I was about to do a blog about the new singles from Graham Parker while I had a song on repeat in my brain, otherwise known as an earworm. The song was Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss, and that song reminded me of a conversation that Joel and I had the other day. We were lamenting the lack of funny, witty, silly, comedy or nonsense novelty songs. We don’t get They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! by Napoleon XIV these days, although there are moments when I wish they would take me away. One thing turned into another, and an earworm became a quest for novelty/comedy songs, and there is no shortage of novelty/comedy songs.

Starting at my original task, Graham Parker. A new album is in production with a September release. Let’s begin with him setting the stage for Them Bugs and its wonderfully playful sound. “It’s about time I released a gimmick single,” says Parker. “Still, it’s the funkiest gimmick single ever, pulsing with skanky heat and the cool croon of The Lady Bugs on backup vocals. It was written after the 4th of July fireworks with my son when Them Bugs were indeed biting in ‘the places you never should get bit.’ Lighten up – get jiggy with it.” Parker’s uniquely soulful singing unfolds the tale over a tasty reggae-infected groove – a move that will remind longtime fans that he was immersed in the form long before the punks caught on, as far back as his 1976 debut album Howlin’ Wind and the classic cut Don’t Ask Me Questions. Them Bugs is more laid back but no less true to its roots and a pure summertime delight. 

Of the B-side, Graham says: “One day I had to write The Ologist Song. Damn straight I did. A non-album track featuring pulsing horns, those sweet soul singing Lady Bugs again, and The Goldtops with the horns punctuating their intense swing.” The Goldtops – Simon Edwards (bass), Jim Russell (drums) and Martin Belmont (guitar) – loom large on the forthcoming album and will be backing Parker on his U.K. tour dates this fall, and fans will be thrilled that horns are very much in the mix on the new material. But at the forefront of The Ologist Song is Parker’s universally lauded gift for wit and wordplay. And it is indeed a sign of the depth of his new songs that this instantly lovable tune is not among the thirteen tracks that will make up the new album, remaining exclusive to this single release. 

Graham Parker gets us off to a fast and hot start for mining the genre of novelty songs. And where there is heat, there will be fire, and where there is fire, there is smoke. And when we follow the smoke, we get to Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen and their version of the classic song, Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette), which hit the charts in 1973. The song is much older than that; it was written in 1947.

Novelty songs have a long and rich history. Comedy and novelty songs can be traced as far back as the first century in ancient Greece and Rome, where poets and playwrights entertained with double entenders, puns and playing with words.

The use of comedy continued in the late 19th century, where it flourished with everything from tin pan ally to vaudeville entertainers of the early 20th century adding lyrics to musical numbers. In 1923, one of the first comedy music hits, Yes! We Have No Bananas, sung by Eddie Cantor, was released. In 1924 Billy Rose asked, “Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?”. In 1958 the song was rereleased as, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?” by Lonnie Donegan, the King of Skiffle. Moving our attention forward, we find that radio was still popular into the 1950s, and a new form of entertainment was gaining popularity: records. Novelty music flourished with artists such as Roger Miller, who, Dang Me, told us that You Can’t Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd. In The Summertime, there are many things to fill our days with. You can send your kids to camp, and perhaps they will write home, Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp) by Allan Sherman. Among the more far-out songs of this genre were the two released in 1956 by Nervous Norvus, Transfusion and Ape Call.

During the heady days of novelty songs, there were many songs recorded that may be too risque for our present politically correct ears to hear. Songs such as Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and The Girl On The Billboard by The Road Hammers. A bit of fun trivia follows. What song was Chuck Berry’s only number-one single in the United States? The answer is My Ding-a-Ling, a novelty song written and recorded by Dave Bartholomew. It was covered by Chuck Berry in 1972 and became his only number-one Billboard Hot 100 single in the United States. I must be careful that the girl in the Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini & The Girl On The Billboard don’t ring My Ding-a-Ling. 

Ray Stevens, a popular recording artist who was no stranger to comedy and novelty music, was known for such novelty hits as Ahab the Arab, Gitarzan, Mississippi Squirrel Revival and his #1 hit, The Streak. Butterfingers Irving — The 142nd Fastest Gun in the West is a favourite of mine. It was first released on the Bob Booker and George Foster comedy album When You’re in Love the Whole World Is Jewish and “sung” by Frank Gallop.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of numerous comedy music artists whose careers went on for decades. These artists include Allan Sherman, Tiny Tim, and Randy Newman. In 1970, the radio host Barret Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento, played tracks sent in by amateur artists, including 16-year-old Weird Al Yankovic. Weird Al released his first album in 1983, and for over four decades, he released multiple hit parodies and originals, which made him a significant player in the genre of comedy music and the counterculture associated with it. Weird Al Yankovic would emerge as one of the most prolific parody acts of all time in the 1980s, with a career that would span four decades; he would join Cliff Richard in being one of the few acts to have at least one top-40 hit in the U.S. in four consecutive decades (1950s through the 1980s for Richard, 1980s to 2010s for Yankovic).

Novelty songs were popular on U.S. radio throughout the 1970s and 1980s, to the point where it was not uncommon for novelty songs to break into the top 40. Freeform and album-oriented rock stations used novelty songs; some of the best-known work from progressive rocker Frank Zappa, for instance, is his extensive body of mostly adult-oriented novelty music. Zappa’s Bobby Brown (Goes Down) was a smash hit in Europe despite its sexually explicit storyline, and Valley Girl was a Top 40 hit in the U.S., while Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow and Dancin’ Fool reached the top 100 of the radio charts in his native United States. Dr. Demento’s nationally syndicated radio show gave novelty songs an outlet for much of the country; this lasted through the mid-2000s when the show (mirroring trends in the genre) faded in popularity until its cancellation in June 2010.

The list of comedy, novelty and off-beat songs is too long to include in this blog. I suggest a search on Wikipedia if you want to learn more. Below are some notable songs, writers and performers of novelty music, including some of my favourites.

They Might Be Giants have been a prolific source of novelty, comedic music, and lyrics, with 23 studio albums to their credit.

Shel Silverstein was a source of wit and wisdom through his songs, often recorded by others. Sloppy Seconds was the second album from the country rock band Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show. Shel Silverstein wrote every song on this album. It featured Dr. Hook’s most famous songs, including Freakin’ at the Freakers Ball and The Cover of Rolling Stone. It was noted in popular media for its “crude sense of humour.” Nevertheless, it was still humour and is included in our tribute.

Johnny Cash with A Boy Named Sue.

Junk Food Junkie by Larry Groce

Bad Indigestion by The Lost Dogs

30,000 Pounds of Bananas by Harry Chapin

Yes! We Have No Bananas by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn

No more food songs! There are hundreds of them!

Arthur Fhardys Yodelling Party by The Swirling Eddies 

King of the Road by Roger Miller is mentioned numerous times, which only scratches the surface of his output.

Love Potion #9 by The Searchers, I think I was one out of millions of teenage boys who wished they had a sample of Love Potion #9.

I hope you enjoyed this list of humorous songs; if you are so inclined, leave a comment telling me your favourite comedy/novelty song.