Talk:Dr. Demento

Fish heads

I rolled-back a section added about the Dr. Demento Show, with lyrics from a novelty Fish Head song, because this whole article is about Dr. Demento's radio show. It made it sound like this was a whole different show. Perhaps the material can be incorporated into the current article? - DavidWBrooks 14:58, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Currently, "Fish Heads" Redirects to the Dr. Demento page --216.209.140.12 20:20, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

I propose that the lyrics be added back in. They give a more concrete idea of the meaning of "novelty songs". David Spector (user/talk) 00:23, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Dr. Demento's Name

Someone just changed "Barret Hansen" to "John Hansen." What's the source for this change? Every bio I've ever seen has said "Barret Hansen." I'm going to try to find a source and change it back with a link to a reference. / Will1410 03:02, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

The Dr. Demento website says 'Barret Hansen'. Others sources give his full name as 'Barret Eugene Hansen' Epicidiot 21:45, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

He introduces himself as Barry when at his Reed College reunions.--134.10.22.244 21:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

MTV

Dr. Demento had at least a couple programs on MTV, the Top 20 Funniest Videos, or something along that line. I used to have them on tape. Will have to look for info on that to mention it in the article. Esquizombi 00:52, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

"Top 20 Demented Video Countdown" was the name of the show. MTV aired it on April Fools' Day between 1985-1989. (EmiOfBrie 05:19, 14 March 2006 (UTC))

Can anyone get a list of the videos played? The only one I definitely remember is FishHeads, but there were a couple of Weird Al's also. CFLeon (talk) 00:11, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

I actually have the 1989 list....finding it is another matter entirely, though  :( EmiOfBrie (talk) 04:18, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

1989 was probably the only one I actually saw- I used to have a VHS of the program, but it was stolen many years ago. Was it always the same 25, or did the listing vary each year? CFLeon (talk) 20:37, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Aaron Ackerson

Don't know why the guy doesn't have his own article, or why people keep deleting him off the list. http://aaronackerson.com/

This article attracts lots of vandalism, which often consists of people adding themselves or friends to the musicians' list. There are so many article of even minor musicians on wikipedia now, that a red-link musician added by an anonymous IP is assumed to be a vandal. If he's legitimate, create an article for him. - DavidWBrooks 11:26, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

OK, well I'm finding some people who would be able to create an article with enough content to merit being an article. It'll be up soon --Mattgcn 15:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Songs

What about a list of his songs? "Dead Puppies Aren't Much Fun", "Shaving Cream", etc. --Yancyfry jr

I was surprised to see no mention of the one song I always associate with the good Doctor: "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV. Some of us listened to Dr. Demento long before Weird Al appeared on the scene. -- llywrch (talk) 17:54, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Pico & Sepulveda

Disclaimer: This is my first ever Wiki entry, so I am quite certain I am doing many things wrong. For those of you Wiki-pros, please be patient with me! If you kindly correct me, I will do this again. This entry probably belongs on the article page, not the discussion page or may otherwise be in the wrong section. It is also likely in the wrong format, etc.. I put the entry here because I was apprehensive about editing the main page.

My Goal: I want to enter a request that the Wiki page for Dr. Demento include a section about the song "Pico & Sepulveda". Perhaps, a fuller description of this issue belongs on the wiki page for the song (see under links below) with a reference on the Dr. Demento page about its relevance and impact to the show.

Reason for entry: The entry for Dr. Demento contains statements of the importance of a few songs and groups who have scored big on Dr. Demento over the years. I find this offensive in that it leaves out the one song which has scored the biggest in the history of the Dr. Demento show, that being the song "Pico & Sepulveda" by Felix Figueroa and his Orchestra (1947).

Impact of the Song: During the early years of the show (I am not positive, but am guessing 1970 - 1973), this song became so requested, and hence played, that the "Doctor" decided to give the song a special status, which I am sure, has never been duplicated. From about 1973 onward, he decided to play the song once (and only once!) a month. My memory was that it was played on the first Sunday of every month. The four hour "local" show was divided up into two general segments. The first segment lasted three hours and the "Doctor" played whatever he chose, often thematically. The last hour was devoted to the so called "Top 10" which was determined by petitions and requests. According to the wiki page for the song, it was played at the beginning of the first segment, i.e., at the beginning of the show.

