25 All Time Novelty Hits

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 23, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B0000657XA
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,083 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #64 in Music > Miscellaneous > Comedy > Comedic Music > General

Track Listings

1. The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2) - Buchanan & Goodman

2. Western Movies - The Olympics

3. Baby Talk - Jan & Dean

4. The All-American Boy - Bill Parsons

5. The Ballad Of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes

6. Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat - Paul Evans & The Curls

7. Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu - Dicky Doo & The Don'ts

8. Got A Match? - The Daddy-O's

9. Shaving Cream - Benny Bell

10. Hot Rod Lincoln - Johnny Bond

11. Alley-Oop - Hollywood Argyles

12. Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor (On The Bedpost Over Night) - Lonnie Donegan

13. Mr. Custer - Larry Verne

14. Yogi - The Ivy Three

15. The Mummy - Dor

16. Surfin' Bird - The Trashmen

17. The Jolly Green Giant - The Kingsmen

18. Juanita Banana - The Peels

19. Martian Hop - The Ran-Dells

20. Gitarzan (Original Mono Single) - Ray Stevens

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

25 tracks that laughed their way to the top of the charts! And these three have never been on CD before- Got a Match Daddy-O's; Yogi Ivy Three, and Juanita Banana Peels. Plus there's The Flying Saucer (Parts 1 & 2) Buchanan & Goodman; The All-American Boy Bill Parsons; The Ballad of Davy Crockett Bill Hayes; Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat Paul Evans; Shaving Cream Benny Bell; Mr. Custer Larry Verne; Martian Hop Ran-Dells; Junk Food Junkie Larry Groce; Mr. Jaws Dickie Goodman, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Let's hear it for the monkey. September 14, 2003

By David Kenner

Format:Audio CD

A whopping 25 hits on one disc usually will merit a 5 star review from me but there are some reasons that this disc is not quite up to par. First of all, it answers a question that I have been asking for years. Is there a master tape of Ray Stevens' 1969 single "Gitarzan" that doesn't have the laugh track overdubs on it? I guess the answer to that question is "no". This disc does include the original mono Monument undubbed single version of "Gitarzan" but, unfortunately, it sounds like it was mastered from an original single, and a well worn copy at that. But I'd rather have a sonically inferior undubbed version that a sonically superior version with that infernal laugh track so I won't say anymore about that. The sound quality throughout the disc is generally good although there are a few tracks here and there ("Mr. Custer", "Surfin' Bird", "Gimme Dat Ding") that sound better on Rhino collections that I own. I've heard better digital transfers of "The Mummy" as well. Then again, "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor" sounds better on here than it does on the Rhino Dr. Demento CD. As for "The Flying Saucer", I prefer the sound quality of Rhino's Billboard 1956 disc because they took the time to remaster the song excerpts that were used, and the extraneous surface noise is only audible on the dialog portion of the record. On this disc, the surface noise is prominent throughout the whole track. One other complaint I have is that the version of "Junk Food Junkie" heard here is not the original 1976 hit version (available on one of Dr. Demento's anniversary compilations) but a re-recording. The liner notes don't tell you this though. It makes you wonder if the compilers even realized they were using the wrong version. It's rare to find this kind of error on a Cary Mansfield produced project. Overall, there's some good stuff here ("Got A Match?", "The Jolly Green Giant") and some bad stuff here ("Juanita Banana" and "Mr. Jaws"), but if you like the novelty hits of yester-year, you're gonna dig this disc.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the greatest but certainly different and better... September 16, 2002

By Zub VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

There are reams of rock-era novelty record CD compilations in the market. Varese's "25 All Time Novelty Hits" contribution to this genre, a sampling of less-than-serious tunes spanning the classic period of rock recording, does stand above the crowd with some distinction. While some of the biggest novelty tunes of the rock era are not represented here, that can be forgiven in that they are easily found on other compilations. That may explain the decision not to bill this piece as the 25 "Greatest" novelty hits.

In its favor is the inclusion of several novelty tunes that did less on the pop charts and a few big records that have up to now never appeared on legitimate domestic CD's. Rarities found here include the Daddy-O's' "Got A Match", the Peels' "Juanita Banana" and a top-10 novelty hit that has yet to see the digital light of day, "Yogi" by the Ivy Three. The majority of the other cuts are top-20 tunes that would be familiar to even casual early rock-era listeners.

Production quality is excellent with all tracks in mono except 12,15,17,21-23,25 which appear in stereo. Interesting liner notes on the included tracks appear in the eight-page liner notes booklet. A well-constructed package, this CD stands out for its generous collection of familiar novelty tunes as well as its inclusion of some previously unavailable-on-CD tunes of the genre.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars I have a sad story to tell you. It may hurt your feelings... April 24, 2002

By Pat Kelly

Format:Audio CD

According to the label's website, here's the tracklist, with highest chart positions for each song:

1 The Flying Saucer (Parts 1& 2) * Buchanan & Goodman Pop #3
2 Western Movies * The Olympics Pop #8
3 Baby Talk * Jan & Dean Pop #10
4 The All-American Boy * Bill Parsons Pop #2
5 The Ballad Of Davy Crockett * Bill Hayes Pop # 1
6 Seven Little Girls Sitting In The Back Seat * Paul Evans & the Curls Pop #9
7 Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu * Dicky Doo & The Don'ts
8 Got A Match * The Daddy-O's

9 Shaving Cream * Benny Bell Pop #30
10 Hot Rod Lincoln * Johnny Bond Pop #26
11 Alley-Oop * Hollywood Argyles Pop #1
12 Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On The Bedpost Over Night) * Lonnie Donegan Pop #5
13 Mr. Custer * Larry Verne Pop #1
14 Yogi * The Ivy Three Pop #8
15 The Mummy * Bob McFadden & Dor
16 Surfin' Bird * The Trashmen Pop #4
17 The Jolly Green Giant * The Kingsmen Pop #4
18 Juanita Banana * The Peels
19 Martian Hop * The Ran-Dells Pop #16
20 Gitarzan * Ray Stevens Pop #8
21 Junk Food Junkie * Larry Groce Pop #9
22 Gimme Dat Ding * The Pipkins Pop #9
23 Telephone Man * Meri Wilson Pop #18
24 Mr. Jaws * Dickie Goodman Pop #4
25 They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Haaa * Napoleon XIV Pop #3

"All-Time" apparently refers to the period 1956-1981, based on the songs on the CD.

Obviously there has to be concentration on the late fifties/early 60's which were the heyday of novelty or humor records. The 70's are represented by Mr Jaws, Gitarzan, Gimme Dat Ding, and Junk Food Junkie, and only the vaguely suggestive Telephone Man is under a quarter century old.

But a few blatent missing entries, such as David Seville's "Witch Doctor", Chuck Berry's "My Ding-A-Ling", Ray Stevens' dated ditty "The Streak", and Buzz Clifford's "Baby Sittin' Boogie" prevent the 5-star rating. Similarly the inclusion of never-charted songs such as Junita Banana or Got A Match don't help. (Will there be a Volume 2?)

Many of these tracks will sound dated, but are still fun to sing along with, with your kids or (shudder) grandkids without having to worry about embarassment or censorship. (Well, maybe "Shaving Cream"...)

Trivia notes: While "All-American Boy" is credited to Bill Parsons, the track was actually performed by later country star Bobby Bare. Bare was drafted after the recording, so the record company sent Parsons on the road to promote the single instead. (Sort of an early Milli Vanilli.) "Dor", who makes the Mummy sounds on track 15 was actually noted 60's love-poet, Rod McKuen. (If you don't know who he is, then you're probably too young for this album.)