Dr. Demento
Dr. Demento | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Barret Eugene Hansen |
Also known as | Barry Hansen |
Born | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. | April 2, 1941
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Disc jockey |
Years active | 1961–present |
Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941),[1] known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Pasadena, California station KPPC-FM.[1] He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974[1] and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
Hansen holds a master's degree in
Early life
Hansen was born in
After earning his master's degree, he lived for two years "in a big house on a hill" in
Career
The Dr. Demento radio show
Hansen created the persona of Dr. Demento in 1970 while working at
His weekly show went into national syndication in a two-hour all-novelty format in 1974, produced by his manager Larry Gordon of Gordon/Casady[1] and during 1978–92 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network. The Westwood One period marked the height of the show's national popularity; it was carried in most major radio markets, airing mainly on FM rock stations, usually late on Sunday evenings. The producer Westwood One assigned to work with Hansen from 1978 to 1982 was Lynnsey Guererro, a former track star from UCLA and Senior Producer at the company. In 1982, he handed off the show to a new producer from San Diego, professional journalist Robert Young. It was under Young's guidance that the show gained in popularity, mainly due to his willingness to foster relationships with national media and with nationally known and up-and-coming artists, including John Mammoser, Judy Tenuta, Emo Philips, Pinkard and Bowden, Wally Wingert, and Mark Davis (Richard Cheese). Young accompanied Dr. Demento to Portland, Ore.; Dallas, Texas; New York City; San Diego; Montreal; Phoenix; and other cities to do live performances and PR Events, taking photos, setting up interviews and even 'running the board' at some of the live shows. He left the radio network in 1990 during a business downturn. In January 2014 Young released an e-book titled "Producing Demento," about his memories of working on the show.[7][8]
From 1992 to 2000, the show was syndicated by On the Radio Broadcasting. Hansen, under the name "Talonian Productions," handled syndication himself from 2000 until discontinuing syndication in 2010 (Hansen revealed that he was the owner of Talonian when responding to significant criticism of the company in 2007;
The syndicated radio show normally started with an hour of randomly chosen records and listener requests. The second hour was normally mostly devoted to a specific theme (cars, sports, pets, romance, movies, etc.) with a final segment taken up by a "The Funny Five" countdown of the most requested songs. There were also shows devoted to holidays and seasonal events, with the most important being the Halloween and Christmas shows (Hansen produced multiple Christmas shows during the
The program's opening theme is an instrumental version of "Pico and Sepulveda" recorded for the show by The Roto Rooter Good Time Christmas Band (during the early years on KMET, it had been “Sugar Blues” by Clyde McCoy). The same Los Angeles area group recorded some of the musical teasers used on the show, such as "It's time for number one...." The other "countdown" intros come from "Barstow" by the American maverick composer Harry Partch. Hansen's opening line, "Wind up your radios," refers to the rare 78rpm novelty records from the days of wind-up phonographs that he has featured on the show, especially in its early years. The closing theme is "Cheerio, Cherry Lips, Cheerio," a 1929 vocal by Scrappy Lambert (recording under the name Gordon Wallace), which Hansen tells listeners he discovered in a thrift shop. The Doctor closes each show with "Stay Dement-ed!"
Whimsical Will (real name: William Simpson[10]) produced a weekly "Demented News" for the show since the late 1980s.[5] He also has recorded fake comedy interviews "break-in" style, following Dickie Goodman, including "Hey Dickie" (1989), which is available on iTunes.
Starting in the late 1980s, the show began to lose affiliates, a victim of media consolidation and other changes in the radio industry that were pushing many alternative rock stations and individualistic broadcasters off the air. In 1992, Westwood One dropped the show which was immediately picked up by another syndicator, On the Radio Broadcasting.[11] This allowed the syndicated show to air records which were popular on the local Los Angeles show, but Westwood One would not allow, such as "It's A Gas" by Alfred E. Neuman and "Moose Turd Pie" by Utah Phillips. It also allowed Whimsical Will's Demented News, a fixture of the local Los Angeles show, to also air on the national show.
In 2000, Hansen formed Talonian Productions to syndicate the show himself.[12] According to Hansen, the show steadily lost advertisers, and as such, he had to restructure the distribution of the show from the usual barter system to a system in which stations paid a rights fee for the program (though he apparently made exceptions in some major markets, such as WLUP-FM in Chicago). He stated in October 2007 that "unless the show's financial situation changes soon, I will be unable to continue the show much longer."[9] After approximately two and a half years, and no significant change in the show's financial situation, the Dr. Demento official website announced on June 6, 2010, that the show that aired that weekend would be the final broadcast in the terrestrial radio version; however, new episodes of the online streaming version would still continue to be produced for the foreseeable future, with new episodes posted every Saturday. In addition, according to the site, "...by special agreement and due to contractual considerations, a version of the internet show will be heard weekly on KACV-FM (in Amarillo, Texas), at least through the summer."[13] The show was removed from KACV-FM in January 2011.
