The McKenzie brothers also did a parody of The Twelve Days of Christmas that was pretty popular at the time. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a beer”
With references to Psycho and the the IRS wrapped in paranoia, it is as much a novelty song as Thriller was. And I think it was a great song! I perform it paired with “Every Breath You Take” and make references to Sting in the outro.
Great White North deserves its own video!!! Thank you for talking about that magical gem of a song from a lost innocent age in my past. Really brought back memories of the EARLY 80’s before we knew it was the 80’s. I remember hearing Geddy Lee’s voice on that song and instantly falling in love with it. It made Doug n Bob instantly cool as hell and THE comedy guys to quote at school. I do believe they were responsible for the early 80’s “took” craze in hats.
I work in a warehouse on the day shift which is all grizzled older fellas, like me, who don't have much of a sense of humor anymore. One guy is a joker though and he came into the break room at lunchtime one day and said loudly "Hey, hosers! How's it goin', eh?" and the whole shift lost it! Even the most miserable guys were quoting the McKenzie Brothers the rest of the day! Pure gold!
I remember bringing in a coffee sandwich. That was a few of the things I did to try to stop a lunch room thief. Took a few tries, the coffee sandwich didn’t work though. Made a meatloaf sandwich. Used a special sauce, placed right in the center. Syrup of ipEcac. (Sp? Iphone keeps changing spelling. This one looked fun). The ipecac worked. He lost it right there.
Whether it was intended as a JOKE or not, Bob and Doug McKenzie's music got a lot of air play in the early 1980's. This was years before Rick Moranis' movie career took off. Geddy Lee's recognizable voice certainly helped Take Off. But their "Canadian version" of The 12 Days of Christmas must have been played almost every hour on most radio stations during the holidays. They may have been novelty tracks, but they were definitely classics!
I. Love. TAKE OFF!! I first heard it on the "Dr. Demento Show" and believe me it was the talk of the playground the next day at school in Aurora, CO. 🤣
That’s hilarious. While not quite thematically on point, I used to sing about the “five little piggies” during my daughter’s bath time, only I’d sing it to Folsom Prison Blues: This piggy went to market This piggy, he stayed home This piggy, he had roast beef But this piggy, he had none ‘Cuz he shot a man in Reno… just to watch him die… When I see that piggy runnin’ I hang my head and cry (All the way home)
You're an awesome Dad, Joe! I miss my dad and his corny jokes so much. He'll be gone 28 years this August, but I'm still laughing at his jokes. Your children will remember your humor fondly, too!
At the time, there was a Bloom County strip mocking "the recent trend of actors hiring a band and recording an album". Opus and Milo's band Deathtongue asked, "Well who's on the phone?" "Don Knotts"
I have a Julie Brown CD, with all her hits. Can't remember if it was autographed. In any event, I hadn't heard any of the songs from this video. I think I was mostly listening to 60s-70s stations during the 80s. But, thanks to the Dr., I have heard the 12 Days of Christmas.
As a lifelong SCTV fan, of course I picked up Bob and Doug's album, and enjoyed the song "Take Off" a lot. The entire album was a lot of fun. Having a song like "Take Off" just made it even better, especially with Geddy's vocals. Strange Brew was a hilarious movie, too. Also lifelong is my love of video games, including Pac-Man, and Buckner & Garcia's whole album was a treat for me. Aside from "Pac-Man Fever" I also particularly like "Berzerk Over You" and "The Defender." I also really like how the band (minus Garcia as he had passed on) was featured in Wreck-It Ralph (a movie I love) with a new song, "Wreck It, Wreck-It Ralph" which was quite catchy. And Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" is just very catchy and danceable and fun to listen to. By the way, Bill McClintok did an awesome mashup between "Somebody's Watching Me" and Black Sabbath's "Snowblind." You ought to check it out. It's actually really good.
I was sitting at a Hozier concert the other day waiting for it to start, talking with the “kids” around me. Every time someone mentioned his name (correctly pronounced as Hoser), I couldn’t help dropping references to Bob and Doug McKenzie. It made me laugh even though nobody around me got the joke. Oh well. Damn good concert.
One that we nerds would sing in Physics class as we waited for the bell to ring to start class was "Star Trekkin'". I think that came out around the time that "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was in theatres. I have to agree on the Julie Brown songs; my older brother had the album and those would crack me up. While it was a couple of years before the 80s, Steve Martin's "King Tut" has been a favorite of mine since I was about six.
My husband remembered this song. It was playing on a radio while he and others were waiting to board a plane for Vietnam in 1966. He had a great and twisted sense of humor. One of the reasons we were together for 47.5 years.
In Geddy's autobiography, he actually features a class picture that has him, Alex and Rick in it and he naturally talks about "Take Off." What makes that song great is how Canadian all three become and to me sets the stage for all of the funny films that would be included as part of Rush live shows. It may be a novelty track, but it has Geddy Lee, so that makes it great in my book.
Just popping in to say Bob & Doug were gloriously funny. Strange Brew is a cult classic comedy film any 80's kid should know, and their version of the 12 Days of Christmas is still one of the best holiday songs ever.
When I got into Rush as a 30 something and I was talking with my Dad about Geddy, he said he wasn't familiar with Rush and he only knew Tom Sawyer and Take off by the McKenzie Brothers.
@@smdias65have you heard any Rush albums? There should be no doubt he is a genius based on the 19 studio albums he, and the two other members of the triumvirate, created.
I'm a Chicagoan who was in college during the Bears 85 win. This song was epic in Chicago. No liked it but it played constantly on the radio and we all sang it loud and proud. 😅
Same here too. Know somebody who has the newspaper article hanging on their basement wall and when I see it it brings back memories of all the hype the game had into it.....We need another Mike Ditka definitely!
Dave Thomas' younger brother, Canadian singer/composer Ian Thomas, also appeared on the Great White North and composed the theme song for Strange Brew.
Ian Thomas also wrote and did the original version of the Mike and the Mechanic's hit "Silent Running" ; Ian got a bad contract with CBS Records who would take his music and give it over to other artists rather than release his albums in the states
@@gregolder1713 They did that to him repeatedly, Hold On for Santana, The Runner for Manfred Mann, and Right Before Your Eyes for America. I hope he at least got royalties.
In 1981, The Afternoon Delights released “General Hospi-tale,” a parody of the soap opera which was extremely popular at the time. It also featured Rick Springfield in the cast. I also have a 45 single of “Take Off” in my collection.
I remember listening to Bob and Dougs album for the first time, not knowing who would be singing on this song, and was FLOORED to hear Geddy's voice. My friends and I broke out laughing and thought this was the best thing ever. Unless you're Canadian, I don't think you could understand how popular Bob and Doug were and how amazing this collaboration was to fans of comedy and rock. Kitchy, yes. Fun? Absolutely. Not all rock has to be serious (just ask Weird Al) and it was great to hear a rockstar known for his serious, progressive music do something light and fun.
The surprised delight at hearing Geddy on this song was only matched decades later when I saw I Love You Man (and didn’t know who was going to guest star 😁).
I am the 57-year-old hose-head who pretty much knew this album word for word. Still roll word for word with "Take Off." Canada has many bands that were criminally ignored. April Wine is my favorite all-time band. Triumph, Chilliwack, Coney Hatch, The Tragically Hip, Saga, Trooper, Honeymoon Suite, and many more. Thank you, Canada!
