I've created this bracket of eight personally selected novelty songs that charted in the years 1976-85 and we'll match them against each other, round by round, until a winner emerges. With apologies to Weird Al, I've made a distinction between original novelty songs and parody songs. I hope you'll play along at home because I'm sure your bracket will turn out differently from mine. Seedings taken directly from the songs' peaks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart:
- Quarterfinal #1: "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees (#1 in 1976) vs. "Rappin' Rodney" by Rodney Dangerfield (#83 in 1984)
- Quarterfinal #2: "The Curly Shuffle" by Jump 'N The Saddle Band (#15 for 1984) vs. "King Tut" by Steve Martin (#17 in 1978)
- Quarterfinal #3: "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner & Garcia (#9 in 1982) vs. "Valley Girl" by Frank Zappa (#32 in 1982)
- Quarterfinal #4: "Junk Food Junkie" by Larry Groce (#9 in 1976) vs. "Shaddup You Face" by Joe Dolce (#53 in 1981)
Fill out your bracket(s) with your personal favorites and check back for the semifinal round.
1) I've got mad respect for my man "Rappin' Rodney", but even he can't hold a boombox/candle to Rick Dees' mammoth "Disco Duck".
ReplyDelete2) "The Curly Shuffle" is another in a long line of annoying novelty hits, but my affection for it has never waned.
3) Buckner & Garcia's "Pac Man Fever" any day of the week over one of the least tolerable novelty "hits" of "MFD".
4) Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" hasn't aged well, but it was my absolute favorite song as a child, and that's gotta' count for somethin' around these parts.
** In the end, Dirk goes with Dees' "Duck" to win it all... Be a real downer for Dirky if it didn't! #DeesDucks
What, no "Rappin' Duke"?
DeleteI'm in agreement with ol' Dirky on the first and third match-ups as well as the overall winner, with "Disco Duck" narrowly defeating "King Tut" in the semis and Shaddup withstanding the Fever.
Throw "Convoy" in the mix and it crashes the gate doing ninety-eight and steals it all.
A moment of silence for my all-time favorite novelty record, one that rests just outside the purview of MFD - the first 45 I ever bought, Ray Stevens with "The Streak" from the wonderfully named Boogity Boogity album in 1974.
"Don't Look, Ethel!"
Some songs that narrowly missed the bracket:
ReplyDelete"In the Mood" by Henhouse Five Plus Too (aka Ray Stevens), #40 in 1977
"Convoy" by C.W. McCall (aka Bill Fries), #1 in 1976
"You Look Marvelous" by Billy Crystal, #58 in 1985
"General Hospi-tale" by Afternoon Delights, #33 in 1981
and, in a sleeper write-in pick:
"A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock 'N' Roll" by Donny and Marie (never charted, but played way too often by my older sister around the house)
I would go with Dirk on this first round.
ReplyDeleteI am very bummed that "Convoy" and "General Hospi-tale" did not make the competition as I am a big fan of both of these.