Deteriorata
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"Deteriorata" is a famous parody of San Francisco radio and television personality Les Crane's spoken word recording of Desiderata . It was written by Tony Hendra and recorded by National Lampoon as part of their National Lampoon Radio Dinner album of 1972.
The parody earned a great deal of cultural significance and popularity as a frequent presentation on the Dr. Demento radio show. Les Crane himself admitted to preferring this version over his Grammy-winning recording of the original poem.
Voiceover talent Norman Rose read the "poem" and then-little known Melissa Manchester was a background singer on the chorus section of the song.
The word deteriorata is a portmanteau of "Desiderata" and deteriorate.