@@vcv6560 That would be AWESOME! Dr. Demento is still around, real name is Barret Eugene Hansen (Barry Hansen). He's 83 and I think he's still working. I would LOVE for Adam to interview him, I know Adam would think of some great questions to ask, and we _need_ this interview for posterity!😍
OMG!!! I'm from Chicago the Shuffle is still great!!!! I still have my 45s of Take Off & Party All the Time. I still will dance to that (to the chagrin of my kids). Such a great episode tonight. Thanks Prof for such great memories. I was in my 20s in the 80s. Great times dude!!!!!
You were talking about Geddy Lee’s biggest hit with Rush being New World Man, and playing on my radio at the same time was New World Man by the same Rush.
Back in the 1980s, I had to pick up my father and drive us to my brother's home in a neighboring state. It was pouring rain, black out, a narrow road on the side of a mountain that we's be on for at least another hour, and I started singing the refrain, nothing more, while driving that section of road. My father wisely made no comment throughout. Diane, using Joe's tablet
Seriously, if I want to make my wife smile when nothing else works, I do a dramatic reading of the lyrics to Sugar Walls from Sheena Easton but in the voice of William Shatner. Look up the lyrics and imagine this in your head. Beat cringe ever!
Did you know that one of the Barnes & Barnes duo was Billy Mumy, "Will Robinson" on Lost In Space, and a guest star on nearly every 1960s TV show out there, from Twilight Zone to Bewitched?
I heard Dave Thomas say in an interview that Canada's national broadcaster wanted something more "authentically Canadian" so he and Moranis decided to do a parody of what most people think Canadians are like, which is why they over-used a lot of Canadian slang, drank Molson Canadian, wore toques n winter clothes all year, etc. It was meant to be a "fuck you" to the "Canadian Content" regulators who demanded a certain type of "art" in order to be considered Canadian Content.
Actually, that’s not quite it. We had what was called Canadian content rules. In other words a certain percentage of every TV show had to be what was called Canadian content. so they said OK you want Canadian content? And made it as ridiculously stereotypically Canadian as possible.
@@richardforgetcanada Also not quite the true story. The bit was created at the last minute as they needed about 2 minutes to fill the difference between the program run time with Canadian allowable commercials and American allowable commercials. They added the Can Con as a bit of a "screw you" yes, but the segment was last minute fill that became iconic and much loved. I knew some of the cast and crew in those days.
yes i didnt know that either until last summer i bought the lonely bull.deluxe cd reussue outsold the beatles hard to believe booklet said last month i found holy grail 5lp.set longines symphonette box half price 5 dollars collab. with a and m virgin vinly high quality mint condtiion plan to replace sleeves.but indie store out rsd last time i went
The irony of Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time" was that he used to make fun of Michael Jackson's high voice during his stand-up. Then his first single comes out and Eddie is singing falsetto himself! I always thought it was a good song, teenaged me and my friends never thought of it as a bad song or a joke at the time.
As a Canadian, I’m ashamed that I didn’t know that Geddy Lee sang on Great White North. Thanks for educating me on that. Rockwell was a big hit and Some body’s Watching Me as well. What an enjoyable experience!
My personal number one would have been "City of Crime" from Dragnet featuring the rap stylings of Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Additionally, there is some Zappa stuff like Moon's "Valley Girl" and Dweezil's "Let's Talk About It" (featuring Moon). "She Blinded me with Science" was pretty novelty and just about any Oingo Boingo, but especially "Weird Science." Still a great list though! Cheers! 🎵
The worst of the 80s is still better than the best of 2024... And Killer Klowns from out of space is more creative and funny than anything in theaters this year!!! Thanx, Professor!!!!
IS there any original music being produced in 2024? I only hear songs from the (BEST) bygone years and covers of the (BEST) bygone years when I turn my radio on.
Bob and Doug were not just filler content. Canadian regulations insisted that SCTV included a bit that was specifically targeted towards a Canadian audience, so the McKenzie Brothers were a legal obligation or the show wouldn't get funding.
I heard the opposite. That it was illegal to have an overly Canadian stereotype on TV. I may have heard wrong, but they threw everything they could into the characters to see what would happen.
15:10 - Eddie's 2 stand-up specials, "Delirious" & "Raw", were the absolute pinnacles of his artistic & comedic genius! Although, "Party All The Time" will always hold a special place in my heart🤗
Okay, the deal with the Great White North is that there are fewer commercials per ad break in Canada so there was always time left over at the end when broadcast up here. At the same time, they were getting some pressure to include more Canadian Content (CanCon). They created the McKenzie Bros as a bit of a middle finger to that and, much to their surprise, the bit blew up and became a cultural touchstone for an entire generation of Canadians. By the way, toque (there are several spelling so don't at me fellow Canucks) is not pronounced "toke", it's "tuke" as in Luke.
About Don Johnson: he actually was a musician first then an actor. He has a co-write on The Allman Brothers album, “Enlightened Rogues” - “Can’t Take It With You”.
I'm amazed that Adam mentioned the actors turned singers with Don Johnson and Bruce Willis but not the soap actors like Rick Springfield (who, in fairness, was a singer first, with his first US Top 40 hit all the way back in 1972), Jack Wagner, and Michael Damien. Of course, that wasn't an exclusively 80s phenomenon, given in the early 1970s you had the Partridge Family with a string of hits, and the Brady Bunch attempting to have them.
The song was created because Richard Pryer bet Eddie Murphy that he could not do good song. Eddie Murphy did a good song that did well on the charts. Needless to say, Pryer lost the bet. It just shows how truly talented Eddie Murphy is.
The way Eddie Murphy sings the words "party all the time", it just makes me think of how Weird Al could've sang it as "Potty All the Time". He's done plenty of songs about food, just not about what becomes of it after digestion.
In the UK we also have a tradition of novelty songs.In the 80s, Black Lace brought out Agadoo and Superman, prompting the satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image to bring out The Chicken Song, which actually went to number 1. Joe Dolce with Shaddappa Your Face prevented Ultravox from reaching number 1 in 1981 . Later in the 80s we had songs like Star Trekking by The Firm. In the seventies of course we had classic punk novelty song Gordon Is A Moron by Jilted John. Benny Hill in the early 70s sang Ernie ( The Fastest Mikman In The West). Other US and UK novelty songs which deserve a listen to just because of the titles (from different decades and in no particular order): Don't Go Near The Eskimo byy Ben Colder, Ape Call by Nervous Norvus, The Funky Gibbon by The Goodies, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour ( On The Bedpost Overnight)? by Lonnie Donegan And His Skiffle Group, A Pub With No Beer by Slim Fusty, Lop-sided, Overloaded ( And It Wiggled While We Rode It) by Bryan Hyland, My Boomerang Won't Come Back by Charlie Drake, I Bet You Won't Play This Song On The Radio by Monty Python, Marty Feldman Eyes, and Girl Machine by Johnny Walsh. Not normally considered novelty per se but just as wacky and quirky: Nellie The Elephant by Toy Dolls and the supremely wonderful Preposterous Tales by I, Ludicrous
"One Night in Bangkok" was pretty cheesy, but I have to admit, I kinda liked it at the time. Anyway, I think your Novelty Song list was spot on. Great job, as always.
