The King of Novelty [Paperback]

Jon Goodman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2000

THE KING OF NOVELTY is Jon Goodman's revisionist epic for posterity of his father, legendary novelty artist and sampling pioneer THE KING OF NOVELTY is Jon Goodman's revisionist epic for posterity of his father, legendary novelty artist and sampling pioneer Dickie Goodman, a man contending with internal conflict and familial obligations while entertaining the world; with a foreword from Dr. Demento, and epigraph by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Chuck Miller Goldmine

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Former police officer and founding President of the Police Benevolent Association, Jon Goodman is the Administrator of his father Dickie Goodman's estate. Jon is a sampling advocate and voting member for The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Producer of LUNIVERSE RECORDS, Jon re-releases Dickie Goodman's oldies on CD with his own new recordings and enters them for GRAMMY consideration. Jon's writings on police work have been published in law enforcement magazines. Jon was the first DJ in the ratings at New Jersey's longest running FM radio station, WSNJ; broadcasting to four states in the Delaware Valley, and hosting the popular "Good Music Good Night Show." Jon is a BMI music publisher and an editor for America Online's search engine. Jon is a voting member of The National Academy of Popular Music and his background includes acting and modeling. Jon has a Masters of Business Administration from Pacific Western University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris; 1st edition (October 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738824380
• ISBN-13: 978-0738824383
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,825,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed book about a fascinating man ..., February 12, 2003

By 

Paul Hickey (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The King of Novelty (Paperback)

Dickie Goodman was a genuine pioneer. Decades before hip-hop and rap artists ever so much as thought about using the latest computer software to "sample" snippets of songs from other musicians, Goodman was making hit "break-in" records with nothing more than a razor blade and his imagination.

In 1956, he and his collaborator Bill Buchanan launched "The Flying Saucer," a groundbreaking, innovative single that incorporated many of the top tunes of the day and sold more than a million copies nationwide. It was a cultural phenomenon that jump-started Goodman's successful career, landed him in court (on copyright infringement charges), and eventually led to his ultimate legacy as the man who invented a totally new way of recording.

Over the course of the next 30 years, Goodman won every legal case filed against him, helped to popularize so-called "race" music for white audiences (by using the original versions of songs that black artists had done first), and produced a body of work that entertained an entire generation of Americans throughout the 1960s and 70s, and even into the 1980s. During this time, he drew on the talents of everyone from Los Lobos, Michael Jackson, and Whitesnake to Fats Domino, Olivia Newton-John, and Desmond Dekker & The Aces. In the process, he exposed listeners to every imaginable form of music, including the blues, country and western, disco, doo-wop, folk, heavy metal, jazz, reggae, and rock and roll.

In 1975, almost 20 years after "The Flying Saucer" was released, he topped the charts again with "Mr. Jaws," a send-up of the summer blockbuster film of that year. But he never got the recognition he deserved. Finally, with his glory days behind him, overlooked and unappreciated for his contributions to the recording industry, Dickie Goodman shot himself to death in 1989.

With such a background, it seems only natural that the Dickie Goodman story would make an interesting book, or even a movie. Unfortunately, that book has yet to be written. "The King of Novelty" by Dickie Goodman's son, Jon Goodman, is not really a biography in the conventional sense. It is instead a vanity publication that the author has cobbled together as a tribute to his father. That having been said, it still sometimes (almost by accident) achieves a sort of pained eloquence, even as it fails to flesh out the man at the center of the tale.

Perhaps the main problem is that Jon Goodman is not a professional writer, and it shows. "The King of Novelty" is badly organized and poorly edited. The text rambles on all over the place and there are numerous typographical errors throughout the manuscript. Even worse, the author has a habit of telling the reader more about himself than his subject. We learn a lot about Jon Goodman but much less about his dad and what made him tick. And Dickie Goodman--after all--should be the focus here.

Another flaw is the son's tendency to overstate his father's accomplishments and nurse grudges about the lack of credit Goodman Sr. receives even now. This is somewhat understandable but also unnecessary. Dickie Goodman was an authentic innovator who almost single-handedly created the "break-in" record and the sampling process. To claim that he also inspired the topical folk songwriters of the early 1960s, and influenced the civil rights movement, is going a bit far and undermines the author's credibility elsewhere in the book.

On the bright side, however, Jon Goodman deserves a great deal of praise for his honesty in talking about the darker parts of Dickie Goodman's life (the drugs and gambling and womanizing, for example). He does an excellent job of describing how these character faults affected his family, while still showing that his famous father had many good traits as well as bad ones. Some of the most effective writing in "The King of Novelty" actually comes in the sections where Jon Goodman talks candidly about seeing his dad as a whole person and not just in filial terms as a child. Although the space might have been better spent by providing details of how Dickie Goodman prevailed in his legal battles to "sample" other artists' works (or covering other aspects of his life), it is fascinating to see how the author's experiences and memories have affected his own outlook on things. His observations about how popular culture has changed during the 1990s (especially in the social roles that men and womyn play today) are right on target.

So there you have it. "The King of Novelty" falls short of the mark in many respects. It is certainly not the definitive Dickie Goodman biography, which remains to be written by a more impartial source. Nevertheless, as a period piece about the kind of radio that baby boomers grew up with, or as a study in modern musical history, it does demonstrate how much many current artists owe to a funny little guy named Dickie Goodman. Without him, bands like the Evolution Control Committee and stars such as Puff Daddy and Fatboy Slim would not be allowed to mix and sample in their hit songs today.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is reprehensible, June 9, 2006

By 

Ilene and Maury Ballstein (Mount Ephram, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The King of Novelty (Paperback)

I was looking forward to this book about Dickie Goodman, who's done so much to change the face of music in the current era.
One thousand monkeys sitting at 1000 typewriters could have put out a more readable book than this 300-page device to prevent your car from rolling slightly down a hill. And the monkeys' version would be less about the monkeys, and more about Dickie Goodman. I don't usually throw around the phrase 'worst book in the world,' but I have no choice.
Please save your money up for something less painful, like a root canal or spinal tap.
And by the way, judging from the poor wording in reviewer Steven K's "review," he is really the author, Jon Goodman.
Hope you've found another profession, darling.
My husband and I own the book and are big Dickie fans. We're considering writing our own book on the legend, Dickie Goodman, but we'll actually be able to sell ours to a publisher, unlike Jon, who paid a bunch of money to put out a $30 Xlibris kitty litter liner. At least my cat, Jinx, enjoys it. Of course, she can't read so good, lucky kitty.
Also recommended: good books

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most expensive coaster ever!, June 6, 2006

By 

Herman Duffy IV (Brock, La.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The King of Novelty (Paperback)

This memoir of Jon Goodman has way too much talk about the subject, Dickie Goodman.

And the edittings isnt' soo gud.