Outsider music is music created by self-taught or naïve musicians. The term is usually applied to musicians who have little or no traditional musical experience, who exhibit childlike qualities in their music, or who have intellectual disabilities or mental illnesses. The term was popularized in the 1990s by journalist and WFMU DJ Irwin Chusid.
The Troggs are an English beat music band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper "Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all of which sold over 1 million copies and were awarded gold discs. "Wild Thing" is ranked No. 257 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was an influence on garage rock and punk rock.
Barret Eugene Hansen, known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at the Pasadena, California, station KPPC-FM. After he once played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it; this event inspired his stage name. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and with musical parody, especially when the novel gimmick is another popular song. Novelty songs achieved great popularity during the 1920s and 1930s. They had a resurgence of interest in the 1950s and 1960s. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music; the other two divisions were ballads and dance music. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs.
Lawrence Wayne "Wild Man" Fischer was an American street performer known for offering erratic, a cappella performances of "new kinds of songs" for a dime on the beaches and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Most of his life was spent homeless or institutionalized, and he later became regarded as "the godfather of outsider music".
Barnes & Barnes were an American musical duo, formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Though commonly associated with novelty music and comedy rock, their music has also incorporated elements of new wave, synth-pop, and folk rock.
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
Ho Ho Ho, also known as VH-1 Presents RuPaul: Ho Ho Ho, is a Christmas album and the third studio album by American singer and drag queen RuPaul. Released on October 28, 1997, by the record label Rhino, it is RuPaul's first album featuring Christmas music and serves as a follow-up to his 1996 album Foxy Lady. RuPaul co-produced the album with Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato from the production company World of Wonder. Ho Ho Ho consists of thirteen tracks, including ten covers of Christmas standards and carols, and three original songs written by Joe Carrano and RuPaul. Music critics frequently described the album as an example of camp though RuPaul clarified that it included several more serious covers, specifically "All Alone on Christmas" and "Hard Candy Christmas".
Edith Massey was an American actress and singer. Massey was best known for her appearances in a series of movies by director John Waters. She was one of the Dreamlanders, Waters's stable of regular cast and crew members.
Edie and the Eggs were a punk/celebrity-exploitation band featuring Edith Massey, known for acting in several films by John Waters. The band's name referred to Massey's character in Pink Flamingos, who had an obsession with eating eggs and romanced an egg delivery man. Massey sometimes wore her bizarre leather costume from the film Female Trouble during gigs.
Comedy rock is rock music that is comedic in nature. It is often mixed with satire or irony.
Andrew Paul Sandoval is an American, best known as a Grammy Award nominated reissuer and compiler and engineer of historical albums, containing popular music from the rock era. Additionally, Sandoval has ongoing careers as author, DJ, journalist, songwriter and professional musician. Born in Santa Monica, California, his career in music began in 1986 as the editor and publisher of a fanzine called New Breed, a project that blossomed into work as a reissue director for such labels as Rhino and PolyGram. His writing has appeared in the form of liner notes to record and CD releases, as well as in articles featured in The Hollywood Reporter and Shindig!
Ogden Edsl was an American band, formed in 1970 in Omaha, Nebraska, by Bill Frenzer, Bill Carey, and Otis XII. Their music was often darkly comedic and satirical, and was frequently featured on Dr. Demento's weekly radio program.
A teenage tragedy song is a style of ballad in popular music that peaked in popularity in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Examples of the style are also known as "tear jerkers", "death discs" or "splatter platters", among other colorful sobriquets coined by DJs that then passed into vernacular as the songs became popular. Often lamenting teenage death scenarios in melodramatic fashion, these songs were often sung from the viewpoint of the dead person's sweetheart, as in "Last Kiss" (1961), or another witness to the tragedy, or the dead person. Notable examples include "Teen Angel" by Mark Dinning (1959), "Tell Laura I Love Her" by Ray Peterson (1960), "Ebony Eyes" by the Everly Brothers (1961), "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean (1964), and "Leader of the Pack" by the Shangri-Las (1964). The genre's popularity faded around 1965, but the hits from its heyday inspired a host of similar songs and parodies over the years.
Amazing Adult Fantasy is the fifth album released by novelty rock group Barnes & Barnes. It was originally released in 1984 by Rhino Records, and rereleased in 2005 by Oglio Records. After the failure of their previous effort, the Soak It Up EP, Barnes & Barnes were dropped from Boulevard Records, and promptly re-signed with Rhino Records. This album showcases the later stage of their effort to abandon novelty music and record more contemporary material, although the album does contain some comedic elements. Despite this, it is the lowest-selling Barnes & Barnes album of all time. The title is derived from the Marvel comic book Amazing Adult Fantasy, and features the cover of issue #10 in the album art.
Jimmy Cross, also known as Jimmie Cross, was an American radio producer and singer who attained a minor Billboard Hot 100 hit with the novelty song "I Want My Baby Back" in 1965.
Beatlesongs was a 1982 compilation album, released by Rhino Records, containing novelty songs and parodies of the music of the Beatles.
Killer Pussy was a satirical punk rock/new wave group from Phoenix, Arizona. They are best known for their 1982 song "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage".
Teenage Tragedies is a compilation album of teen tragedy songs released on Rhino Records in 1984.
The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical spectacle featuring English rock musician David Bowie as the protagonist, held at the Marquee Club in Soho, London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series The Midnight Special, and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust.