The Doctor's unidirectional covenant he made with his listeners was that in exchange for playing this same song ad infinitum once a month via this special arrangement, it was hereafter voided from ever being voted upon, requested, and/or played in any monthly Top 10 or annual Top 50 format.

The Song: The song is a humorous, though senseless, regurgitation of various street and place names in Los Angeles. The object of the song is a very non-descript intersection of two streets in West LA. Sepulveda is arguably one of the longest streets in the world and has a Wiki entry (see below). Pico is a side street and the intersection is large enough for a traffic light.

The song, in its original version, was (evidently) incorporated into the movie "Forbidden Zone" (1980). See links.

Links:

Wiki entry for the song: http://music.wikia.com/wiki/Pico_&_Sepulveda:Felix_Figueroa_&_His_Orchestra

Wiki entry for Sepulveda Bl.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepulveda_Boulevard

Lyrics: http://www.armory.com/~gergen/Pico-and-Sepulveda.txt

Wiki entry for artist (AKA Freddie Martin): http://music.wikia.com/wiki/Felix_Figueroa_%26_His_Orchestra

You Tube Video (of sketch featuring the song in the movie "Forbidden Zone"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_lvDLeTae8

IMDB Entry for the "Forbidden Zone": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080752/

--207.67.87.70 23:36, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

• I have done my best to update all of this. --evrik ^(talk) 05:42, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Record collection

I read many years ago that the good Doctor was listed in the Guinness book of world records book as having the largest personal record collection, over 100,000 discs (somewhere around 500,000 songs). Anyone know if this is true? — Loadmaster 23:24, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Need a discography

I don't really know a lot about setting these up or, more importantly, finding all the items that go in it. However, a discography would be useful at this point in his history; even though he isn't the recording artist, it's still one of the main ways the user has to become more familiar with his work, as it were. Lawikitejana 18:53, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I've begun to give him one, but he has released quite a lot of albums, even if you don't count his Basement Tapes collection. I think I should put the discography on a separate page. --Asklepios 23:59, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

A discography would be acceptable, so long as it includes albums that he himself performed in (if any), not just albums he produced as anthologies of others' work. It should be in the same article, not a different page. David Spector (user/talk) 00:19, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Merge proposal

The Whimsical Will stub is very small. Since he is affiliated with Dr. Demento, all the info there could probably be moved to a section on the Dr. Demento article. Mapsax (talk) 21:04, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

NAW! - Whimsical Will is just as deserving as "Weird" Al of his own page. Will has been cranking out material for eons (yes - I like technical terms!) and if there is any fault in his article being short, I suggest that he hasn't had the attention or coverage that Al has garnered. Like Bobby Pickett, Sam Kineson, or Bill Hicks, you better appreciate the talent while you got it! Mark Sublette (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)Mark SubletteMark Sublette (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Support, Will has been around a long time but his article just doesn't cut it. It's a single sentence. Coming up with verifiable 3rd party references will be difficult and the article is likely to be deleted. Better to merge it into Dr. Demento's page.--Rtphokie (talk) 12:20, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

NOPE - If Whimsical Will is included on the Dr. D. page, then why not Musical Mike? Jungle Judy? Captain Chaos? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xwagner (talk • contribs) 15:22, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

That actually seems to support the proposal. All of them could be included in a section called something like "Sidekicks" or "Cast", and there could be redirects set up to point to the Dr. D article. Mapsax (talk) 20:15, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

The Funny Farm

At this youtube link I find the famous '60s song The Funny Farm attributed to Dr. Demento. Yet this page doesn't mention that. That has to be among the most famous of all things he did, if in fact he is who did it. Is that attribution wrong? Michael Hardy (talk) 23:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

That is flat out wrong. That's "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV. It has received a lot of airplay on Dr. Demento over the years and has appeared on Dr. Demento various artists compilations. Steelbeard1 (talk) 02:02, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. The youtube page now has more accurate information. Michael Hardy (talk) 11:25, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Life lesson #1, don't believe anything you read on the internet; consider the source and always fact check with reputable publications.2602:306:320A:AF0:816D:E0BC:C7A3:56A7 (talk) 22:04, 11 July 2016 (UTC)

Affiliates

Whoa, why so few? I checked his site and there really is that few, I know maybe 5 years ago the list was MUCH bigger. Any info on what happened to cut it down to 8 stations? --TIB (talk) 12:12, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

