The death of Paul Reubens made me really sad. I spent a week reviewing his appearances on Late Night TV. People posted a lot about him and his work on social media. I waited to write a blog for FunHouse Radio but I didn’t want to just repeat the same stuff.
It seems like a lot of Pee-Wee fans never became familiar this track by Joeski Love. I remember the first time I heard it. I was in a small discount store called Shopper’s World in Detroit. They had a small electronics section that included a selection of boomboxes. This track was blasting through one or more of them.
Believe it or not, it was actually on the radio! There was at least one radio station in Detroit at the time that was playing this amusing track.
At the time though, it was only available as a 12 inch single, in limited numbers and on a small independent label. I never found a copy but the label looked like this.
Eventually I found a cassette tape compilation with the song on it. Rap’s Greatest Hits was released in 1986 and it was my main jam until volume two came out.
courtesy of ebay
The video is another story. I might have seen in on TV a few times as a kid. Is that a young Jack Black playing the teacher? Ha! Made you look! Can you do that move with your neck?
Special thanks to Hip Hop History Guy for sharing this restored-ish version of the video. The original master film is probably now considered lost media. It would be great to get the 4K scan and AI remaster treatment if it ever resurfaces.
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This was the final track on the epic double LP from Jeff & Will. He’s The DJ, I’m The Rapper was so chaotic that it’s hard to say if this is really just a filler track.
Not all classic Hip-hop is good. A lot of it is SO BAD that it’s good. I think this track would meet criteria for the latter.
Songs about video games were also only being made for 10 years at most by 1988.That gives this track some novelty value as well. “Human Video Game” mentions Donkey Kong and in the longer version also Pac-Man. The cassette release had the longer version.
The “beat box” style of mouth music had been around only a few years by the time this track was recorded. Now this is common place, even quaint. At the time, however, it was mind-blowing. I’m not kidding. I was there. Yeah, I’m old. Shut up.
I was a kid at the time and it was 1988 so naturally I had this on cassette. It was one of the few tapes I owned so it was well played on my little boombox.
July 4th is Alice In Wonderland Day. The occasion is celebrated by Lewis Caroll fans around the world, but especially in England. Why July 4? According to his diary, July 4th 1862 was the day he started telling his rabbit-hole stories to Alice Liddell and her sisters.
This Acid-Rock classic is all about Carol’s famous novel.
From what I can tell, the vocals are live. In fact her performance is sublime. I think the music however is from the studio recording. The rest of the band is pantomiming. Things like this were common on 1960s TV.
I asked Carrot Topp from Radioactive Chicken Heads if he wanted to help create this blog. He is certainly an expert in Chicken Music. Between the two of us, we found ten good to great songs and arranged them in our preferred order of greatness.
NUMBER TEN “The Song Of The One Legged Chicken” by Tom T Hall
NUMBER NINE “Chicken Walk” by Hasil Adkins
NUMBER EIGHT “Chicken” by The Cramps
NUMBER SEVEN “Know Your Chicken” by Chibo Mato
NUMBER SIX “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens” by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five
NUMBER FIVE “Magic Chicken!” by The Aquabats!
NUMBER FOUR “The Chicken In Black” by Johnny Cash
NUMBER THREE “Chick Chick” by Wang Rong Rollin
NUMBER TWO “The Funky Chicken” by Rufus Thomas
HONORABLE MENTIONS “Chicken Squawk” by MDC Super Chicken Theme Song “Chicken Fat” by Robert Preston “Teenage Mutant Kung Fu Chickens” by Ray Stevens “Chicken Strut” by The Meters “Run Chicken Run” by Link Wray
NUMBER ONE “Psycho-Chicken” by The Fools
Here is the video, but it has a lot of hiss from the VHS tape.
BONUS TRACK “Cluck At The Moon (I Was A Teenage Werechicken)” by Radioactive Chicken Heads
Don’t get your feathers in a bunch if these songs were not in the order you would put them in. Cluck about it in the comments instead.
June 1st is considered the first day of meteorological summer in North America. I think we could all use a picnic with a chill vibe right now. With DJ Towa switched out for ANI, we have a sequenced track in the style of 1970s classic soul.