There's an obscure song on "The Serpant is Rising" by Styx that I accidentally noticed at the very end of the album. If you don't lift the needle from the LP at the very end a song called "Don't sit on the Plexiglass Toilet" plays after about ten seconds of silence.
The McKenzie bros where just so cool and the song rocks! They were sooooo surprised by how hard Canadians went in on The Great White North segments. It was just so darned Canadian, eh?
I'm always trying to figure out your thumbnail before listening. You usually give my brain a workout but this one drove me nuts Keep up the good work 😂
Bob & Doug's comedy album was great. When I got too old to Trick-or-Treat, one Halloween I got up on my roof with a stereo, and would play a bit with them saying "Take-off, eh!" every time someone would approach the house.
It's probably already been mentioned but the "10 bucks is 10 bucks" line was a call back from the start of the Great White North Album where Bob and Doug share that their pay for the album was, "10 bucks... each! So we're not morons." Fortunately for Geddy, the brothers McKenzie, while not morons, are just dumb enough to not realize that they got hosed getting paid no more for the whole album than Mr Lee was paid for a single track. Take off!
I always loved Sam Kinison"s version of "wild thing". The video stars more rock stars (from other bands) than any other rock music video ever (17 in total). I always wondered how he was able to gather them all together for the video, it's like a who's who of 80's rock. I'd love to see you do a segment on it, thanks....LOVE your channel
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is my favorite B-movie and one of my favorite over all! My 9yo daughter has been singing Pac-Man Fever for years lol. We got her the game on one of those hand held things and she still loves it. Among my favorite novelty/gimmick songs: Rappin Duke-Shawn Brown Wild Wood Weed/Spiders and Snakes-Jim Stafford EVERYTHING Ray Stevens did She Blinded Me With Science-Thomas Dolby One Night in Bangkok-Murray Head ( I was on the chess team when this came out. We were ecstatic). Hopefully I got a few that weren't already mentioned. Thanks Adam for another amazing episode!! JJ -South Alabama
Geddy Lee and The GWN - so unlikely and therefore completely perfect! I’d never heard a Canadian accent and just their voices made me laugh. I loved the silliness!😂
I first heard it in the album before it was a single. My mom loved Vincent Price so I instantly knew who was speaking, and I was thrilled, pardon the reference.
I've always been a fan of the channel, but just seeing a Nitzer Ebb album in the background made me smile. You never fail to surprise in all the best ways!
8:25 - This leaves out the REAL life brother story of "Bob & Doug McKenzie". Dave Thomas's brother is singer/guitarist Ian Thomas who has had a long prolific career in Canada, plus made millions from songs covered by foreigners: "Hold On" by Santana, "Right Before Your Eyes" by America, "The Runner" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, among others by different artists. 9:10 - Toque rhymes with nuke, not coke.
@@EmetYAHU RIGHT?? I don't think we were paranoid enough! My mom was born in 1920, and she loved watching "Soul Train" with me when I was a teen, and she considered Michael Jackson to be a better dancer (and person) than Gene Kelly. Momma was a good dancer, and she won jitterbug contests when she was young. She told me, circa 1978, "I'm glad when you get to be my age, racism will be a thing of the past!" She was @ 58 when she told me that. I was 58 in 2019, and it breaks my heart how much her prediction has NOT come true!😭 It would break her heart if she knew that my brother hasn't spoken to me since 2015, and it's because of "religion".
The Chocolate Milk scene where Moranis apologized for puking on her shoes...lol...and wasn't the nemis Ming from Flash Gordon? A Rush/Queen Connection professor...
As PoR said, the "Great White North" was added to the SCTV show for the CBC. The CBC is the Canadian broadcast corporation. The Canadian government tried to promote Canadian content on radio and tv so it was not surprising that they asked that the extra two minutes on SCTV get something distinctly Canadian. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas initially created the skit as a way of insulting the CBC and their request for Canadian content. I remember hearing "Take Off" on the radio. It included a long interview with the comedians but I thought the song was the funniest thing I had heard.
I remember when William the Refrigerator Perry and his wife were living here in Las Vegas around 2000. They were down on their luck. They were a nice couple!
I wouldn’t have called Somebody’s Watching Me a parody. It was immensely popular back in the day. And thanks for reopening the wound from the Patriots getting destroyed in Super Bowl XX. I was too young to realize that they didn’t stand a chance and I was devastated at the loss. 😂
Even better was when they took the 3-0 early lead and gave us that little bit of false hope. But now we have six Lombardis to look at and savor, while Chicago still has only the one, from nearly 40 years ago, so I can't be too bitter about the 46-10 shellacking any more.
My girl, goes potty all the time, potty all the time. When the little lady has to go pee in the middle of the night. It's a staple in our household. Thank you Eddie and Rick.
The Super Bowl shuffle is God Awful, but man, in the 80s, God Awful was GOLD!! And that’s exactly what that is! LEGENDARY 😂 But you missed my New York Giants’s song, called “We Are The New York Giants” 😂 Eddie Murphy was a legend in the 80s. I actually love that song. Still do! Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat” was as cheesy as it gets, and I LOVED it! The Rockwell video was one of my favorites! Loved the song, but as a fan of horror films and TV shows like “Tales Frontier the Darkside” I loved the creepy atmosphere of the video! Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane my man!
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 lol! Yes. It’s on UA-cam. You can look it up. It was from 1986 called, “We’re The New York Giants” It’s awful, hilarious, and awesome! 😂
Rockwell’s song is not just a novelty song; Thriller (or anything with Vincent Price) obviously was Michael’s Novelty hit, except for making the video to go with it.
The Eddie Murphy song was done by Rick James to piss off Prince. James and Prince were bitter rivals and he gave the song to Murphy just to stick it to Prince.
I whistle and sing “Take Off…to the Great White North” each evening to bring my horses in. They know when I whistle or sing “a-lu-u-oo a-Lu-u-oo” it’s time to come in. Don’t know what the neighbors think…😂
A funny piece of trivia, Dave Thomas's younger brother is singer-composer Ian Thomas. Dave Thomas's recording of "Take Off" charted higher than any of his brother's multiple songs that aired over the years.
❤🎉 Now this is a fun episode! Bad songs........ but some of these are fun. And Party All The Time and Somebody's Watching Me are great, fun songs. With Rick James and Michael Jackson behind the songs, they are actually quite good. Thanks for this countdown Professor! See ya Monday.
I'm the same I LOVE bad B songs and movies ... Wearing my 1954 Godzilla t-shirt right now. Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla The Vapors - I think I'm turning Japanese Wang Chung - Everybody Wang Chung tonight Nena - 99 Luft balloons Falco - Rock me Amadeus
The original 1954 (not the one with Raymond Burr) Godzilla was actually pretty serious and dark compared to the campy 60s and 70s ones. Also 1954 was only 9 years since the war.
Poll: What is your pick for the BEST or WORST Novelty song EVER?
Samantha Fox - I Wanna Have Some Fun 🤮
Disco Duck. best and worst
Where's Captain Kirk? -- by the punk band Spizz Energi. 😅
Best novelty.....if I don't count Weird Al stuff I'll go with Somebody's Watching Me. If I was voting Al, it would be White and Nerdy.
