Tedium Highlight in Novelty music: How a song about fish heads became a classic. 

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Tag results: Novelty music

To Boldly Sing

Star Trek has inspired plenty of pop culture, but nothing is as bizarre as the musical fandom following its warp trail.

Not Rap, Definitely Alien

A bizarre 2008 children’s album called “Alien Rap” has been making rounds in “so-bad-it’s-good” culture. The man who made it is about as weird as you’d think.

Novel Check-in

Spare thoughts on the state of novelty and nostalgia from our in-house expert on both of those important (if oft-cast-aside) things.

Dancing With The Walking Dead

Zombies are a big part of pop culture, but songs about them are not—except for one performed by the King of Calypso himself, Harry Belafonte.

Extraterrestrial Rock & Roll

The bizarre history of one of the greatest novelty records of all time, “The Purple People Eater,” and the dumb joke that brought it to life.

Pumpkin-Spice Pop Culture

The spooky, symbiotic relationship between Halloween and pop culture. We’ll be right back, after these messages.

Eat Them Up, Yum!

How Barnes & Barnes’ oddball hit “Fish Heads,” complete with music video directed by Bill Paxton (really), became an unlikely breakout star of novelty music.

The Great Novelty Songwriting Contest

The enduring role of the contests in the novelty songwriting world—a phenomenon that started with Dr. Demento and today reflects one of its late, great icons.

Meet Weird Paul

The musical journey of Weird Paul Petroskey, a guy who's been making albums and vlogs since the ’80s—and on the latter count, you should see his receipts.

The Bagdasarian Effect

How one man’s discovery of a clever sound effect gave us Alvin and the Chipmunks, one of the most enduring novelty musical acts of all time.
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