Talk:Dr. Demento
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[edit] Fish heads
I rolled-back a section added about the Dr. Demento Show, with lyrics from a novelty Fish Head song, because this whole article is about Dr. Demento's radio show. It made it sound like this was a whole different show. Perhaps the material can be incorporated into the current article? - DavidWBrooks 14:58, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Currently, "Fish Heads" Redirects to the Dr. Demento page --216.209.140.12 20:20, 27 May 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Dr. Demento's Name
Someone just changed "Barret Hansen" to "John Hansen." What's the source for this change? Every bio I've ever seen has said "Barret Hansen." I'm going to try to find a source and change it back with a link to a reference. / Will1410 03:02, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
The Dr. Demento website says 'Barret Hansen'. Others sources give his full name as 'Barret Eugene Hansen' Epicidiot 21:45, 1 April 2006 (UTC)
- He introduces himself as Barry when at his Reed College reunions.--134.10.22.244 21:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] MTV
Dr. Demento had at least a couple programs on MTV, the Top 20 Funniest Videos, or something along that line. I used to have them on tape. Will have to look for info on that to mention it in the article. Esquizombi 00:52, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
- "Top 20 Demented Video Countdown" was the name of the show. MTV aired it on April Fools' Day between 1985-1989. (EmiOfBrie 05:19, 14 March 2006 (UTC))
- Can anyone get a list of the videos played? The only one I definitely remember is FishHeads, but there were a couple of Weird Al's also. CFLeon (talk) 00:11, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Aaron Ackerson
Don't know why the guy doesn't have his own article, or why people keep deleting him off the list. http://aaronackerson.com/
- This article attracts lots of vandalism, which often consists of people adding themselves or friends to the musicians' list. There are so many article of even minor musicians on wikipedia now, that a red-link musician added by an anonymous IP is assumed to be a vandal. If he's legitimate, create an article for him. - DavidWBrooks 11:26, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
-
- OK, well I'm finding some people who would be able to create an article with enough content to merit being an article. It'll be up soon --Mattgcn 15:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Songs
What about a list of his songs? "Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun", "Shaving Cream", etc. --Yancyfry jr
- I was surprised to see no mention of the one song I always associate with the good Doctor: "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV. Some of us listened to Dr. Demento long before Weird Al appeared on the scene. -- llywrch (talk) 17:54, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Pico & Sepulveda
Disclaimer: This is my first ever Wiki entry, so I am quite certain I am doing many things wrong. For those of you Wiki-pros, please be patient with me! If you kindly correct me, I will do this again. This entry probably belongs on the article page, not the discussion page or may otherwise be in the wrong section. It is also likely in the wrong format, etc.. I put the entry here because I was apprehensive about editing the main page.
My Goal: I want to enter a request that the Wiki page for Dr. Demento include a section about the song "Pico & Sepulveda". Perhaps, a fuller description of this issue belongs on the wiki page for the song (see under links below) with a reference on the Dr. Demento page about its relevance and impact to the show.
Reason for entry: The entry for Dr. Demento contains statements of the importance of a few songs and groups who have scored big on Dr. Demento over the years. I find this offensive in that it leaves out the one song which has scored the biggest in the history of the Dr. Demento show, that being the song "Pico & Sepulveda" by Felix Figueroa and his Orchestra (1947).
Impact of the Song: During the early years of the show (I am not positive, but am guessing 1970 - 1973), this song became so requested, and hence played, that the "Doctor" decided to give the song a special status, which I am sure, has never been duplicated. From about 1973 onward, he decided to play the song once (and only once!) a month. My memory was that it was played on the first Sunday of every month. The four hour "local" show was divided up into two general segments. The first segment lasted three hours and the "Doctor" played whatever he chose, often thematically. The last hour was devoted to the so called "Top 10" which was determined by petitions and requests. According to the wiki page for the song, it was played at the beginning of the first segment, i.e., at the beginning of the show.