BEST:
The Streak- Ray Stevens
My Girl Bill- Jim Stafford
Spiders And Snakes- Jim Stafford
The McKenzie brothers also did a parody of The Twelve Days of Christmas that was pretty popular at the time. “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… a beer”
I loved that song!
I remember vividly!
the important part was...beer.
😂😂😂
@@TerrickTerran "...two turtlenecks...and a beer....iiiin a treeeee!" ("see, there has to be more there...")
Bob: You got the lyrics?
Geddy: Yeah, well, I memorized them.
Doug: How did you do that so fast?
Geddy: I'm a professional, man.
Five gold touques, four pounds of back bacon, three french toast, two turtle necks, and a beer under the tree. Hoser. You're welcome eh?
This should be just the two days of christmas, this is too hard for us!
Good day
*in a tree
I think that beer is empty!
I never thought of Somebody's watching Me, as a novelty song.
Agreed. I don't think it truly fits the definition.
Yes, it wasn’t novelty, it was just a bad song.
Same
With references to Psycho and the the IRS wrapped in paranoia, it is as much a novelty song as Thriller was. And I think it was a great song! I perform it paired with “Every Breath You Take” and make references to Sting in the outro.
@@michaeluhler3474 ummmmmm, Thriller has fucking zombies in it, bro. And a senior citizen rapping. Talk about false equivalence.
Great White North deserves its own video!!! Thank you for talking about that magical gem of a song from a lost innocent age in my past. Really brought back memories of the EARLY 80’s before we knew it was the 80’s. I remember hearing Geddy Lee’s voice on that song and instantly falling in love with it. It made Doug n Bob instantly cool as hell and THE comedy guys to quote at school. I do believe they were responsible for the early 80’s “took” craze in hats.
I work in a warehouse on the day shift which is all grizzled older fellas, like me, who don't have much of a sense of humor anymore. One guy is a joker though and he came into the break room at lunchtime one day and said loudly "Hey, hosers! How's it goin', eh?" and the whole shift lost it! Even the most miserable guys were quoting the McKenzie Brothers the rest of the day! Pure gold!
NICE!!! 😅😅😅
That’s hilarious! Love it! 😂
Buncha hosers eh
Beauty!
I remember bringing in a coffee sandwich. That was a few of the things I did to try to stop a lunch room thief. Took a few tries, the coffee sandwich didn’t work though. Made a meatloaf sandwich. Used a special sauce, placed right in the center. Syrup of ipEcac. (Sp? Iphone keeps changing spelling. This one looked fun).
The ipecac worked. He lost it right there.
Whether it was intended as a JOKE or not, Bob and Doug McKenzie's music got a lot of air play in the early 1980's. This was years before Rick Moranis' movie career took off. Geddy Lee's recognizable voice certainly helped Take Off. But their "Canadian version" of The 12 Days of Christmas must have been played almost every hour on most radio stations during the holidays. They may have been novelty tracks, but they were definitely classics!
In the US, we got to hear “12 days” seasonally on the Doctor Demento show.
@@michaelz6555and regular rock stations
Indeed!
Still played here
How l miss those days.
Like Geddy said, “Ten bucks is ten bucks”
Right?
His voice sounds remarkable in that short bit. In his prime years Lee was a hell of a vocalist.
@@MrClassicmetal that's what I was thinking. Geddy's voice was so pure and precise sounding.
There HAS to be video of this! Someone please post it!!!!
I'm talking about Take Off.
Literally heard Somebody’s Watching Me in the grocery store yesterday. Couldn’t help but groove to it. That MJ sung hook is still 🔥
I. Love. TAKE OFF!! I first heard it on the "Dr. Demento Show" and believe me it was the talk of the playground the next day at school in Aurora, CO. 🤣
I know Aurora! Lived on Colfax
When I would give my children a bath I used to sing to them “I always feel like, somebody’s washing me…”
Ha ha! You've had a few of these!
That’s hilarious.
While not quite thematically on point, I used to sing about the “five little piggies” during my daughter’s bath time, only I’d sing it to Folsom Prison Blues:
This piggy went to market
This piggy, he stayed home
This piggy, he had roast beef
But this piggy, he had none
‘Cuz he shot a man in Reno… just to watch him die…
When I see that piggy runnin’
I hang my head and cry
(All the way home)
You fellas are killing me! 😂
You're an awesome Dad, Joe!
I miss my dad and his corny jokes so much. He'll be gone 28 years this August, but I'm still laughing at his jokes. Your children will remember your humor fondly, too!
😂😂😂😂😂😂
At the time, there was a Bloom County strip mocking "the recent trend of actors hiring a band and recording an album". Opus and Milo's band Deathtongue asked, "Well who's on the phone?"
"Don Knotts"
Who else had the Bloom County comic book that came with the 'floppy' 45' of two Deathtoungue songs? 'you stink, but I love you' and 'I'm a boinger'
@@adreanmarantz2103 YES!!!
@@adreanmarantz2103 I had that album! YOU STINK! But I loooooove youuuuu
Billy and the Boingers Bootleg!!
You have reached deep into the 80s soul. Thank you for the reminder.
How could you forget Julie Brown classic songs "Homecoming Queen's got a gun" and "I like 'em big and Stupid". Fun times.
YES!!! 💯 I came here to say Homecoming Queen. How could I have forgotten Big & Stupid? Also "Cuz I'm a Blonde" 🤣
I loved Julie Brown! I especially liked Big and Stupid.
I have a Julie Brown CD, with all her hits. Can't remember if it was autographed. In any event, I hadn't heard any of the songs from this video. I think I was mostly listening to 60s-70s stations during the 80s. But, thanks to the Dr., I have heard the 12 Days of Christmas.
I used to hear these on Dr. Demento.
Trapped in the body of a White Girl 😂❤
As a lifelong SCTV fan, of course I picked up Bob and Doug's album, and enjoyed the song "Take Off" a lot. The entire album was a lot of fun. Having a song like "Take Off" just made it even better, especially with Geddy's vocals. Strange Brew was a hilarious movie, too.
Also lifelong is my love of video games, including Pac-Man, and Buckner & Garcia's whole album was a treat for me. Aside from "Pac-Man Fever" I also particularly like "Berzerk Over You" and "The Defender." I also really like how the band (minus Garcia as he had passed on) was featured in Wreck-It Ralph (a movie I love) with a new song, "Wreck It, Wreck-It Ralph" which was quite catchy.
And Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me" is just very catchy and danceable and fun to listen to. By the way, Bill McClintok did an awesome mashup between "Somebody's Watching Me" and Black Sabbath's "Snowblind." You ought to check it out. It's actually really good.
"Okay, everyone, like, this is ME on the DRUMS." I loved that Bob and Doug McKenzie track!
It is so!
I was sitting at a Hozier concert the other day waiting for it to start, talking with the “kids” around me. Every time someone mentioned his name (correctly pronounced as Hoser), I couldn’t help dropping references to Bob and Doug McKenzie. It made me laugh even though nobody around me got the joke. Oh well. Damn good concert.
When I first heard of him, literally, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "Take off, you hoser!"
I can't believe "The Curly Shuffle" didn't make your list. #15 in early 1984.
