Tuesday, July 1, 2008

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

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is he the one who did "Mr. Jaws" (or whatever the shark interview one was)? I used to think that was hilarious. My sister and I would take turns as the interviewer/"singer" and act it out. Dr. Demento rules!

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Yep, dez. "Mr. Jaws" was huge.

Anonymous said...

Heh, which I would have known if that picture you put up had loaded the first time I looked at your blog tonight :-D

Undercover Black Man said...

^ I only posted that picture after reading your comment. ;^)

brotherkomrade said...

I added you to my blogroll.

bklyn6 said...

Ohhhh, snap! I've haven't heard this record since I was a kid! Wow! Thanks for taking me back UBM.

Not long ago I came across the novelty record "Super Soul Brother" by Timmie Rogers. That joint's a trip!

Anonymous said...

Shows you how old I am that I can remember hearing Goodman's first record, 1956's "The Flying Saucer" on the radio not too long after it came out.

I see from reading his Wikipedia
entry
that he's responsible for just about all of these records.

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Always happy to hear from somebody older than me, John B. ;^D

Jeffrey said...

I remember these as a kid too. The memory of riding in a car listening to a tape of these break in songs is still vivid. We alternated between those songs, Captain Fantastic and the Eagles Greatest Hits volume 1. I thought it was all super cool.

Now it just doesn't do it for me anymore. But thanks for the memories!

Undercover Black Man said...

^ Glad I'm not the only one with special memories of "Captain Fantastic." That LP came along just at the point in life where I was developing deeper tastes in pop music music than Top 40 singles.

I wore that album out.

Bob Bourne said...

Ha, ha, I laughed out at the title of your post. Godamn rights it better be free, I ain't paying you money to listen to Dickie Goodman!

Here are a bunch of free comedy record obscurities for ya:

http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/
search/label/comedy%20records