My annual overanalysis of Dr. Demento's Funny 25 Countdown, 2014 edition
DR. DEMENTO'S FUNNY 25 COUNTDOWN OF 2014:
Listen to the episode now at http://drdemento.com/online.html
Color coded key:
Bold - track new to 2014
Orange - track by Luke Ski
Blue - FuMP main page track
Light blue - track by a FuMP artist that wasn't posted at the FuMP
#25 Snoopy The Dogg - the great Luke Ski
#24 Please Mr. Kennedy - Justin Timberlake, Oscar Isaac & Adam Driver
#23 Outside The Box - Steve Goodie
#22 Foil - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#21 The Guy Who Yelled Freebird - The Doubleclicks
#20 Emmy Medley 2014 - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#19 Bein' Green - Kermit The Frog (Jim Henson)
#18 After Ever After - Jon Cozart
#17 Steve Ruins A Lovely Jason Mraz Song - Steve Goodie
#16 Last Day At Work - Mikey Mason
#15 Write Like The Wind (George R. R. Martin) - Paul & Storm
#14 Tacky - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#13 Handy - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#12 Godzilla - Insane Ian f/ Victor Acord & Bonecage
#11 Internet Famous - Insane Ian f/ Chris Ballew (of The Presidents Of The United States Of America)
#10 Who Is The Doctor? - Devo Spice
#9 Know Your Doctors - Amanda Cohen
#8 Governor Chris Christie's Fort Lee New Jersey Traffic Jam - Jimmy Fallon & Bruce Springsteen
#7 Fueled By Angst - Worm Quartet
#6 (They Don't Make) Airships (Like They Used To Anymore) - Confabulation Of Gentry f/ Capt. John Sprocket (The Cog Is Dead)
#5 Almost Parent Time - Carrie Dahlby f/ Wyngarde
#4 After Ever After 2 - Jon Cozart
#3 Word Crimes - "Weird Al" Yankovic
#2 The Silly Walks Song - Monty Python
#1 Fake Adult - the great Luke Ski
PART 1 - FuMP RECAP:
18 songs on the Funny 25 countdown were new to 2014, with a few of hold-overs from the end of 2013. The only really old track this year was "Bein' Green" by Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog. The FuMP had 11 songs on the countdown, all from the Main Page. Big congrats to Carrie Dahlby who had her biggest Dr. Demento Show hit ever this year with "Almost Parent Time" featuring Earl "Wyngarde" Luckes hitting #5! Similarly, the Confabulation Of Gentry hit #6 with their steampunk inspired "Airships", so curtsey to the C.O.G.! Worm Quartet came back strong again with another autobiographical hit, "Fueled By Angst" at #7! Congrats also to Insane Ian and Steve Goodie who each had 2 tracks, also Devo Spice, and first-timer on the Funny 25, Mikey Mason! All in all, another great year for the artists of the FuMP on "The Dr. Demento Show"! Go us! :D
PART 2 - LUKE SKI RECAP:
First of all, I just spent an exorbanent amount of my free time making a list of every song that was ever #1 on one of Dr. Demento's year-end countdowns (which I pasted at the end of this entry for those who are curious). The act with the most year-end #1's is "Weird Al" Yankovic with 6 (2 local, 4 syndicated). "Fake Adult" is my 4th #1 song of the year, making me the act with the 2nd highest total #1 songs in Dr. Demento Show history. Keep in mind that I lost the #1 spot by a hair in 2009 with "Too Much Stuff", and if we lived in an alternate universe in which Lemon Demon became an accountant instead "You Don't Know Jack" would have nabbed it in 2006, or if the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney had been pushed back about a month or so later... you get the idea. :)
What I do is such a weird niche thing, that it's hard to quantify how sucessful I am at it. In 2004 at Dragon*Con, when Dr. Demento was introducing me onstage at a show, he called me "the most requested act of the 21st Century". Yes, at that time the 21st Century was only a handful of years old, but I have never taken that honor lightly. It became the fuel that kept my passion for comedy music burning, striving to continue creating the best comedy music I could for myself, my fans, the good Doctor, his fans, and any new potential fans I may acquire at conventions or on the internet in the years to come. The last I heard, I am still the most requested act of the 21st Century, and I couldn't be prouder or more grateful to both Barret Hansen a.k.a. Dr. Demento himself, and to all of my fans who have been continuing to request my new songs as they have been coming out since 1996. So again, to Dr. D and to all of you, thank you, and I love you all so much.