Oh yes!!!!! Woob-woob-woob!!
Was gonna say that one. CAN'T STAND THAT EARWORM!
Agreed on this one
"hey Moe! hey Moe!"
Correct. It should replace the Rockwell song, which isn't really a novelty song at all.
Sam Kinison's Wild Thing featuring a who's who of 80's talent.
One that we nerds would sing in Physics class as we waited for the bell to ring to start class was "Star Trekkin'". I think that came out around the time that "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was in theatres. I have to agree on the Julie Brown songs; my older brother had the album and those would crack me up. While it was a couple of years before the 80s, Steve Martin's "King Tut" has been a favorite of mine since I was about six.
I never thought Party all the Time or Somebody's Watching Me were novelty songs. And I didn't consider Pac Man Fever or Take Off as cringe-Worthy.
"They're coming to take me away ha ha, they're coming to take me away ho ho, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time..."
It’s an insane song, no pun intended but what can you say…but it was released and a big hit in the 60s…
Amazing! My poor parents had to listen to us "sing" that over & over! Thanks for reminding me. Best/worse novelty song ever!
My husband remembered this song. It was playing on a radio while he and others were waiting to board a plane for Vietnam in 1966. He had a great and twisted sense of humor. One of the reasons we were together for 47.5 years.
That song came on the car radio when I was about 6 or 7, and it scared me and creeped me out. Now almost 60 years later, it still creeps me out.
@@erikajames4592 Thankfully, my husband & I share the same humor & are fortunately still alive & well since 1980! Married since 1981.
In Geddy's autobiography, he actually features a class picture that has him, Alex and Rick in it and he naturally talks about "Take Off." What makes that song great is how Canadian all three become and to me sets the stage for all of the funny films that would be included as part of Rush live shows. It may be a novelty track, but it has Geddy Lee, so that makes it great in my book.
Geddy Lee makes any song 5 times better.
Become? Born Canadian, kept their Canadian roots. Geddy still around the GTA. He stayed true to us and his home.
@@ednaatluxton4918 I meant with the eh and hoser stuff.
The MacKenzie brother put the word “hoser” into our vocabulary
That's right!
Take Off, Eh.
Take off eh ! Canadians already knew ....lol
😂 hose head
👍🤣 Typical hosers, 'eh. 😂
Just popping in to say Bob & Doug were gloriously funny. Strange Brew is a cult classic comedy film any 80's kid should know, and their version of the 12 Days of Christmas is still one of the best holiday songs ever.
Mexican Radio was one of my all-time favorites.
I'm on a Mexican radio...
Come on that is not a novelty song. It has some humor in it but that is a brilliant piece of weird pop music.
@@stefannelson Respetfully slightly disagree, but your point has merit. Maybe I just had too much barbecued iguana (on a stick
I think that was the band of the very serious Stan Ridgway..
I’ve had some bad days where I wished I was in Tijuana eatin’ BBQ iguana.
DUDE 🫤 U missed “RAPPIN’ RODNEY” - Rodney Dangerfield, 1983
When I got into Rush as a 30 something and I was talking with my Dad about Geddy, he said he wasn't familiar with Rush and he only knew Tom Sawyer and Take off by the McKenzie Brothers.
It’s a beauty way to go
He wrote the song in fifteen minutes?! Geddy is a genius.
😅
Thats a pretty solid starter pack 👍✌🖖🤘
@@smdias65have you heard any Rush albums? There should be no doubt he is a genius based on the 19 studio albums he, and the two other members of the triumvirate, created.
I'm a Chicagoan who was in college during the Bears 85 win. This song was epic in Chicago. No liked it but it played constantly on the radio and we all sang it loud and proud. 😅
Same here. College in a Chicago suburb. Became a bears fan while I was there and remember this song often during their superbowl run.
I am not even a Bears fan ( Browns here) and I loved the Super Bowl Shuffle and my dad liked it too
Same here too. Know somebody who has the newspaper article hanging on their basement wall and when I see it it brings back memories of all the hype the game had into it.....We need another Mike Ditka definitely!
I liked the song, too. I was still a kid, but still
I will not hear any negative words against "Take Off!" It's perfect.
'Party All the Time' and 'Somebody's Watching Me' were staple dance tracks at parties in college. I listen to both of them to this day!
Dave Thomas' younger brother, Canadian singer/composer Ian Thomas, also appeared on the Great White North and composed the theme song for Strange Brew.
Ian Thomas also wrote and did the original version of the Mike and the Mechanic's hit "Silent Running" ; Ian got a bad contract with CBS Records who would take his music and give it over to other artists rather than release his albums in the states
@@gregolder1713 They did that to him repeatedly, Hold On for Santana, The Runner for Manfred Mann, and Right Before Your Eyes for America. I hope he at least got royalties.
He’s got a lot of hits and song writing credits to his name also. Talented brothers.
I worked with his nieghbour. He was apparently a pretty cool dude.
In 1981, The Afternoon Delights released “General Hospi-tale,” a parody of the soap opera which was extremely popular at the time. It also featured Rick Springfield in the cast. I also have a 45 single of “Take Off” in my collection.
Bob and Doug MacKenzie getting Geddy Lee to sing on a song? And Geddy was wearing a toque while singing it? Doesn't get more Canadian than that, eh?
Beauty one! 🥶
😂❤🇨🇦
Geddy Lee went to elementary school with Rick Moranis. There is a class picture in Geddy Lee’s autobiography.
Bob and Doug McKenzie: On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a beer.
I remember listening to Bob and Dougs album for the first time, not knowing who would be singing on this song, and was FLOORED to hear Geddy's voice. My friends and I broke out laughing and thought this was the best thing ever.
Unless you're Canadian, I don't think you could understand how popular Bob and Doug were and how amazing this collaboration was to fans of comedy and rock. Kitchy, yes. Fun? Absolutely.
Not all rock has to be serious (just ask Weird Al) and it was great to hear a rockstar known for his serious, progressive music do something light and fun.
We loved them in the US, too: Strange Brew, The 12 Days of Christmas getting played on rock radio during the holidays...
The surprised delight at hearing Geddy on this song was only matched decades later when I saw I Love You Man (and didn’t know who was going to guest star 😁).
We Canadians pronounce the woolen hat (touque) as "TUKE" rhymes with Duke and Puke.
Sorry! I'd always heard it said the way I said it!
@ProfessorofRock listen to the Christmas parody. Loved the Strange Brew movie. College days. 😆 🍺
To this day, this Texan refers to them as touques, and Canada as The Great White North. So, like...take off...it's a beauty way to go...
I am the 57-year-old hose-head who pretty much knew this album word for word. Still roll word for word with "Take Off." Canada has many bands that were criminally ignored. April Wine is my favorite all-time band. Triumph, Chilliwack, Coney Hatch, The Tragically Hip, Saga, Trooper, Honeymoon Suite, and many more. Thank you, Canada!
I had a dream that I was the most popular Canadian podcaster ever, and my show was called - it’s aboot time, eh?
Listening to the Dr Demento top 10 countdown late at night on the car radio was a weekly ritual. ☺️
YES!
For all of us, if he's make himself available that would be a interview to hear.
