Rogers60

The novelty song genre is about songs performed principally for comical effect. I call them silly songs. There are well-known examples of this kind of music across the lifetime of 1960 Rogers High School graduates.

A 40's memory  is my mother singing Mersey Dotes. The lyrics began with “Mersey dotes and dozey dotes and little amsey divey ...” I asked her what it meant. I do not remember getting a valid answer.

In my grown-up, post-Rogers years, Ray Stevens was the king of the silly song. They included:

• Jeremiah Peabody's Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills – 1961
• Ahab the Arab (loved his camel-voice) – 1962
• Harry the Hairy Ape – 1963
• Bridget the Midget (Queen of the Blues) -- 1971
• The Streak (during the streaker craze) – 1974
• Mississippi Squirrel Revival (a squirrel loose in a church imparts the Spirit) – 1985
• The Day I Tried to Teach Charlene Mackenzie How to Drive -- 1988
• I Saw Elvis in a UFO – 1988
• Osama Yo' Mama – 2001

Lest we pigeonhole him, Ray Stevens also does serious music. He did Everything Is Beautiful, but that's out-of-scope here.

I've discussed some silly songs published before-and-after our 1956-1960 Rogers enlistment. So, what kind of silly songs hit during our Rogers time? The years of 1958 through 1960 saw:

• Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late) – The Chipmunks with David Seville – 1958. Fall-out chipmunk songs, cartoons, lunch boxes, and coffee mugs continue to hit the market today.
• The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wolley – 1958. Exactly one-half century ago. My homeroom was the second floor study hall. For some reason I see the wall adjoining the hallway there whenever I think of this song. Dunno why.
• Yakety Yak – The Coasters – 1958 – In top 100 songs of all time, this one also hit exactly 50 years ago. I'd say this one is most well-known to everybody. It isn't quite as silly as Mersey dotes or comic as Ahab the Arab, but it is catchy to a teenager.
• Poison Ivy – The Coasters – 1959 –  A metaphor for Ivy, a crazy, pretty girl with .. uh ... problems. "She comes on like a rose, but everybody knows / She'll get you in Dutch / You can look, but you'd better not touch."
• Alley Oop – The Hollywood Argyles – 1960. Inspired by the old comic strip. I recall it playing on KNEW.
• Mr. Custer – Larry Verne – 1960. This actually hit in the summer, just after we graduated. I have it in my iPod.
• Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini – Brian Hyland – 1960 – This one made number one on Billboard Top in 1960.

A have a personal andedote involving Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. I will NEVER allow it into my iPod. Read on ...

That song hit at about the time we graduated. I was working for Culler, Gale, Martel, Norrie and Davis, a Spokane architectural firm. My mom was the receptionist. (Note: Alas, the  owners' male egos dictated that she had to say that entire name whenever she answered their phone.) I was the blueprint operator, surveyor helper, and gofer. We were located in the Realty Building on Riverside. That's the building that was dominated by the radio tower atop it that seemed almost part of the building design. I believe that the lighted tower is visible in the night view of Spokane in the 1960 Treasure Chest yearbook.(Another note: A check of Google Earth shows that the building still lives. I assume the elevator no longer needs an operator. Apparently Spokane doesn't do implosions. The tower has been replaced by a small, non-artsy, functional version.   I see that the Suki Yaki Inn  still lives nearby. My mom and I used to eat lunch there -- one half century ago! Did time freeze in Spokane?)

There was a radio station upstairs. I cannot recall the call letters – only that it wasn't KNEW, so it was of no consequence to me. The station was going out of business. Apparently there were hard feelings toward or from somebody or some agency. The personnel started broadcasting an endless loop of Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, locked the doors, and went home. For two or three days that song played on the airwaves. My mom used a two-way PA system to tell people to pick up calls or ask them questions (or listen-in on converstations). Somehow, either the feed or the RF signal got into the PA system. We had to listen to that song for days. I was happy to get on a plane and go off to East Lansing, Michigan to seek my fortune. I never heard that song again ...  for a long long time. 

Life was good. Then, a year or two ago, that stupid song appeared in a TV commercial. I began getting headaches, snapping at Carey, and doing bizzare things. I cured myself by listening to Ahab the Arab from my iPod. Today, the commerical is gone. I claim that I'm healed. Carey is good too, despite 41 years of being with me.