![]() Demento Show," for some reason, has not tested too well in focus groups among this particular demographic. Now, for instance, stations that call themselves top 40 usually play a particular style of music mainly aimed at women 18 to 30, and "The Dr. Tastes change, but mostly the radio industry has changed. INSKEEP: Now, we're talking to you now because, of course, the program has finally gone off of the broadcast airwaves, although I understand you're continuing it on the Web. So I became the funny-record guy, though that was not my original intent. And so, the more I played of that kind of thing, the more popular the show got. Demento Show" started in 1970 as kind of a rare rock and roll oldies show, I found that most of my requests were for those funny things, "The Purple People Eater" and so on, and "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus. A little politically incorrect, though not maybe as much, though, as "Slap Her Down Again, Pa," another Arthur Godfrey hit of the 1940s. So that was the first funny music I heard, that along with "Too Fat Polka" by Arthur Godfrey that some may remember. It actually started when I was four years old and my dad brought home a copy of "Cocktails for Two" by Spike Jones, which was then a new release. And you got excited about that kind of music when you were a young man? Also, it's a kind of music that's been around as long as there's been recorded music, anyway. ![]() I don't know if you'd call it novelty songs. INSKEEP: And you're trolling in this brand of music. So you won't you go and buy a half a gallon, baby? I love rocky road. WEIRD AL YANKOVIC (Singer, Songwriter): (Singing) Baby, I love rocky road. INSKEEP: He ended up being an architect of a different kind. HANSEN: That was his - that's what he wanted to do originally. ![]() Demento Show," the probability is high that Alfred Yankovic would still be a professional architect today. He sent me a homemade cassette tape when he was 16 years old, and I played it on my show. INSKEEP: What do you mean by calling Weird Al Yankovic a protege? I've introduced a lot of people to Frank's music. It's also Spike Jones, Monty Python, some of the giants of the not-too-long-ago, including Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman, Tom Lehrer - two out of those three still very much alive - and, oh, Frank Zappa, of course. It's the music of Weird Al Yankovic, my most famous protege. Demento Show"): Well, in a phrase, I call it mad music and crazy comedy. BARRET HANSEN (Radio Personality and Programmer, "The Dr. INSKEEP: What kind of music is it that you have brought to the public's attention all these years? Unidentified Group: (Singing) Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads. For 40 years, he made the radio a slightly weirder place. He is still heard on Internet radio, but his broadcast cancellation marks a milestone. Demento's famous radio program went off the air this month. His name is Barret Hansen, though you may know him better by his nom de guerre: Dr. We've been talking with a man who gets some of the credit for bringing you songs like this. ELMO (Singer, Songwriter): (Singing) Grandma got run over by a reindeer. (Soundbite of song, "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer")ĭr.
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