Second of all, there's something about this particular Funny 25 #1 song that's different than my previous #1s "Stealing Like A Hobbit", "Peter Parker", and "Snoopy The Dogg". Can you guess what that is?...
..."Fake Adult" is an original song, not a parody.
I composed the backing track myself from scratch on Garageband. TV's Kyle did his usual magic and spiffed it up when he did the final mix, which I appreciate and thank him for eternally. But still, this general idea of 'fake adult-ness' has been kicking around my head for several years, and coming up with the music and the words to propery express it in a way that not only worked, but resulted in my 4th #1 song on "The Dr. Demento Show", fills me with such a sense of pride.
Not that I have (or ever will have) anything against parodies. There are specific skills and talents required to pull off a high-quality song parody, which I'd like to think I have mastered over the years. But coming up with a successful orignal comedy song is usually a more difficult task, as it requires extra creative work that creating a parody doesn't involve. I've made a lot of original songs over the years, but only roughly 25% of the Luke Ski Top 50 are my original songs, only one of which cracked the top ten. So having "Fake Adult" top the Funny 25 for me is a happy personal validation of my skills as an original comedy songwriter. So, more reasons to be grateful. :)
I would be remiss if I didn't thank again the helpertons who helped made this song what it is, the aforementioned mixmaster TV's Kyle, dementia star offspring Lauren Spice and SteveBox on the kiddo vocals, and TV's Lindsay, Devo Spice, Insane Ian, Carrie Dahlby, and ShoEboX for the end chorus vocals. You guys rule so much. And thanks also to my awesome wife Sara Trice, who has given me the gift of a life that allows for enough time to create such things. I appreciate it every day, and I love you every moment.
Also worth mentioning of course is that my #1 song from 2011 "Snoopy The Dogg" also made the list at #25, meaning I bookended the countdown this year! After the song played, Dr. Demento called it "One of the cleverest, best executed song parodies in quite a while." I don't know if you all can grasp how awesome it is to hear such high praise from the Doctor. Well, I know Ian can, because Dr. D called him a "comedy rock god" in the same show. :) I have to assume that "Snoopy The Dogg" will be making a comeback in late 2015 when the new "Peanuts" movie starts getting promoted a lot more.
That's 13 years in a row I've had a song on the Funny 25, with songs of mine appearing on a total of 16 Funny 25 countdowns. Copying, pasting, and updating from last year, here's...
Luke Ski on the Dr. Demento Funny 25 Countdown Compilation album track list:
1. "Insane and the Brain" (#7 in 1997)
2. "Kenny Was A Kid From South Park" (#6 in 1998)
3. "Fanboy" (#24 in 2000)
4. "Peter Parker" (#1 in 2002)
5. "Stealing Like A Hobbit" (#1 in 2003, #11 in 2004)
6. "The Spongy Dance" (#4 in 2004)
7. "Vader Boy" (#4 in 2005)
8. "You Don't Know Jack" (#2 in 2006, cover by Tony Goldmark #21 in 2013)
9. "Dementia Revolution" (#20 in 2007, #23 in 2009)
10. "Holding Out For Hiro" (#12 in 2007)
11. "Jack Bauer" (#19 in 2008)
12. "Battlestar Rhapsody" (#14 in 2008)
13. "Too Much Stuff" (#2 in 2009)
14. "Marvel Poppins" (#22 in 2009)
15. "It's Good To Be The King" (#19 in 2010)
16. "Snoopy The Dogg" (#1 in 2011, #25 in 2014)
17. "WalkingSilly" (#13 in 2011)
18. "When You Wish Upon A Death Star" (#18 in 2012, #3 in 2013)
19. "Fake Adult" (#1 in 2014)
So, if you're bored, make an iTunes playlist of that, and experience what me devoting the past 21 years of my life to comedy music has resulted in. All that and two Logan Awards seem pretty frickin' sweet to me. :)
Thanks again, everyone. My first song of the new year will be posted on January 13th, 2015. Here's hoping that it'll be another track that you all will enjoy. :)
Gratefully yours,
~ Luke Ski, 12/31/2014
http://www.thegreatlukeski.com
http://www.thefump.com/thegreatlukeski
http://lukeski.bandcamp.com
~~~ Here's that other thing:~~~
Songs that have been #1 on Dr. Demento’s Funny 25 (or other # year-end) Countdowns:
A year with the word “local” after it means the local L.A. version of the show. A year without the word local after it means the nationally syndicated version.
