Strange and Bizarre Novelty Records Quiz

Answer: The same song, but played in reverse

Napoleon XIV actually did a couple of songs; the second most well- known is probably "I Live in a Split Level Head".

Answer: Napoleon XIV

There is not a single note of music on this recording from 1966. Napoleon XIV was actually Jerry Samuels.

Answer: Don't worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking For Her Hand in the Snow)

The lyrics (?) of this song (?) contain "Don't Worry" 43 times, "Don't" by itself 15 times in a row, mixed in with "Kyoko" twice. I don't know what she was thinking, but mostly it's 4:52 of Yoko wailing and screaming. We called the radio station and requested this song one time while in college and they actually played it. The DJ broke the record on the air.

Answer: Always run with scissors

"Running with Scissors" was actually another album by Weird. It would be good stupid advice, though. He does actually advise "eating a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip", though.

Answer: Leitch

Donovan also loved his jeans and his shoes in this song.

Answer: A Hula Hoop

"The Chipmunk Song" was a big hit for Christmas of 1958 and sparked a long career for the boys.

Answer: Ross Bagdasarian

Ross was a novelty songwriter and wrote some classic novelty records, like Rosemary Clooney's "Come Onna My House" in 1951. He was fascinated by the technical side of the recording business and found that if he recorded the music at normal speed, then replayed it at the slowest speed while singing along, when it was played at normal speed again the music sounded normal, but he sounded like he was breathing helium.

The rest is history, as they say.

Answer: False

Actually they were named for Al Bennett and Si Warner, the heads of Libery Records, and the engineer for the session, Ted Keep.

Answer: Witch Doctor

"The Witch Doctor" was the first hit using the speed up/slow down technique. Ross was also an actor and appeared in "Viva Zapata" and Hitchcock's "Rear Window". He died of a heart attack in 1972 at the age of 52.

Answer: Bananas

One hit wonder Guy Marx recorded this song in the 1968. Actually, Guy Marx was a pretty good character actor and appeared in a number of films and TV shows. He was a regular on the "Joey Bishop Show". He wrote the song and performed it in his unique style.

Answer: Quentin's Theme

The other title, although rarely used, was "Shadows of the Night", the first line of the song. It actually had lyrics, although the hit single was only instrumental. This song actually reached the top 20 on the Billboard Pop Chart in 1969.

Answer: Bloodrock

Bloodrock comes from the Dallas- Fort Worth area. Lead by Jim Rutledge, the guys are still active in the rock business, but everyone was driving carefully all summer after listening to "DOA". It's from the "Bloodrock 2" album.

Answer: Hot Butter

Hot Butter wasn't actually a group- it was actually Moog artist Stan Free all by himself! Rob Guernsey is credited with writing the song.

Answer: Joe Hardy

Allan was a writer and producer on the "Steve Allen Show" and wrote 33 albums of comic songs in the 60's. He sold millions of records. "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" was actually made into a musical play and premiered in New York in 1992 at the Circle Square Theatre.

Answer: False

It was actually Arthur Godfrey. It was also recorded by the Andrews Sisters and Frankie Yankovic. It pokes fun with such corny lines as "Can she prance up a hill? No, No, No, No No" and "She's so Charming, She's so winning, But she's alarming, when she goes in swimming". Arthur had a long running radio show where he searched for new talent, and was one of the pioneers of television.

He was a bit of a loose cannon who might say anything at any time.

Answer: Shaving Cream

On almost every Dr. Demento album you'll hear the good doctor sing, "Shaving Cream, Be nice and clean, Shave every day and you'll always look keen." There are hundreds of verses to this song, and people are still writing them.

Answer: Eat dinner with a fork in the road

"But you can be happy if you mind to." Roger wrote and sang dozens of silly songs, but was best known for "King of the Road".

Answer: Shazam

When Jim Nabors was in the hospital for a liver transplant in 1994, while in intensive care the doctors removed a tube from his nose and asked him to say something. Jim said "Shazam" and cracked up the entire hospital staff.

Answer: Out of the ocean

This was a big hit for Brian Hyland in summer of 1960. It was his first.

Answer: The Playmates

Done in a unique style, the song starts out painfully slow and each verse goes faster and faster until they finally hit the punch line- at 110 MPH the Nash pulls up besides the Caddy and the guy calls out "How can I get this car out of second gear?".