"When Dr. Demento Ruled The Airwaves"

[TTL News 308]

 

Quote

 

 

As music educations go, Barret Hansen has compiled an impressive scholarly background. He holds a BA and MA in classical and folk music from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and the University of California, Los Angeles, respectively. In high school, he was a disc jockey for danceslike sock hops. In Portland, he was station manager for the campus FM channel. His UCLA thesis was on the growth of rhythm and blues music from 1945 to 1953. Out of college, he took a job reissuing vintage blues, gospel, and rock songs.

All of this experience has perhaps made Hansen uniquely overqualified to assume the radio persona of Dr. Demento.

GETTING DEMENTED

From 1970 to 2010, Hansen’s aural alter ego spent between one and four hours on Sunday nights curating a selection of comedy and novelty song tracks, from the holiday classic “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” by Elmo and Patsy to the work of a teenager named Alfred Yankovic, who wrote a song about his family’s Plymouth Belvedere titled “Belvedere Cruising.”

 

 

Check out the rest of the article here.

Any other Dr. Demento fans out there? What's your favorite novelty songs?

[Chris 2,162]

Oh yeah. 

I used to listen to him Sunday nights on 94-Rock from 10pm-12am. I usually managed to stay awake for half the show, and I'd often have my tape recorder on and record my favorites. Sometimes you could tell where I'd fall asleep with the recorder running LOL. 

Those chewing gum ads used to drive me insane, seemed like they were on every ad break: "Chew on this..." 

Anyway, here's one we sang during staff week when I worked at Camp Seneca. The camp director was a pretty wild guy named Mick ( I can't remember his last name but he was from Elmira I think. ) Needless to say the old fellas weren't impressed LOL:

 

[Kevin 334]

I used to also listen every weekend with the tape recorder on pause. 

[Adam 373]

 

 

 

 

[Adam 373]

 

[Chris 2,162]

The Frantics were one of my favorites. From the same album, “I Shot Bambi’s Mother”: