Hello, partygoers! Welcome back to the rumpus room! This week we are deep in self-isolation and social distancing so Mary and her dad sadly couldn’t see each other this bi-week, but spoke over goold old Skype instead. (We apologize for any resulting sound issues.)
Here at the Listening Party, we know there is some anxiety out there; we know that some folks are stuck at home or working with the risk of infection; we know everyone out there needs something to take their minds off these troubling times. So we thought: NOVELTY SONGS!!! What partygoers want to hear are NOVELTY SONGS!!! What better way to soothe our worries, ease our minds and bring some colour back into this grey, grey world than with NOVELTY SONGS!!!
So, without further ado, we present Sneaky Dragon Listening Party’s NOVELTY SONG MIX 2!!! Featuring:
- Captain Sensible – “Wot” – Women and Captain’s First, 1982 – 12:44
- Yachts – “Suffice to Say” – single b/w “Freedom (Is a Heady Wine)”, 1977 – 32:53
- The GTO’s – “I’m in Love With the Ooo-Ooo Man” – Permanent Damage, 1969 – 46:51
- John Cale – “The Man Who Couldn’t Afford to Orgy” – Fear, 1974 – 1:05:40
- The Deviants – “Billy the Monster” – Deviants 3, 1969 – 1:22:12
- Geoff and Maria Muldaur – “Kneein’ Me” – Sweet Potatoes, 1972 – 1:33:12
- Kidrock – “Ice Cream Man” – 7″ single b/w “Dream, Dream, Dream”, 1972 – 1:51:36
- Judy Henske and Jerry Yester – “St. Nicholas Hall” – Farewell Aldebaran, 1969 – 2:03:10
- Barnes and Barnes – “Cats” – Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes, 2000 – 2:14:59
- Canned Hamm – “Father and Son” – Karazma, 2001 – 2:26:11
- Fountains of Wayne – “Red Dragon Tattoo” – Utopia Parkway, 1999 – 2:32:06
- The Association – “Broccoli” – The Association, 1969 – 2:36:29
- Moniker – “Trifecta (Ricky Baker Song)” – Hunt for the Wilder People, 2016 – 2:47:31
- The Carpenters – “Intermission” – A Song for You, 1972 – 2:54:15
And we also listened to:
- Phineas and Ferb – “Ain’t Got Rhythm” – Phineas and Ferb, 2009 – 18:18
- Dolly Mixture – “How Come You’re Such a Hit With the Boys, Jane?” – Demonstration Tapes, 1984 – 27:43
- Spectrum – “All I Can Do” – The Essential Collection: 1965–1997, 2002 – 2:59:31
Thanks for listening.
If you’re interested in The Lyman Family (aka The Fort Hill Community), this link will take you to the article by David Felton (not Dalton) that Dave mentioned during the show.
You can listen to the song during the show or watch the video. Your call…
Here is some early live Carpenters with Karen still behind the drum kit.
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Okay, Mr D, I may as well hoist the white flag and admit this could be where you finally wore down my resistance to novelty songs. Much like Winston in Nineteen Eighty-Four or Alex in Clockwork Orange, a certain amount of torture was involved, but you did it, you deprogrammed me. (Pause for dramatic effect.) This mix was (through clenched teeth) a lot of fun.
With one horrible exception, which we’ll come to…
Captain Sensible – Wow, that took me back. Something about the relentlessness of this, just repeating the same silly phrase over and over, is very endearing and Dolly Mixture’s semi-detached backing vocals are brilliant.
Yachts – Didn’t care for it at first. In fact, I’ll be honest, I actually fell asleep. Second time through, however, things clicked into place at some point in the second verse. Not saying I want to hear it again, but it was fairly amusing despite a weedy production.
The GTO’s – This had me laughing out loud. Great story to go with the song too. I look forward to hearing more about the GTO’s, even though it’s clear things are gonna get darker.
[Sidenote on celebrity children with er, ‘original’ names – Was Mary thinking of Zowie Bowie, who now goes by Duncan Jones when he’s directing movies?]
John Cale – This song benefited the most from second listen. First time through, I found it a bit creepy and boring. Second time, I caught the groove and really enjoyed it. If Ivor Cutler, the Beach Boys and Serge Gainsbourg had formed a supergroup, this is how they’d have sounded. John Lennon used to say ‘orgy’ with a hard ‘g’ too. Maybe it’s a Wales / North England thing.
The Deviants – Yup, liked this one too. Good playing from all involved. Reminded me a bit of the Who. Could be second cousin to Boris the Spider.
Geoff and Maria Muldaur – Gee, I guess Maria must have been really terrible to upset Geoff so much. Am I right, guys? No, of course I’m not! Honky tonk misogyny. And not in a good way. Wonder if Maria even heard it? I can’t hear her on the track. Yuck.
Barnes and Barnes – Aaaand we’re back. This is just great. Did you play this on Sneaky Dragon, Dave? I’ve heard it before, but not sure where.
Canned Hamm – Loved it. No more to say.
Fountains of Wayne – I was so glad you chose this. A beautiful, tender, witty song from a band and a songwriter who made the creation of such musical miracles look completely effortless. So long, Adam, and thank you.
Of the extras, Phineas and Ferb was good fun. Dolly Mixture was alright, but suffered from a terrible stereo mix that shoved all the interesting stuff off to one side. Spectrum really showed off Karen’s chops as a great drummer.
Hope Mary’s feeling better, and all the assorted Dedricks are all keeping well.
Oops – just realised I left off The Association, which was good fun. Also enjoyed Moniker, even though I disliked the movie. And the Carpenters mini-song was pretty cute. Thanks again, guys!
Hi Chris,
Yes! I played “Cats” during one of the Top 5 song segments on Sneaky Dragon. That’s why it seems familiar, I’m sure.
Thanks for your rundowns of your likes and not-so-likes of the songs. I always look forward to them!