Novelty songs and Weird Al
@@vcv6560 That would be AWESOME! Dr. Demento is still around, real name is Barret Eugene Hansen (Barry Hansen). He's 83 and I think he's still working. I would LOVE for Adam to interview him, I know Adam would think of some great questions to ask, and we _need_ this interview for posterity!😍
yeh we could get dr. demento on bros. cassette rafio sat..night
OMG!!! I'm from Chicago the Shuffle is still great!!!! I still have my 45s of Take Off & Party All the Time. I still will dance to that (to the chagrin of my kids). Such a great episode tonight. Thanks Prof for such great memories. I was in my 20s in the 80s. Great times dude!!!!!
You were talking about Geddy Lee’s biggest hit with Rush being New World Man, and playing on my radio at the same time was New World Man by the same Rush.
Fish Heads by Barnes & Barnes. Total novelty song.
Back in the 1980s, I had to pick up my father and drive us to my brother's home in a neighboring state. It was pouring rain, black out, a narrow road on the side of a mountain that we's be on for at least another hour, and I started singing the refrain, nothing more, while driving that section of road. My father wisely made no comment throughout. Diane, using Joe's tablet
Rolly polley fish heads eat them up ..yum!
That’s actually Bill Mumy from Lost in Space.
Seriously, if I want to make my wife smile when nothing else works, I do a dramatic reading of the lyrics to Sugar Walls from Sheena Easton but in the voice of William Shatner.
Look up the lyrics and imagine this in your head. Beat cringe ever!
A Prince penned song for sure. She also provided vocals and video face time for his song "You've Got The Look"
That's inventive
Sounds like a great interpretation of the Purple One's saucy suggestive song being read by Captain James Tiberius Kirk! 🤣
I love that song! Written by Prince.
😂
I took a fish head out to a movie. Didn’t have to pay to get it in.
🤣 A "roly-poly fish-head"? Nice!
Lol.
Did you know that one of the Barnes & Barnes duo was Billy Mumy, "Will Robinson" on Lost In Space, and a guest star on nearly every 1960s TV show out there, from Twilight Zone to Bewitched?
The video was directed by the late great Bill Paxton.
“they don’t wear sweaters”
I heard Dave Thomas say in an interview that Canada's national broadcaster wanted something more "authentically Canadian" so he and Moranis decided to do a parody of what most people think Canadians are like, which is why they over-used a lot of Canadian slang, drank Molson Canadian, wore toques n winter clothes all year, etc. It was meant to be a "fuck you" to the "Canadian Content" regulators who demanded a certain type of "art" in order to be considered Canadian Content.
Actually, that’s not quite it. We had what was called Canadian content rules. In other words a certain percentage of every TV show had to be what was called Canadian content. so they said OK you want Canadian content? And made it as ridiculously stereotypically Canadian as possible.
@@richardforgetcanada Also not quite the true story. The bit was created at the last minute as they needed about 2 minutes to fill the difference between the program run time with Canadian allowable commercials and American allowable commercials. They added the Can Con as a bit of a "screw you" yes, but the segment was last minute fill that became iconic and much loved. I knew some of the cast and crew in those days.
Hey Adam, when Geddy talked about doing the song with a toque on, it's the Canuck word for wool hat and it rhymes with nuke. Awesome video.
I had no clue that Take Off was the highest chart topper for any Rush member. Now i have a great trivia question to make my $10.
Boom!
That’s INSANE.
My favorite music trivia question: Who sold the most LP’s in the U.S. in 1966?? The answer: Herb Alpert!!
yes i didnt know that either until last summer i bought the lonely bull.deluxe cd reussue outsold the beatles hard to believe booklet said last month i found holy grail 5lp.set longines symphonette box half price 5 dollars collab. with a and m virgin vinly high quality mint condtiion plan to replace sleeves.but indie store out rsd last time i went
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980it sure is, given how awesome the rest of their body of work is. I guess it's just too complicated to have a wide appeal.
When my daughter was toilet training I used to sing “My girl sits on the potty all the time…”
Ha ha!
I sing that to my dog when he does potty.
I actually like Party All the Time.
I LOVE Dad jokes, and that's a good one!
Very cute.
The irony of Eddie Murphy's "Party All the Time" was that he used to make fun of Michael Jackson's high voice during his stand-up. Then his first single comes out and Eddie is singing falsetto himself! I always thought it was a good song, teenaged me and my friends never thought of it as a bad song or a joke at the time.
I always thought it would have been funny if at the end of Shrek when they were doing karaoke if they would have had Donkey doing this song
@buhnerboy1974 That would have been awesome!
Thanks for sharing!
@@buhnerboy1974 I ALWAYS thought the SAME thing!
The Eddie Murphy song that should be on this list is "Put The Boogie in Your Butt"
As a Canadian, I’m ashamed that I didn’t know that Geddy Lee sang on Great White North. Thanks for educating me on that. Rockwell was a big hit and Some body’s Watching Me as well. What an enjoyable experience!
You must be either too young or too old.
My personal number one would have been "City of Crime" from Dragnet featuring the rap stylings of Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks. Additionally, there is some Zappa stuff like Moon's "Valley Girl" and Dweezil's "Let's Talk About It" (featuring Moon). "She Blinded me with Science" was pretty novelty and just about any Oingo Boingo, but especially "Weird Science."
Still a great list though! Cheers!
🎵
The worst of the 80s is still better than the best of 2024...
And Killer Klowns from out of space is more creative and funny than anything in theaters this year!!!
Thanx, Professor!!!!
Yea, today's music is slim pickings. And now I'm proving my membership in the Boomers Club 😊
wow
My grandsons even love that movie. I own it and got the shirt as a gift last year
@@IheartDogs55 Gen X. here and proud. My grandson says I am lucky to have lived in the 80s
IS there any original music being produced in 2024? I only hear songs from the (BEST) bygone years and covers of the (BEST) bygone years when I turn my radio on.
Bob and Doug were not just filler content. Canadian regulations insisted that SCTV included a bit that was specifically targeted towards a Canadian audience, so the McKenzie Brothers were a legal obligation or the show wouldn't get funding.
The same country that may be putting people in jail for 99 years just for saying something “mean”………
Does that explain the Red Green Show? They showed that on Public Television in Tucson AZ, and it was baffling to me.
@@nadermansour7487 As I recall, the entire cast and crew of The Red Green Show is in fact Canadian. As such, funding wasn't a problem
sctv was a canadian show, the mckenzie brothers were a parody of the fact that the crtc required canadian content
I heard the opposite. That it was illegal to have an overly Canadian stereotype on TV. I may have heard wrong, but they threw everything they could into the characters to see what would happen.
15:10 - Eddie's 2 stand-up specials, "Delirious" & "Raw", were the absolute pinnacles of his artistic & comedic genius! Although, "Party All The Time" will always hold a special place in my heart🤗
Delirious is a classic in my household.
Okay, the deal with the Great White North is that there are fewer commercials per ad break in Canada so there was always time left over at the end when broadcast up here. At the same time, they were getting some pressure to include more Canadian Content (CanCon). They created the McKenzie Bros as a bit of a middle finger to that and, much to their surprise, the bit blew up and became a cultural touchstone for an entire generation of Canadians. By the way, toque (there are several spelling so don't at me fellow Canucks) is not pronounced "toke", it's "tuke" as in Luke.
