The Golden Age of Novelty Songs: By Steven Otfinoski

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Summary: Read this book if you loved the kooky songs of the 50's & 60
Review: A well written history of those wacky weird songs and singers. I was tapping my toes as I read about old favorites like the Chipmunks, "The Purple People Eater", "Witch Doctor" and many others. The background material on the artists was sometimes tragic and sometimes funny; but always fascinating. The author is obviously an expert on this subject. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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Summary: Laughs from the past...
Review: For the most part, it's just a tip-toe through an embellished listing of goofs, but if anyone releases a recorded companion, it'll definitely be worth a spin of chuckles.

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Summary: A fun and informative examination of the novelty song genre.
Review: Golden Age of Novelty Songs covers fifty years of novelty songs and their singers; from Spike Jones to Weird Al, Stan Freberg to Little Jimmy Dickens, crossing musical genres to provide a range of facts and trivia details. Enjoy a fun examination of the eccentric natures of these novelties, their origins, and their impact in a title which peppers black and white photos throughout.

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Summary: Anybody can write a grocery list
Review: I was expecting humorous anecdotes, occasional lyrics, and an entire chapter for Weird Al, Dr. Demento, 98 Rock's Twisted Tunes, and other parodies. What I got was a sentence about every song with a pun in the title the author could think of. Many were not even novelty songs! What ties does this guy have to certain record companies? Was this a PC ad for Billboard? Jimmy Buffett is not a novelty song singer, it must be added. And if you are going to erroneously talk about his lyrics, you might as well get the spelling of his name right: B-U-F-F-E-T-T. Two t's, idiot. Buy this book only if you want to show your friends you can rip it up in a display of your strength.

Rating:
Summary: Songs That Bring A Smile To Your Face
Review: Novelty songs were commonplace in both the pre & rock & roll era-A day wouldn't go by without hearing "Cocktails For Two","Witch Doctor",or "The Purple People Eater" on your local radio station-However,with radio undergoing a lot of changes these days,novelty songs have pretty much fallen by the wayside-Steve Otfinoski has done a yeoman job in recapturing a great time-It's interesting that Dr.Demento wrote the foreword-He has the only show that is willing to play this type of stuff-Anyway,if you remember those goofy gems of yesteryear,this book is definitely up your alley.

Rating:
Summary: Songs That Bring A Smile To Your Face
Review: Novelty songs were commonplace in both the pre & rock & roll era-A day wouldn't go by without hearing "Cocktails For Two","Witch Doctor",or "The Purple People Eater" on your local radio station-However,with radio undergoing a lot of changes these days,novelty songs have pretty much fallen by the wayside-Steve Otfinoski has done a yeoman job in recapturing a great time-It's interesting that Dr.Demento wrote the foreword-He has the only show that is willing to play this type of stuff-Anyway,if you remember those goofy gems of yesteryear,this book is definitely up your alley.

Rating:
Summary: Good information
Review: This book is fairly complete, including not only what I would consider novelty songs but also parodies and one-hit wonders. It includes a discography of songs mentioned and many other bibliographical information. At first it was a slow read for me, but once he started mentioning the history of one-hit wonders I love I was more interested. It could have been more up to date, however, for example I would really be interested in information about the "Mambo No. 5" takeoff "Combo No. 5" or other '90s parodies.

Rating:
Summary: great look at novelty songs
Review: This was an excellent look at some fondly remembered songs of the last 50 years.My only complaint is there were numerous errors in certain dates-for instance,Frank Zappa died in 1993,not 1996.Otherwise,this was a fun read!