The Doctor's unidirectional covenant he made with his listeners was that in exchange for playing this same song ad infinitum once a month via this special arrangement, it was hereafter voided from ever being voted upon, requested, and/or played in any monthly Top 10 or annual Top 50 format.
The Song: The song is a humorous, though senseless, regurgitation of various street and place names in Los Angeles. The object of the song is a very non-descript intersection of two streets in West LA. Sepulveda is arguably one of the longest streets in the world and has a Wiki entry (see below). Pico is a side street and the intersection is large enough for a traffic light.
The song, in its original version, was (evidently) incorporated into the movie "Forbidden Zone" (1980). See links.
Links:
Wiki entry for the song: http://music.wikia.com/wiki/Pico_&_Sepulveda:Felix_Figueroa_&_His_Orchestra
Wiki entry for Sepulveda Bl.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda_Boulevard
Lyrics: http://www.armory.com/~gergen/Pico-and-Sepulveda.txt
Wiki entry for artist (AKA Freddie Martin): http://music.wikia.com/wiki/Felix_Figueroa_%26_His_Orchestra
You Tube Video (of sketch featuring the song in the movie "Forbidden Zone"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_lvDLeTae8
IMDB Entry for the "Forbidden Zone": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080752/
--207.67.87.70 23:36, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Record collection
I read many years ago that the good Doctor was listed in the Guinness book of world records book as having the largest personal record collection, over 100,000 discs (somewhere around 500,000 songs). Anyone know if this is true? — Loadmaster 23:24, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Need a discography
I don't really know a lot about setting these up or, more importantly, finding all the items that go in it. However, a discography would be useful at this point in his history; even though he isn't the recording artist, it's still one of the main ways the user has to become more familiar with his work, as it were. Lawikitejana 18:53, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
- I've begun to give him one, but he has released quite a lot of albums, even if you don't count his Basement Tapes collection. I think I should put the discography on a separate page. --Asklepios 23:59, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Merge proposal
The Whimsical Will stub is very small. Since he is affiliated with Dr. Demento, all the info there could probably be moved to a section on the Dr. Demento article. Mapsax (talk) 21:04, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
- NAW! - Whimsical Will is just as deserving as "Weird" Al of his own page. Will has been cranking out material for eons (yes - I like technical terms!) and if there is any fault in his article being short, I suggest that he hasn't had the attention or coverage that Al has garnered. Like Bobby Pickett, Sam Kineson, or Bill Hicks, you better appeciate the talent while you got it! Mark Sublette (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Mark SubletteMark Sublette (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
- Support, Will has been around a long time but his article just doesn't cut it. It's a single sentence. Coming up with verifiable 3rd party references will be difficult and the article is likely to be deleted. Better to merge it into Dr. Demento's page.--Rtphokie (talk) 12:20, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] The Funny Farm
At this youtube link I find the famous '60s song The Funny Farm attributed to Dr. Demento. Yet this page doesn't mention that. That has to be among the most famous of all things he did, if in fact he is who did it. Is that attribution wrong? Michael Hardy (talk) 23:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
- That is flat out wrong. That's "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV. It has receved a lot of airplay on Dr. Demento over the years and has appeared on Dr. Demento various artists compilations. Steelbeard1 (talk) 02:02, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
Thank you. The youtube page now has more accurate information. Michael Hardy (talk) 11:25, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Affiliates
Whoa, why so few? I checked his site and there really is that few, I know maybe 5 years ago the list was MUCH bigger. Any info on what happened to cut it down to 8 stations? --TIB (talk) 12:12, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
- First of all, no national advertisers anymore so stations have to pay for the shows now. Also, the stations cannot stream the show anymore so stations not set up to blackout unauthorized shows and commericials on streaming audio have dropped out. The show offers end users streaming audio of past shows for a fee as well as a subscription to listen to past shows. Info at [1]. Steelbeard1 (talk) 14:36, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
