Best Geeky Finds – The Doctor Is In!

He’s Bart Simpson’s mortal enemy. Bobby Generic’s preferred doctor. He’s Doctor Demento.

Doctor Demento has been on air in some way or another since 1974, playing comedy and novelty music of all kinds ranging from Groucho Marx to Weird Al and everything in between and all around. As a response to the punk movement and commercialization of radio, the Doctor, Barret Hansen, started broadcasting the more unusual tunes during his syndicated radio program. Over time these novelty hits became his standard, even creating such famous artists as Weird Al Yankovic when he sent a cassette tape of My Bologna he recorded in the bathroom.

I first learned about this Doctor during family roadtrips as we played the best of ‘60s and ‘70s cassettes. I got to hear, and became a huge fan of, such songs as Barnes and Barnes’ Fish Heads, Louden Wainwright III’s Dead Skunk, and Ogden Edsel’s Dead Puppies (aren’t much fun). If it weren’t for these tapes I would not appreciate Cheech & Chong movies as much as I do, or even have a fondness for classic Weird Al. These songs were my childhood.

The show went off of broadcast radio in 2010, but thanks to the ability to stream the show, as many listeners without a station broadcasting the show had already been doing, he was able to stay on the air via paid streaming on his website, http://www.drdemento.com.

For many like myself who are unable to pay for a full year of episodes, however, or were unaware of how to stream it, the show ended a long time ago with no new episodes since. There’s great news though. This month, on cd, vinyl, and download, a brand new 2-hour episode was released. This isn’t any regular episode however. This is Doctor Demento Covered in Punk. Compliling brand new releases of classic Doctor Demento novelty hits performed by current and classic punk rock artists, along with some new versions of classic punk releases, this show is for all fans of punk and novelty music alike. Looking for an accordion cover of the Ramone’s Beat on the Brat, the only pop-punk song about child abuse? You got it. How about a punk rendition of Fish Heads? It’s the show’s #1 song.

As I said before, the show is available on CD, vinyl, and download, but you can also find many of the songs on YouTube for free. If you’re not sure about the album before buying, this is an excellent choice for rocking out.

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