First of all, no national advertisers anymore so stations have to pay for the shows now. Also, the stations cannot stream the show anymore so stations not set up to blackout unauthorized shows and commercials on streaming audio have dropped out. The show offers end users streaming audio of past shows for a fee as well as a subscription to listen to past shows. Info at [1]. Steelbeard1 (talk) 14:36, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Section has been deleted. See below. David Spector (user/talk) 00:16, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Main page needs more work

Not only did Dr. D. contribute to Al Yankovich, but he played Boris Pickett with Star Dreck and Monster Mash, and Cindy Lauper when she appeared with "She's So Unusual" and "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun." I only briefly concentrated on him when I was in college, but Dr. D really does deserve better, more detailed treatment. Oh, Spike Jones was another popular historic figure he played, even if he wasn't my taste. 143.232.210.38 (talk) 23:20, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Weird AL

Am I missing something... Why is this at the bottom of Dr. Demento's page?

Quebec99 (talk) 20:39, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

50 Years Behind the Microphone (and still Demented!) by Dr. Demento

Dr. Demento was the keynote speaker at Mensa AG 2009 Pittsburgh PA July 4, 2009. [2] Mensa techs video taped the presentation for posterity, therefore we should be able to obtain a transcript or link.

The following quotes are what I heard Mr. Hansen say, therefore we must verify my quotes match the official transcript before we apply them to the article. May improve this entry by citing directly from the official transcript.

Mr. Hansen brought audio and video clips which he cued during his presentation. He played numerous songs, showed his appearances on Bobby's World and The Simpsons, and his appearance on the Barnes and Barnes music video for "Fish Heads" He told the names of the two actors, Barnes and Barnes, who performed in garbage bags. One video showed "Weird Al" Yankovic thanking Dr. Demento and Weird Al carrying Dr. Demento on his back!

Mr. Hansen explained at the age of 4, he begged his parents to buy his first record and teach him how to use the record player. "At age 9, I was riding a trolley car. That tells how old I am. I saw a sign 'records 2 for 5 cents' on a record store. I had 55 cents in my pocket, got off and bought 22 records. My collection has grown over the years even after the price rose to 5 cents. Lately fans mail me boxes of CDs or email links."

Mr. Hansen also said the name Dr. Demento was coined by the Pasadena station KPPC-FM.[1] station manager (Mr. Hansen mentioned the station manager's name but I didn't catch it.) to describe a fictional person who knows all about records. The station manager, learning of Mr. Hansen's college musical training, subsequently introduced Mr. Hansen as Dr. Demento on air without telling Mr. Hansen beforehand. Mr. Hansen adopted the persona bestowed upon him at that time. --Sponsion (talk) 16:47, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

This would be good material to add if we only had some confirmation in a reliable source. As is, it can only be added to WikiInfo, because it meets their policies. David Spector (user/talk) 00:15, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Why is there a list of previous affiliates?

Anybody care if it is deleted? Gaohoyt (talk) 17:52, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Good catch. This section is unimportant, non-notable, a list, trivia, unencyclopedic, and unreferenced. These are all violations of WP guidelines or policies. I have deleted it. David Spector (user/talk) 00:10, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Contradicting Info

This is 1st my time visiting Dr. Dementos's page here on Wikipedia. I noticed that there is a page in Italian so I clicked on it. On the English page, it says Dr. Demento is active 1970-present. However the Italian page says 1974 as the begining. What's going on?

Not seen the Italian wiki (and I don't speak Italian) but it could just be confusion over how long Dr. Demento has been active (he's used that stage name on the radio since 1970) and when the Dr. Demento Show has been active (the show first ran in syndication in 1974). 2601:1:C100:2930:8442:A46:B1E:7CAD (talk) 19:36, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

External links modified

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Bart Simpson

Why is Bart Simpson frightened of him?--78.147.212.241 (talk) 16:06, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

KPCC?

On the main page at heading "Career", we see "Hansen created the persona of Dr. Demento in 1970 while working at KPCC (FM) in Pasadena, California." I believe this is a typo, as it is in direct conflict with the reference to KPPC in the lead paragraph as well as every other reference to the good Doctor's early career that I have seen.

I have never changed a live page before (nerves?) so I'm posting this here. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than I will attend to it.

Note, the hyperlink actually goes to the KPCC page, so it should also be corrected.Lbyler (talk) 20:52, 30 October 2024 (UTC)