Customer Reviews

The King of Novelty

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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.

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

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

And the edittings isnt' soo gud.

I like it. Makes a good frisbee or coaster. Not such a good read though. Poorly worded and edited by a 15-year-old. Unfortunate endeavor. Great frisbee.

Being a fan of Dickie Goodman I was immediately interested in picking up this book. Halfway through it however I found my self cringing at the amount of personal information about the author. If I wanted to learn about JON Goodman I would have searched for a book about him instead, not that there would ever be one. It is sad to say, but the best part of the book was the foreword by Dr. Demento. I have never been more disappointed in a publication and I want my $31 back.

It's so funny that this book has so many errrors. It must be the new style or something. Just like his father, Jon Goodman is a trailblazer in the realm of innovation--not appearing to be a slave to the bothersome world of punctuation and correct grammar. And who isn't confused by homophones?

WOW! There's a reason this book is number 2.4 million out of 2.4 million books on Amazon.com--which is an awesome Web site.

Kudos to Goodman and his innovation and kudos to the 2.4 million books that outsell his Xlbibris-published work of art.

It's a shame that Jon Goodman didn't hire someone else to write about his father, one of my favorite musical artists of all time. This shameless 256-page snoozer focuses more on the author than the subject at hand, the talented and skilled novelty king.

I currentlly use the book to prop open the door to my bathroom. If the writing was of a better quality, it may be suitable to hold open a better door, such as the door to my front porch. This, however, is not the case.

The arrogance of the son of the legend is apparent from the preface where he talks about himself on this very Web site. It is of no interest that Jon is a former police officer, but I am quite glad that he has pursued other lines of work--writing just isn't going to work out for him.

Also, reviewer "STEVEN K" is Jon Goodman, the author

The book is certainly about Dickie Goodman and many other things, some of them concerning Jon Goodman's life. On the other hand, it's a loving tribute done sincerely with the facts he could gather. You shouldn't batter the kid for trying. You won't get a closer-up view of Dickie anywhere, and that's the shame of it. There are people who are disappointed by mistakes or omissions, but we're not likely to see a second edition, so let's take it upon ourselves to render the story its due... it's a start.
Art Fein
"Author, music historian"

Having grown up in the 70's you could not turn on the radio without hearing Mr. Jaws or another one of Dickie Goodmans golden,Hysterical hits. But no one ever knew the man behind the magic. And what a life he led. Hi son Jon does an incredible job showing us all the different sides of the complex,funny and ultimately tragic character. You can tell by reading it that the author must have had a difficult time bringing up all of those memories. But thats what makes it such a great book. We can only hope that one day someone with the correct insight turns this in to a film so the whole world can see how such a small contribution to the music world has had such a everlasting affect on the industry as a whole. I highly reccomend this book to anyone even slightly interested in the history of music.

Having been excited to learn more about one of the great novelty artists of our time, it's sad to have to report that this book is an expensive waste. Rather than a biographical look at Dickie Goodman, the author instead rambles on in a hard-to-follow, at times incomprehensible, stream of unconsciousness style. While I appreciate his need to vent, try to understand, and somehow deal with his dad's tragic death, it's not fair to make fans expecting a quality telling of Dickie Goodman's story to have to suffer through this. The book is more of a private diary or journal, intended to help the author, not the reader. Again, I don't diminish the author's pain or need to do this, but want to warn folks just what they're getting.