Kings Of The Novelty Record Trivia Quiz

Answer: Barnes and Barnes

Robert Haimer and Bill Mumy - yes, that Bill Mumy - decided to form a musical duo called Barnes & Barnes. Bill would take on the persona of Art Barnes and Robert would be Artie Barnes. They recorded a song in Bill's living room and submitted it to the "Dr. Demento" show. "Fish Heads" would go on to be the most requested song in the show's history. "Something's In The Bag" was featured on their first ever LP, "Voobaha", which also featured "Something's In The Bag".

They also ended every song with a trademark "yeah".

Answer: Shel Silverstein

Published as a collection of poetry in 1974, "Where The Sidewalk Ends" was released in album form in 1984, with poems narrated by Shel himself. "Sarah" was a child who stubbornly would not remove her garbage and the subsequent and absurd consequences of her inaction.

Shel was an accomplished cartoonist, children's author, poet, songwriter and playwright. Among his many awards are an Oscar, and Emmy, and a National Book Award for Children's Literature. He was posthumously inducted into the National Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

Shel also wrote "A Boy Named Sue", recorded by Johnny Cash.

Answer: Bob Rivers

Another of several song parodies produced by Bob Rivers, "Drivers" parodied The Doors' "Riders On The Storm". The song addressed the subject of distracted driving years before legislation would attempt to reign in the problem.

Although he started his career as a DJ in Connecticut and spent almost six years in Massachusetts as half of the morning team of Bob and Zip, it was in the Pacific Northwest that Bob achieved fame, pioneering "Twisted Radio", and later, "The Bob Rivers Show". His "Twisted Christmas" albums are still highly popular.

Answer: Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention

One of the more conventional musical compositions on the debut double album release "Freak Out!", Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention explored society's behaviors and priorities at the time, while making fun of it.

"Freak Out!" was initially poorly received in the United States, but it was a success in Europe and gained a cult following in America, In 1999, the album was honored with the Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

Notwithstanding his major accomplishments, Frank once played a bicycle on the "Steve Allen Show".

Answer: Allan Sherman

From the 1963 album "My Son, The Nut", the song was a parody of the 1940s tune "You Came A Long Way From St. Louis". It was listed as a B-side single to "The 12 Gifts of Christmas".

Allan started out as a TV producer before he started recording song parodies. One of his TV projects was adopted into "I've Got A Secret", which ran from 1962-67 before being reinvented into "To Tell The Truth".

Answer: Professor Tom Lehrer

"From the Bible to the popular song", Tom Lehrer explored the concept of motherhood and why a movie about the tale of Oedipus Rex had not achieved commercial success. He concludes it was because the movie did not have a best-selling theme and proceeds to present one.

A math teacher at Harvard, MIT, Wellesley and UC-Santa Cruz, Tom's penchant for satire and dark humor was not to be denied. He has placed his musical library into the public domain, including songs he wrote for the PBS series "The Electric Company".

Answer: National Lampoon

"Catch It And You Keep It" explores a very simple game show concept. Prize items are thrown off the roof of the 10th floor balcony of the CBS Studios and if the contestant catches it, he/she/or they keep it. Merchandise thrown off the 10th floor balcony includes a watch, luggage, a toaster, a coffeemaker, a dining room set, and a pre-fabricated dream home.

Taking from the success of their magazine, the National Lampoon released no fewer than 12 albums. This cut was from the album, "Radio Dinner".

Answer: P.D.Q. Bach

P.D.Q. Bach (the least of the great Johann Sebastian Bach family) was the brainchild of Peter Schickele, a professor teaching at the University of Northern South Dakota at Hoople. Schickele was a satirist in the classical musical vein, "uncovering" such P.D.Q. Bach works as the "1712 Overture" and "Hansel and Gretel and Ted and Alice".

"Iphigenia In Brooklyn" S.53,162, was a cantata written for double reeds, except that PDQ Bach did so without the use of oboes and bassoons, giving the reeds a kazoo-like tone quality.

Answer: The Rutles

Most artists satirized songs but these guys went one step further. A Beatles parody band, The Rutles were created by Eric Idle ("Monty Python's Flying Circus") and Neil Innes (also known as the 7th Python). The "Pre-Fab Four" were actually successful as they made albums and performed a few tours.

They also produced a Rockumentary special called "All You Need Is Cash". "Cheese And Onions" parodies "A Day In The Life".

Answer: Spike Jones & His City Slickers

"Do Ya Wanna Buy A Bunny?" charted for two weeks in April 1949 and reached number 24.

To listen to a Spike Jones song today, one might not appreciate the genius that went into each song, thinking each sound effect could be dubbed in during final production in the studio. Spike Jones songs did not have that luxury; each sound effect had to be meticulously timed and rehearsed just so.

Spike could also perform conventional songs although that's not what people wanted to hear most of the time.

Answer: Stan Freberg

As many satirical songs and comedy bits did, "St. George And The Dragonet" lampooned a popular radio show (and later TV show), "Dragnet". The skit added a twist to the legend, St. George and the Dragon.

Stan wore many hats over his 50 year career (actor, author, comedian, musician, puppeteer, radio personality advertising creative director), and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.

"Weird Al" Yankovic cited Stan as one of his greatest influences.

Answer: "Weird Al" Yankovic

"One More Minute" is the type of break-up song that many would have loved to write. He describes many things preferable to staying with his ex, including (among other things) cleaning the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with his tongue, ripping out his intestines with a fork, and diving into a swimming pool filled with double-edge razor blades.

Al rose to fame through his song parodies ("My Bologna", "Another One Rides The Bus" and "Eat It", among others) but he was a comedic genius in his parodies of musical genres, writing original songs that emulated other bands and genres."One More Minute" is one of these songs.

Answer: Cheech and Chong

"Sister Mary Elephant" was released on Cheech and Chong's second album "Big Bambu" in 1972 and released as a single in 1973. It peaked at number 24 in early 1974.

While both were born in Southern California, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong met and were formed in Vancouver (Chong had become a Canadian citizen, having avoided the U.S. draft).

They provided background voices for the Join Mitchell song "Twisted" from her "Court And Spark" album, and supplied background voices on Hoyt Axton's version of "No No Song" from his "Southbound" album.

Answer: The Frantics

The four man Canadian troupe that introduced the world to Ed Gruberman formed in 1979. They gave us comedic classics "Last Will and Temperament", "You Were Speeding", "Ti Kwan Leap" and "Human Race". This public service announcement is from the 1984 release "Frantic Times".

Answer: Pinkard & Bowden

A heartwarming tune that warns against being friendly to animals. Released in 1993 from "Gettin' Stupid".

A country music comedy duo, Pinkard had written songs for Mel Tilis, Anne Murray, and had written a Shelly West/David Frizzell duet. Bowden had played in his father's Dixieland band (which also included his childhood friend Don Henley), toured with Roger McGuinn's band that opened for the Eagles, and released his own solo album "Big Bad Johnson" in 2003.

Bowden and Henley formed a band called the Four Speeds, which changed its name to Felicity, then Shiloh. The band disbanded in 1971 due to creative differences (Bowden wanted the band to be more country while Henley did not). Henley left to form the Eagles and Bowden was introduced to Pinkard.