Spike Jones has long been a favorite of mine. Its not that I listen frequently to his music but more that the music sticks in my head for years. I was first introduced to Spike Jones and his orchestra by my drum instructor, Mitch Markovich, when I was in high school. We frequently went to his house before or after practice and often he would introduce us to some new music (to us). Spike Jones specialized in musical parody. Much like Weird Al Yankovic of recent fame, Spike Jones would take very popular music, like "Laura" or "You Always Hurt the One You Love" and spin them into something completely different. I've been told that Jones would spend hours audtioning various items, such as toilet bowls or revolvers, to find the one that had the perfect pitch and tone quality desired for a particular musical creation.
Album Cover from Spike Jones Great Hits Vol. 1
My mother has told me several times that my father and she attended
concerts featuring Spike Jones and his City Slickers on more than one
occassion. Last week I found several nuggest from this wacky, perhaps
insane, artist. I am familiar with only six of the 13 selections
offerred here for your listening enjoyment.
My favorite, is "The William Tell Overture" otherwise know as "Beetle Bomb". This is a great musical story about a horse
race was so memorable that it was quoted in a future song by the City Slickers.
For any Old-Tme Radio fans,
Spike Jones was at one time the
percussionist on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" Radio Show.
Spike Jones was at one time the
percussionist on the "Fibber McGee and Molly" Radio Show. Occassionally
the show would feature one of his zany instrumentals on the air. I'll
try to dig through my Fibber collection and find a couple.
To audition any of the songs listed below just click the green play button to the left of the song title. Due to the way Internet Explorer works you may need to click on the button once to activate it and again to start the song. Likewise you may need to click the icon twice slowly to get the song to stop playing.
Pal-Yat-Chee (1950)
All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (1948)
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