Definitely was a Canadian classic but many of s northern Americans jumped on the Mckenzie wagon with you! Hosers rule!
About Don Johnson: he actually was a musician first then an actor. He has a co-write on The Allman Brothers album, “Enlightened Rogues” - “Can’t Take It With You”.
Didn't know that! Thanks
I'm amazed that Adam mentioned the actors turned singers with Don Johnson and Bruce Willis but not the soap actors like Rick Springfield (who, in fairness, was a singer first, with his first US Top 40 hit all the way back in 1972), Jack Wagner, and Michael Damien. Of course, that wasn't an exclusively 80s phenomenon, given in the early 1970s you had the Partridge Family with a string of hits, and the Brady Bunch attempting to have them.
I remember Weird Al's parody songs even more than these.
The only thing that can be said about "party all the time" is cocaine is a hell of a drug
From my understanding, Eddie Murphy was always sober.
@@mournblade1066 He was referencing Rick James… whom was know to be good friends of Charlie and Eddie Murphy
@@P0V3RTY09 Right, I got that.
😂
The song was created because Richard Pryer bet Eddie Murphy that he could not do good song.
Eddie Murphy did a good song that did well on the charts. Needless to say, Pryer lost the bet.
It just shows how truly talented Eddie Murphy is.
The way Eddie Murphy sings the words "party all the time", it just makes me think of how Weird Al could've sang it as "Potty All the Time". He's done plenty of songs about food, just not about what becomes of it after digestion.
I was gonna say the same thing!
He included it on one of his polkas.
That would have been great 👍!
this was a good song - MUCH better than that god-awful 'Put Your Mouth On Me'
Take off hose head! Love it! Geddy is not human! Incredible talent and he only plays a few instruments. lol
"[the lyrics] I memorized them."
"Whoa"
"'Cause I'm a professional." 😀
In the UK we also have a tradition of novelty songs.In the 80s, Black Lace brought out Agadoo and Superman, prompting the satirical TV puppet show Spitting Image to bring out The Chicken Song, which actually went to number 1. Joe Dolce with Shaddappa Your Face prevented Ultravox from reaching number 1 in 1981 . Later in the 80s we had songs like Star Trekking by The Firm. In the seventies of course we had classic punk novelty song Gordon Is A Moron by Jilted John. Benny Hill in the early 70s sang Ernie ( The Fastest Mikman In The West). Other US and UK novelty songs which deserve a listen to just because of the titles (from different decades and in no particular order): Don't Go Near The Eskimo byy Ben Colder, Ape Call by Nervous Norvus, The Funky Gibbon by The Goodies, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour ( On The Bedpost Overnight)? by Lonnie Donegan And His Skiffle Group, A Pub With No Beer by Slim Fusty, Lop-sided, Overloaded ( And It Wiggled While We Rode It) by Bryan Hyland, My Boomerang Won't Come Back by Charlie Drake, I Bet You Won't Play This Song On The Radio by Monty Python, Marty Feldman Eyes, and Girl Machine by Johnny Walsh. Not normally considered novelty per se but just as wacky and quirky: Nellie The Elephant by Toy Dolls and the supremely wonderful Preposterous Tales by I, Ludicrous
Ring of Smoke by Ben Colder is one not mentioned.
TOKE on his head? TOQUE!!TOOOK
I’d rhyme toque with juke… like jukebox. Might be a good way to remember for our musically inclined Professor!
"One Night in Bangkok" was pretty cheesy, but I have to admit, I kinda liked it at the time. Anyway, I think your Novelty Song list was spot on. Great job, as always.
That's an awesome song.
yes, but it was part of a musical called Chess
I love One Night in Bangkok
Written by Bjorn from ABBA.
"I get my kicks above the waistline, Sunshine..."
I was in my teens when these songs came out and they really take me back! Thanks, Prof, for the trip back in time!
There's an obscure song on "The Serpant is Rising" by Styx that I accidentally noticed at the very end of the album. If you don't lift the needle from the LP at the very end a song called "Don't sit on the Plexiglass Toilet" plays after about ten seconds of silence.
The track was a regular in the early days of Dr Demento
The McKenzie bros where just so cool and the song rocks! They were sooooo surprised by how hard Canadians went in on The Great White North segments. It was just so darned Canadian, eh?
I'm always trying to figure out your thumbnail before listening. You usually give my brain a workout but this one drove me nuts
Keep up the good work 😂
Bob & Doug's comedy album was great. When I got too old to Trick-or-Treat, one Halloween I got up on my roof with a stereo, and would play a bit with them saying "Take-off, eh!" every time someone would approach the house.
Great nostalgia Prof. Also in the 80s was Patrick Swayze (RIP) with "She's Like the Wind"
Not forgetting Bob Rivers’ novelty parodies on those Christmas tunes over the years 😅
It's probably already been mentioned but the "10 bucks is 10 bucks" line was a call back from the start of the Great White North Album where Bob and Doug share that their pay for the album was, "10 bucks... each! So we're not morons."
Fortunately for Geddy, the brothers McKenzie, while not morons, are just dumb enough to not realize that they got hosed getting paid no more for the whole album than Mr Lee was paid for a single track.
Take off!
$10 was also what Rush got paid for their first show. 💰
She blinded me with SCIENCE!
Miss Sakamoto... you're beautiful!
Still have The Superbowl Shuffle on VHS tape! Yeah, from the Chicago area, so this is still a favorite!
I always loved Sam Kinison"s version of "wild thing". The video stars more rock stars (from other bands) than any other rock music video ever (17 in total). I always wondered how he was able to gather them all together for the video, it's like a who's who of 80's rock. I'd love to see you do a segment on it, thanks....LOVE your channel
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is my favorite B-movie and one of my favorite over all!
My 9yo daughter has been singing Pac-Man Fever for years lol. We got her the game on one of those hand held things and she still loves it.
Among my favorite novelty/gimmick songs:
Rappin Duke-Shawn Brown
Wild Wood Weed/Spiders and Snakes-Jim Stafford
EVERYTHING Ray Stevens did
She Blinded Me With Science-Thomas Dolby
One Night in Bangkok-Murray Head ( I was on the chess team when this came out. We were ecstatic).
Hopefully I got a few that weren't already mentioned.
Thanks Adam for another amazing episode!!
JJ -South Alabama
Geddy Lee and The GWN - so unlikely and therefore completely perfect! I’d never heard a Canadian accent and just their voices made me laugh. I loved the silliness!😂
Canadian accent? We don't have accents. Americans in the south do and with way too much slang. Bob and Doug(Rick and Dave) are doing a parody.
I've always thought of Thriller as a "novelty" song. The long intro, the Vincent Price voiceover, the ridiculous video...
How dare you , lol
I first heard it in the album before it was a single. My mom loved Vincent Price so I instantly knew who was speaking, and I was thrilled, pardon the reference.
I love the video of thriller
@@cherylbralick7110 Don't get me wrong, I find the video very entertaining, but its so over the top and campy that its funny.
@@CaptainTedStryker Thats kind of the entirety of the 80s. Everything was campy.
6. Tip Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me - Tiny Tim
7. Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer - Elmo & Patsy. rofl
8. I Wanna Be a Cowboy--Boys Don't Cry
Thanks!
