to film herself doing a station ID for FunHouse Radio. We were able to create several with the audio from her fabulous video.

We left the footage uncut so you can see how excellent Ms Campbell is at being extemporaneous. At one point she says “cut this part out” but there is scarcely a word we couldn’t use in our audio IDs. EXCELLENT JOB.

I almost feel like I got to meet her in person. Bravo and Thank You.

Catch up with “Little Nell” with this recent write up from The Sydney Morning Herald.

Tune in to the live stream after watching this and you will likely recognize some of the audio.

Top 10 Most Iconic Songs About The Radio – The Best of All Media Formats

Posted on 2022-08-09 by FunHouse Radio

DJs on the radio are obsessed with music. Musicians sometimes write songs about the radio. Picture a Venn diagram. If you are obsessed with both the radio and music then this list is for you. I asked legendary radio pro Bart Shore to help us compile this list. I think we nailed it.

NUMBER TEN
“Transmission” by Joy Division

NUMBER NINE
“Radio Radio” by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

NUMBER EIGHT
“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush

NUMBER SEVEN
“Radio GaGa” by Queen

NUMBER SIX
“Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles

NUMBER FIVE
“I Can’t Live Without My Radio” by LL Cool J

NUMBER FOUR
“Mexican Radio” by Wall of Woodoo

NUMBER THREE
“On The Radio” by Donna Summer

NUMBER TWO
“Don’t Listen To The Radio” by The Vines

HONORABLE MENTIONS
“Satellite Radio” by Steve Earle
“Devil’s Radio” by George Harrison
“There Ain’t No Tits on The Radio” by Scissor Sisters
“You Turn Me On I’m A Radio” by Joni Mitchell
“Turn Up The Radio” by Autograph
“On The Radio” by The Selector

NUMBER ONE
“Wolfman Jack” by Todd Rundgrend

Trade ad for Wolfman’s radio show. circa 1975

For this one, we have Bart Shore presenting from Time Warp Radio.

Wolfman Jack is considered to be the most iconic Radio DJ ever at this point. His name is synonymous with radio fame and that’s why a song about him made the top of our list. Todd Rundgrend was a great song writer. This track have been a little overlooked.

This has gotten paradoxically meta. Is this Inception? Are we in the movie Inception right now?

-Wacky Alex & Bart Shore

“Would You Like To Buy An O” by Frank Oz & Jim Henson as The Salesman & Ernie

Posted on 2022-07-30 by Wacky Alex

Unless you are Generation X or older you are not likely to understand the humor in this skit from classic Sesame Street featuring Frank Oz and Jim Henson as Muppet characters: The Salesman and Ernie, respectively.

In the 20th century, there really were people in long coats walking around trying to sell items hidden under their coats. They could be found in any American downtown, market, densely populated neighborhoods, bus stops, college campus and anywhere people might be walking around. They usually sold wristwatches and jewellery.

It was “buyer beware” if you were going to make a purchase from one of these often shady characters. People became annoyed with them and came to see them as a public nuisance. The practice was eventually made illegal In most jurisdictions. “Coat-commerce” was in decline by the 90s. The advent of online shopping dealt the final death-blow to the custom.

This track appeared on at least 80 releases in different countries and different formats. It first appeared on The Muppet’s Alphabet Album in 1971.

As a kid, I had an LP called Ernie’s Hits that I ordered from a school book club catalog. I found a photo of the 8-track version that was published the same year that I was born. This 8 track has the Spanish version of “Rubber Ducky” which did not appear on the LP. I still have the LP but it’s no longer playable.

“Jocko Homo” by Devo

Posted on 2022-07-15 by Wacky Alex

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!.

“Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft” by The Carpenters ~ Cover of a Canadian Weirdos Klaatu

Posted on 2022-05-06 by Wacky Alex

Today is National Space Day! We celebrate it on the first Friday in May. Ponder the mysteries of the universe with us for the rest of the day on our live stream.

A Canadian Progressive Rock band called Klaatu first recorded this rather bizarre soft-art-rock number back in 1976. The band got it’s name from the alien visitor character in the classic science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.

*The Day The Earth Stood Still*, still frame

“The idea for this track was suggested by an actual event that is described in The Flying Saucer Reader, a book by Jay David published in 1967. In March 1953 an organization known as the “International Flying Saucer Bureau” sent a bulletin to all its members urging them to participate in an experiment termed ‘World Contact Day‘ whereby, at a predetermined date and time, they would attempt to collectively send out a telepathic message to visitors from outer space. The message began with the words…’Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!'” (John Woloschuk, member of Klaatu)

Klaatu’s version was released as a 7 inch single and then included in their album E.S.P. This radio station would love to get first pressings of these. It’s on the “grail list”.

The version by The Carpenters was recorded in 1977. The session crew consisted of 160 musicians. The track charted in both the US & Canada. The full length version clocks in at over 7:00 minutes. That’s amazingly long for a charting single.

“Seagulls! (Stop It Now)” by Bad Lip Reading

Posted on 2022-05-04 by Wacky Alex

Attention über-dorks! It’s finally here! Every May 4th, we celebrate Star Wars Day. May The FORTH be with you!

The day has been observed unofficially since the 80s, but in 2011, a group of fans in Toronto held the first organized event. The event included an Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show, a costume contest, fan- films, mash-ups, parodies, and remixes. In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm and now the holiday is celebrated at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Bad Lip Reading is an anonymous music and video producer who intentionally lip-reads video clips poorly for laughs. They then go on to produce music to go with the nonsensical lip-reads.

There are endless musical production that touch on Star Wars. Maybe I should do a top 10 list. As it stands this would be the number one track on that list.

Remember, There is no “try”. Do or do not.

-Wacky Alex

PS: The image used at the top of this page is a still from Rogue One.

I Love This Terrible David Bowie Piss-Take For All The Wrong Reasons

Posted on 2022-01-24 by Wacky Alex

I don’t even know if I would ever play this song on the radio. It really looses something without the video. I am referring to a rather strange cover version of the David Bowie Classic – “The Man Who Sold The World” as performed by Bubbles. Bubbles is actually a character that appears on The Trailer Park Boys, an ongoing TV series that you can find on YouTube and IDK where else. This monster was created in 2016, the year Ziggy Stardust left our tiny planet.

The video is what makes this song worth listening. The vocals are terrible and usually unintelligible. In this way he is pissing all over David Bowie. As an avid Bowie fan, I have a hard time tolerating that but then I remember that David had a good sense of humor about himself.

I am ultimately won over by the crappy low budget production value of this video and all the mugging and posing. Bowie was all about mugging and posing.

So I love this track. Yes it sounds terrible but it goes with the gag video and thus is a fitting tribute.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

-Wacky Alex

NUMBER ONE“Wolfman Jack” by Todd Rundgrend

NUMBER ONE
“Wolfman Jack” by Todd Rundgrend