A song that reminds me of Donald Trump...

This morning, as I read about Ivana Trump driving to New Jersey despite the shelter in place requests, I was reminded of an old parody song I used to hear on morning radio shows.  Kip Addotta, who died August 13, 2019, used to be on Johnny Carson and came up with some very funny songs for Dr. Demento's show.

Cockroaches are known for being indestructible.

And now, when I see or hear Trump, I can be reminded of this song about a disgusting, destructive bug that doesn't go away...  

Kip Addotta had some other funny songs that were staples in the 80s.  Remember "Wet Dream"?

This song is as punny as they come.  You like seafood too?

I am not familiar with "Life in the Slaw Lane", but Bill recognized Kip Addotta's voice.

Whoa... the 80s sound is strong in this.

Not everyone is into puns.  A little bit goes a long way in my opinion.  However, "Big Cockroach" is one of my favorites.  And since Trump and his invasive family have taken up residence in the White House, it's taken on new meaning for me.  Let's hope in November 2020, we can fumigate.

Bomb Iran...

This just popped into my head.  It was a hit in 1980.

In 1980, we were less politically correct... and so Vince Vance & The Valiants came up with this beaut of a parody song, sung to The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann".

I was a kid in 1980, and I'm sad to say that when I hear this melody, I think "Bomb Iran" instead of "Barbara Ann".  Vince Vance & The Valiants are from New Orleans and have had a few novelty hits over the years.  This is the only one I remember.  Apparently, there were a bunch of versions of "Bomb Iran" by other bands, too.  Vince Vance & The Valiants had the most successful one, even though it didn't get a lot of distribution in the 80s because they never got permission to use the music.  

This is the 1965 popular cover by The Beach Boys...  but it'll always be "Bomb Iran" to me.

The original version was done by The Regents in 1961.  It was written by Fred Fassert.

The original.

This song, "All I Want For Christmas Is You", is Vince Vance & The Valiants biggest hit.  It comes from 1993.  But to me, they'll always be remembered for "Bomb Iran".  The lead singer on this is Lisa Layne.  A lot of people wonder why she isn't a huge star.  I agree, she has a beautiful voice.

Maybe "Bomb Iran" has new relevance today...  Don't know.  Just another one of my pointless rambling posts about crap from the past.

Hey Ricky!

For some reason, I woke up with this song stuck on the brain...

It was in this morning's dream for some reason.  It's been redone by a whole bunch of people, but it seems the Skyliners were the first.

I was thinking about trying this song myself... but then another song came creeping in.  It was an old song by Weird Al Yankovic.  I hadn't heard it in many years until this morning, when I found it on YouTube.

"Hey Ricky" was one of Weird Al's first hits...  I give him credit for being very creative with the lyrics. I'm not sure it would have occurred to me to connect I Love Lucy with "Mickey".

Since Weird Al was born in the 50s, he no doubt used to watch I Love Lucy.  He probably saw it when it originally aired on prime time television.  In the early 80s, he turned the show into the subject of his parody song, "Ricky", which was inspired by the original hit, "Mickey", by Toni Basil.  Toni Basil's hit was a staple on MTV and HBO's Video Jukebox, so the video for that is etched on the brain.

It doesn't get much more 80s than this...

I always have something stuck on the brain.  My head is like a radio that never shuts off.  It usually plays what are now considered "oldies".  

I'm kind of giving some thought to playing around with some music today.  Hopefully, it'll rain.  That makes making music easier, mainly because people don't tend to linger outside when the rain is falling.  I feel less self-conscious.  Also, rain puts me in a moody frame of mind that lends itself to making music over writing blog posts.  

I wish I could remember what this morning's dream was about... but I do know it had a soundtrack.

Star Trekkin'...

I was never a fan of the old TV series, Star Trek, but plenty of my peers loved the show.  Consequently, I remember very well when a parody song about Star Trek came into being.  The year was 1987.  The band was called The Firm.  They were Brits with a keen sense of humor.

And they hired art students called The Film Garage to make a clever video...

This song became quite successful.  It was released by Bark Records and the first pressing was just 500 units, which were sent to British radio stations.  The song took off and eventually sold over a million copies, although apparently the band's success was a flash in the pan.

Someone posted a meme on Facebook yesterday, which made me think of this song.  I will admit the first time I heard it was in the early 90s, when I worked at my college's radio station.  I used to have the radio show after a couple of geeks who played new wave songs from the 80s as well as silly stuff like this.  Later, the song was used at the summer camp where I used to work.  A guest counselor taught the kids a dance to go with the song, which they all seemed to love.

I can't believe this is thirty years old...  How quickly time passes when you get to be middle aged!