Dr. Demento!
I remember Dr. Demento from the radio year ago. I listened to him from about age 13 through high school. I asked for this CD for Christmas for nostalgia's sake. Some songs are my favorite's - They're Coming to Take Me Away, I'm Looking Over My Dead Dog Rover and my 13 year old favorite - Fish Heads! Some songs I was unfamiliar with but they are great too. I played the CD in the car and while kids hated it at first, they now ask to listen to it! A very good recomendation.
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Just What the Doctor Ordered.
Several years ago there used to be an affiliate of the now-defunked children's radio group known as Radio Ahhs! (Radio Ahhs! no longer exists because of the Walt Disney Company). Anyway, the local affiliate in the St. Louis area used to play some of the coolest music around. Just about everyone I knew from my younger siblings to high school students and our parents listened to the station from time to time because of the original and highly entertaining music. Some of the songs I remember hearing from those times are on this album and I know now that a lot of the music they played originated from Dr. Demento. Some of my favorites on the album include:"Yoda" "Fish Heads" "Bulbuous Bouffant" "Hellow Mudduh, Hello Fadduh (A Letter From Camp)" "Star Trekkin'" "Ti Kwan Leep/Boot to the Head" "Marvin, I Love You" "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" "Bulbous Bouffant" and "Ti Kwan Leep/Boot to the Head" aren't really songs but are comedy sketches that are just as entertaining as anything done by Monty Python. "Fish Heads" is one of the songs I remember from Radio Ahhs! and in reading the liner notes that are included with the disc, I found out that Bill Muny from LOST IN SPACE fame is one of the two members of the group that sings "Fish Heads". Dr. Demento is largely responsible for Wierd Al Yankovic even having a career, but it's nice to see that on this album the only song by Wierd Al is "Yoda". However, Wierd Al also wrote the introduction to the liner booklet. "The Smoke Off" by Shel Silverstein is probably the most offensive song on the cd because of the cursing and the subject matter (it's about a pot smoking competition). There are a couple other tunes that verge on the edge of vulgarity, but "The Smoke Off" is really the only one that crosses the line.
Overall, this is a good album for anyone looking for some truly original music to own. It's also a good way to introduce people to dementia music and the crazy world of Dr. Demento.
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Marvin, I LOVE you!
This is a very nice collection of some of Dr. Demento's best hits on his radio show. I actually have many, many other Dr. Demento albums and so when I bought this most of them were repeats for me, but it was all worth it for the song "Marvin, I Love You" by Marvin the Paranoid Android, which makes its first appearance on CD ever right here! This is a very sweet song and listening to it will make you almost want to cry for the poor robot. It's also nice to hear Dr. Demento himself getting in on the act in his rendition of "Shaving Cream." "Posioning Pigeons..." is one of Tom Lehrer's best, I just love his voice! "Bulbous Bouffant" and "Ti Kwan Leep" have musical qualities to them, but they're more comedy sketches than songs. "Fish Heads", "Hello Muddah...", and "They're Coming..." are great classics. I'm also glad that Dr. D. decided to only put one Weird Al song ("Yoda") on here as well, because he usually tends to overdo his compiliation albums with too many Al songs. I mean, Al's a great singer (I have all his ALbums), but leave room for other talented people! Be warned though, some songs are mildly offensive. Other than the obvious ("Posioning Pigeons...", "My Dead Dog Rover", and "Dead Puppies") one of the tracks features Shel Silverstein (and yes, I mean that late, great children's author) using many swear words (including the "f" word, but that one is bleeped out), "Shaving Cream" just fools you into thinking it's going to cuss, and "The Scotsman" jokes about what ISN'T present underneath those kilts. And finally, if you plan on collecting ALL of the other Demento albums (on CD's), then you should know that the only ones that aren't repeats are: "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow", "Nanook Rubs It", "Marvin, I Love You", "The Smoke Off", and this special version of "Shaving Cream." But, if you're like me, then it's still worth it.
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