Hip-hop marmalade spic and span

[koganbot]

Just posted this on Dave's tumblr, my disagreeing with his designating LFO's "Summer Girls" a novelty song and with his contention that LFO are trying to be really stupid

Comments

[katstevens]

I'm still not entirely sure what I'd define as a 'novelty' song, because I can always find a counter example in each definition/category that I would not class as 'novelty

[koganbot]

Yes, "novelty" is something we have a feel for but can't necessarily define. Family resemblance: not every novelty has the features of *all* novelties. Rolf Harris had only one hit in the U.S. but a lot in Britain, right? But I had the impression that everything he did was a novelty. Ray Stevens, who did "Ahab the Arab" and "The Streak" only hit with novelties early on but then he became a somewhat serious country singer. Shel Silverstein would write novelty songs - Dr. Hook had a couple of hits with his material - but also wrote serious tracks, "One's On The Way" for Loretta Lynn and "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" for Marianne Faithfull.

[carsmilesteve]

i can confirm that everything rolf did was a novelty, yes... ;)

He isn't just one of the guys

[koganbot]

Would Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue" (by Silverstein) be a novelty, or is it something else? (Cash obviously not a one-hit wonder.)

What about "Where's The Dress?"? (I'd say definitely.) Not as sure about Phil Vassar's "Bobbi With An i," which doesn't sound like a novelty (and will probably make my country top 30 this year).

Re: He isn't just one of the guys

[katstevens]

Dunno about J. Cash - if he had teamed up with T-Pain for the remix I'd reconsider (see Dave's journal where I have expanded on the above)

Re: He isn't just one of the guys

[katstevens]

But saying that I can think of a couple of country tracks I'd label 'novelty' - Kendal Carson's 'I Like Trucks', for example. My lack of country knowledge may render this inaccurate however: I'm basing this judgement on the fact that:

- it's a v silly song
- I don't know any of her other songs (so assumed 'one-hit wonder')
- audience participation (might as well have a dance routine)
- actual novelty value = I don't know any other songs about trucks apart from 'I Like Trucking' which is a comedy sketch in itself...

Re: He isn't just one of the guys

[skyecaptain]

It seems like country has had what mainstream pop seems to have now much longer -- an appreciation for novelty that has no real barrier for entry on the charts. Toby Keith's entire career has been based on what you might (but probably shouldn't) argue are a series of novelties. But again the context kind of makes the bar for novelty entry higher, so you really need some extra kick or hook.