A free Dickie Goodman download

You’d probably have to be a real Dr. Demento geek to recognize the name Dickie Goodman. But if you listened to Top 40 radio in the mid-’70s, you were touched by his work.

Goodman made novelty records. He specialized in so-called “break-in” records, where he’d pretend to be a news reporter interviewing famous people (like Nixon), and the responses would be snippets of pop songs. (“Mr. President, what really caused the energy crisis?” “Smokin’ in the boys room...”)

I remember thinking this stuff was clever and funny. But I was a kid, I didn’t know better. Listening back on it now, the humor is atrocious.

Yet Dickie Goodman got over with a few hit singles. One was “Super Fly Meets Shaft,” which used snippets of soul songs. Hard to believe it was a Top 40 hit in 1973 (and reached #17 on the R&B chart).

Click here to hear “Super Fly Meets Shaft” on my Vox blog. Corny as hell, I tell you!

This record was released under the name “John & Ernest.” John Free and Ernest Smith did the interview voices, but this piece was written and produced by the inimitable Dickie Goodman.

As was the John & Ernest follow-up single, “Soul President Number One,” which wasn’t a hit.

“Soul President Number One” is available as a FREE MP3... because the late Mr. Goodman’s body of work has been repackaged and marketed as if he were some kind of comedic mastermind.

To hear “Soul President Number One,” click here. If you want to download this track, click the title below.

“Soul President Number One” (MP3)
Album available at iTunes Music Store
Album available at eMusic
Album available at Amazon