The music and the video are as innocent as it gets. Let’s have a peaceful summer this year.
Picnic In The Summertime was released as a single and I have the CD version. If you wan’t a sealed copy on vinyl, it’s $60 and up on ebay.
What is your favorite unique thing to bring to a picnic? Let us know in the comments.
I was in high school when I first heard “Grove is in the Heart” on the radio in Detroit. I remember hanging out with my best friend when the song came on. We both got really excited. For some reason one of us thought the song was actually produced by a local radio station as a promotion or something. I soon discovered otherwise. Indeed the track was by this groovy band called Deee-Lite with some help from Bootsy Collins. Deee-lightful!
First I bought the cassette single. As soon as the full album, World Clique, was released, I bought the CD and I still have it. It plays perfectly even though it’s 25 years old and has been played a thousands times.
My friends and I couldn’t wait for the next album, Infinity Within. I bought it the day it come out. It’s still in the original “Eco-Pack” low-plastic packaging. I loved that album too. At that point, I had to write them a fan letter. I never wrote fan mail before. I never thought I would be inspired to do that but there I was being a total fanboy.
Lady Miss Kier was so kind to answer my mail. First she sent a postcard. Then she had her publicist enroll me in the fan-club for the band for FREE. I received back issues of their fan-zine, press photos, fliers and stickers. I continued to get cool stuff from the fan club for the next two years.
This is a press photo I received in 1993. Kier signed it for me in 2007.
At some point in 1993 I landed a DJ job at my college radio station, WDMB Impact 89FM. I loved this job. It really helped me with my self esteem and communication skills. I needed both badly. I am still very thankful that they even gave me a chance.
While I as doing the DJ thing, I got a press card in the mail explaining about the forthcoming release, Dewdrops in The Garden. I called the given phone number and left a message. Two Weeks later my college station received the new CD. The band also sent us the 12inch remix EP of “Party Happening People” on white vinyl. Somebody on Etsy is selling this for over $70.
The station manager let me keep the remix record but he also scolded me for talking to the record company without going through the music director. WHOOPS!
Sadly, the band broke up shortly after. Several post breakup products were released such as a greatest hits album and remixes. DJ Towa went on to release a number of “solo” albums as well.
Fast forward to 2007. I found out that Lady Miss Kier was going to be performing at Duluth Pride. I just had to go see her. I rounded up some friends and we made the trek north. When I got there, I found Miss Kier’s trailer was on the grounds, roped off by security.
I walked up to the ropes and yelled out, “LOVE YOU LADY MISS KIER!”. Shortly after that, I was invited to meet her! All you need is love!
She was very kind to me in person. She signed a lot of the stuff I brought with, saved from the fan club. She even kissed a photo of the band with lipstick.
The Dee-lovely Lady then invited my group to dance on stage when “Groove is in The Heart” came on. I was too starstruck to do it but I took the cool photo at the top of this article.
Thank you Lady Miss Kier, and people who worked on the Deee-Lite records. They made the world a better place.
Wally Pleasant was a student at Michigan State University when he first started making up songs with his guitar. This is one of the originals and it’s perfect for the start of summer. It’s on the summer playlist here as well.
I got a chance to play his music on WDBM when I was a student DJ there. Then I saw him play live, solo, in front of the cafes in East Lansing. One day I ran into him at Office Max. He’s a funny dude.
Here’s an image of a Tan guy in Israel from Huck Magazine.
Do you sunbathe? Do you use sunscreen or enhancers? Let us know in the comments.
Hear the brilliant production of Sly Stone in this number one hit for Bobby Freeman. By late 1964, this track beat out The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Ventures, Jan & Dean and Dusty Springfield. You can already hear Sly Stone’s sound in the arrangement, instrumentation, and production.
The Swim was also a dance. Here is a video of Bobby miming the song while doing the dance. This appeared on a television show that year.
Today is National Learn To Swim Day. Needless to say, everyone should learn to swim. A swim instructor first teaches folks how to breath and float. These two things alone can save your life.
We’re using today as an occasion to turn on the summer music! This classic track is included! So tune in to the live stream to hear our summer tracks in the mix.
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