@@Whisper_292 *....STOP TAKIN' MY SONGS!* ....I won't have anything for the comments! ...ha-HAA! >jus'kiddin'
Tip Toe is awesome but it's also from the 60s.
@@RBS_ You can post them, too. Nobody will even look at you sideways. 😏
I've always been a fan of the channel, but just seeing a Nitzer Ebb album in the background made me smile. You never fail to surprise in all the best ways!
8:25 - This leaves out the REAL life brother story of "Bob & Doug McKenzie". Dave Thomas's brother is singer/guitarist Ian Thomas who has had a long prolific career in Canada, plus made millions from songs covered by foreigners: "Hold On" by Santana, "Right Before Your Eyes" by America, "The Runner" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, among others by different artists.
9:10 - Toque rhymes with nuke, not coke.
Between Somebody’s Watching Me and Men At Work’s Who Can It Be Now, 80s kids learned to be paranoid.
Aaaaaand the cold war.
And "Every Breath You Take"
My oldest brother would go on about a conspiracy theory and I’d play that song and his face would turn red. Good times!
2024 me realizing they were actually PROPHETIC 🤪
@@EmetYAHU RIGHT?? I don't think we were paranoid enough!
My mom was born in 1920, and she loved watching "Soul Train" with me when I was a teen, and she considered Michael Jackson to be a better dancer (and person) than Gene Kelly. Momma was a good dancer, and she won jitterbug contests when she was young.
She told me, circa 1978, "I'm glad when you get to be my age, racism will be a thing of the past!" She was @ 58 when she told me that.
I was 58 in 2019, and it breaks my heart how much her prediction has NOT come true!😭
It would break her heart if she knew that my brother hasn't spoken to me since 2015, and it's because of "religion".
I've been waiting my entire life for a Strange Brew sequel. I don't think it's going to happen at this point.
RIght? Me too!
The Chocolate Milk scene where Moranis apologized for puking on her shoes...lol...and wasn't the nemis Ming from Flash Gordon? A Rush/Queen Connection professor...
Same!
"LOOK OUT...MY BROTHER'S GOTTA TAKE A LEAK!!!"
@@jonwebster6172 Yep, and also Father Merrin from The Exorcist. Max von Sydow.
Unfortunately it won't happen. Rick Moranis (Bob) quit acting after his wife passed away in the 90s :(
As PoR said, the "Great White North" was added to the SCTV show for the CBC. The CBC is the Canadian broadcast corporation. The Canadian government tried to promote Canadian content on radio and tv so it was not surprising that they asked that the extra two minutes on SCTV get something distinctly Canadian. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas initially created the skit as a way of insulting the CBC and their request for Canadian content.
I remember hearing "Take Off" on the radio. It included a long interview with the comedians but I thought the song was the funniest thing I had heard.
I believe this was at the time they were looking to have NBC carry the show in the states.
A San Francisco DJ did a parody of Eddie Murphy's song; "Potty All The Time" with sound effects such as flushing toilets, etc... 😂😂
Um, I have requested Party All the Time be played at my funeral, along with Heartbeat by Don Johnson. Absolute bangers!
I remember when William the Refrigerator Perry and his wife were living here in Las Vegas around 2000. They were down on their luck. They were a nice couple!
i also remember snl making fun of the bears shuffle from the perspective of the packers “brr green bay “
I wouldn’t have called Somebody’s Watching Me a parody. It was immensely popular back in the day. And thanks for reopening the wound from the Patriots getting destroyed in Super Bowl XX. I was too young to realize that they didn’t stand a chance and I was devastated at the loss. 😂
Even better was when they took the 3-0 early lead and gave us that little bit of false hope. But now we have six Lombardis to look at and savor, while Chicago still has only the one, from nearly 40 years ago, so I can't be too bitter about the 46-10 shellacking any more.
In 1982 I was OBSESSED with Doug and Bob McKenzie. Thx for the memories 😊professor.
My girl, goes potty all the time, potty all the time.
When the little lady has to go pee in the middle of the night.
It's a staple in our household. Thank you Eddie and Rick.
Wow, that's pretty amazing that "Take Off" charted higher than any Rush song ever has. This channel is chock full of interesting factoids. 😁
RIght?
I know! I could not believe it!
The Super Bowl shuffle is God Awful, but man, in the 80s, God Awful was GOLD!!
And that’s exactly what that is! LEGENDARY 😂
But you missed my New York Giants’s song, called “We Are The New York Giants” 😂
Eddie Murphy was a legend in the 80s. I actually love that song. Still do!
Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat” was as cheesy as it gets, and I LOVED it!
The Rockwell video was one of my favorites! Loved the song, but as a fan of horror films and TV shows like “Tales Frontier the Darkside”
I loved the creepy atmosphere of the video!
Thanks so much for the trip down memory lane my man!
So 80s!
The Giants had a song too?
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 lol! Yes. It’s on UA-cam. You can look it up.
It was from 1986 called, “We’re The New York Giants”
It’s awful, hilarious, and awesome! 😂
Rockwell’s song is not just a novelty song; Thriller (or anything with Vincent Price) obviously was Michael’s Novelty hit, except for making the video to go with it.
While other NFL teams made music videos, the Cleveland Browns actually made a movie: "Masters of the Gridiron". And it's as cheesy as you think.
The Eddie Murphy song was done by Rick James to piss off Prince. James and Prince were bitter rivals and he gave the song to Murphy just to stick it to Prince.
I whistle and sing “Take Off…to the Great White North” each evening to bring my horses in. They know when I whistle or sing “a-lu-u-oo a-Lu-u-oo” it’s time to come in. Don’t know what the neighbors think…😂
A funny piece of trivia, Dave Thomas's younger brother is singer-composer Ian Thomas. Dave Thomas's recording of "Take Off" charted higher than any of his brother's multiple songs that aired over the years.
❤🎉
Now this is a fun episode! Bad songs........ but some of these are fun.
And Party All The Time and Somebody's Watching Me are great, fun songs. With Rick James and Michael Jackson behind the songs, they are actually quite good.
Thanks for this countdown Professor!
See ya Monday.
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Professor did do suck sounds of the seventies but as serious songs and arrangements.
My favorite part of Party All the Time is easily seeing Rick James in the video.
I'm the same I LOVE bad B songs and movies ... Wearing my 1954 Godzilla t-shirt right now.
Blue Oyster Cult - Godzilla
The Vapors - I think I'm turning Japanese
Wang Chung - Everybody Wang Chung tonight
Nena - 99 Luft balloons
Falco - Rock me Amadeus
99 Luftballons by Nena was a protest song, not a novelty or parody song.
@@annen3706 Seriously, the English version is as clear as can be it's about human arrogance leading to thermonuclear apocalypse.
Geez, I just heard Godzilla and I Think I'm Turning Japanese this past week on Sirius XM! I love Godzilla 😊
The original 1954 (not the one with Raymond Burr) Godzilla was actually pretty serious and dark compared to the campy 60s and 70s ones. Also 1954 was only 9 years since the war.
God I love this channel. Just entertaining. HOW you manage to dodge politics is Gold medal OLYMPIAN level skill.
Shoutout for the Space Invaders song. Haven’t heard it in 40 years, but “he’s hooked, he’s hooked, his brain is cooked” still lives in my head.