1972 local - Pico And Sepulveda - Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra
1973 local - Boobs A Lot - The Holy Modal Rounders
1974 local - The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati - Possum
1974 - Shaving Cream - Paul Wynn
1975 local - Hooray For Captain Spaulding - Groucho Marx
1975 - Friendly Neighborhood Narco Agent - Jef Jaisun
1976 local - Stardrek - Bobby Pickett & Peter Ferrara
1976 - Stardrek - Bobby Pickett & Peter Ferrara
1977 local - Pencil Neck Geek - Fred Blassie
(1977 syndicated is N/A)
1978 local - Titties And Beer - Frank Zappa
1978 - The Ballad Of Irving - Frank Gallop
1979 local - Fish Heads - Barnes & Barnes
1979 - Fish Heads - Barnes & Barnes
1980 local - Ayatollah - Steve Dahl
1980 - Another One Rides The Bus - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1981 local - Yoda - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1981 - Yoda - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1982 local - I Like - Heathen Dan
1982 - Dead Puppies - Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band
(1983 local is N/A)
1983 - Dead Puppies - Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band
(1984 local is N/A)
1984 - Eat It - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1985 local - Wet Dream - Kip Addotta
1985 - Wet Dream - Kip Addotta
1986 local - Existential Blues - Tom "T-Bone" Stankus
1986 - Rock Me Jerry Lewis - Mike Elliott & Bud LaTour
1987 local - Star Trekkin' - The Firm
1987 - Ti Kwan Leep/Boot To The Head - The Frantics
1988 local - Star Trekkin' - The Firm
1988 - Fat - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1989 local - Adam West - Wally Wingert & The Caped Club
1989 - Wappin' - Darrell Hammond & Christopher Snell
1990 local - Ti Kwan Leep/Boot To The Head - The Frantics
1990 - We Love Barney Fife - Guns N' Moses
1991 local - Star Trekkin' - The Firm
1991 - Kick Ass USA - Milo Tremley
1992 - The Happy Happy Joy Joy Song - Ren & Stimpy Original TV Soundtrack
1993 - A Trip to Jurassic Park - Whimsical Will
1994 local - Down with V.E.G. - The Amazing Onionheads
1994 - Down with V.E.G. - The Amazing Onionheads
1995 local - Bulbous Bouffant - Radio Free Vestibule
1995 - Carrot Juice Is Murder - The Arrogant Worms
1996 local - Amish Paradise - "Weird Al" Yankovic
1996 - Bulbous Bouffant - Radio Free Vestibule
1997 - Cows With Guns - Dana Lyons
1998 - The Devil Went To Jamaica - Travis Meyer
1999 - The Chainsaw Juggler - The Four Postmen
2000 - Viagra In The Waters - Camille West
2001 - Let Me Make You Smile In Bed - The Four Postmen
2002 - Peter Parker - the great Luke Ski, featuring Sudden Death (Devo Spice)
2003 - Stealing Like A Hobbit - the great Luke Ski
2004 - Great Idea For A Song - Worm Quartet
2005 - Inner Voice - Sudden Death (Devo Spice), featuring Worm Quartet
2006 - The Ultimate Showdown Of Ultimate Destiny - Lemon Demon
2007 - Cellular Degeneration - Sudden Death (Devo Spice)
2008 - Hold On, I've Got To Take This - Power Salad
2009 - Save Me, Obama - Robert Lund
2010 - Raichu A Song - Nuclear Bubble Wrap
2011 - Snoopy The Dogg - the great Luke Ski
2012 - Tantric Yoda - Ookla The Mok
2013 - Mwahaha - Ookla the Mok
2014 - Fake Adult - the great Luke Ski