Online streaming
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Beginning in approximately 2006, The Dr. Demento Show began offering
The online show follows a format similar to that of the terrestrial show; no longer being limited by a radio time slot or commercial breaks, the show usually exceeds two hours and may include "bonus tracks" at the end of the show. The weekly "Funny Five" has been replaced by a monthly Top Ten in order to allow for more comprehensive special topic segments. The new format, along with the ability to play records that previously would have been censored on the radio, has allowed Hansen to delve more deeply into his collection than was possible on the syndicated radio show.[16]
Other media
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From 2003 to 2005,
He was interviewed in the 2005 documentary film about
In addition to his syndicated show, he still makes occasional guest appearances for other shows. Among his guest-hosting stints were for
In April 2013, Meep Morp Studios began seeking donations to fund a documentary named Under the Smogberry Trees: The True Story of Dr. Demento through
Honors
Dr. Demento has been inducted into both the Comedy Music Hall of Fame (in June 2005)
Personal life
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Hansen was married to Sue Hansen (née Sue Charles) from 1983 until her death on September 10, 2017. Their relationship was
Hansen has a long time interest in the roots of
His personal collection includes over 85,000 records.[24]
Influence
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Dr. Demento may be best known for bringing parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention. In 1976, Hansen spoke at Yankovic's school where Yankovic gave a self-recorded tape of comedy songs and parodies to Hansen. The first song, "Belvedere Cruisin'" about the family station wagon, was featured on the show. Positive listener response encouraged Yankovic to record more parodies; Hansen then funded Yankovic's first EP, Another One Rides the Bus, which eventually led to a record deal and pop chart success in the 1980s and beyond. Hansen has appeared in a number of Weird Al's music videos as well as in Weird Al's movie UHF.
Other artists who attained widespread exposure after getting exposure on the Dr. Demento show include
Another frequently featured artist was Frank Zappa, whom Hansen cited as a major influence on the show and who appeared several times as a guest. The tribute show following Zappa's 1993 death was the first time the entire two-hour show was devoted to a single artist.
Another of the show's highlights occurred in the late 1980s when the satire/parody/improv hard rock trio Spinal Tap came in for a visit. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer appeared in full costume and stayed in character for a three-hour visit. Similar "big moments" occurred in a visit from Screamin' Jay Hawkins ("I Put a Spell on You"), when the singer appeared in the studios in Culver City dressed in black cape, distributing explosive flash paper to great effect, and when Mel Brooks came in for an interview and was presented with an "absolutely HUGE" cheesecake from Canter's Deli on Fairfax Avenue.
Dr. Demento was parodied in an episode of Mr. Show with Bob and David as "Dr. Retarded: Novelty Record Collector and Chief Head of Surgery, Mass General" and is featured as an expert in songs about "paranormal monster parties".
Rainn Wilson plays Dr. Demento in the satirical biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.[25]
Discography
A number of compilations have been released by Dr. Demento, including:[26]
- Dr. Demento's Delights (1975)
- Dr. Demento's Dementia Royale (1980)
- Dr. Demento's Mementos (1982)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume I: The 1940s (and Before) (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume II: The 1950s (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume III: The 1960s (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume IV: The 1970s (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume V: The 1980s (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume VI: Christmas (1985)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time (1988)
- Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time (1989)
- Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection (1991)
- Dr. Demento: Holidays In Dementia (1995)
- Dr. Demento's Country Corn (1995)
- Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection (1996)
- Dr. Demento 2000! 30th Anniversary Collection (2001)
- Dr. Demento's Hits From Outer Space (2003)
- Dr. Demento Interviews, The (2013)
- Dr. Demento Covered in Punk (2018)
- First Century Dementia – The Oldest Novelty Records of All Time (2020)
The Demento Society released members-only demo compilations titled Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes yearly from 1991 to 2008.
In 2013, Meep Morp Studio put out a boxed set of all 17 of "Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes" to date. The box set was limited to just 50 copies, available only by donating to the Kickstarter campaign for "Under the Smogberry Trees", the Dr. Demento documentary. Each box was hand signed and numbered by Dr. Demento himself.
References
- ^ a b c d e f "The Online Internet Site for Information on Dr. Demento music, songs, lyrics and chat". Drdemento.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ Schlanger, Talia (May 20, 2018). "Dr. Demento And John Cafiero On World Cafe". NPR. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ "School of Rock". UCLA Magazine. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
- OL 21363112M – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b "Los Angeles Radio Guide" (PDF). Americanradiohistory. 1995. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
- ^ Young, Robert (11 February 2014). "The E-book 'Producing Demento' ('The Dr. Demento Show'!)". Kickstarter. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
- ^ "The Dr. Demento Show #92-35". Dmdb.org. 1992-08-30. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ a b Dr. Demento. "A note from Dr. Demento..." DrDemento.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 2023-01-15.
- ^ "details for Whimsical Will". Dmdb.org. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ Julian, Steve (11 June 2010). "Dr. Demento wraps up 40 years on the air, moves online". KPCC (FM). Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
Hansen enjoyed a long ride with Westwood One, until 1992. [...] 'Well, I had no choice. Westwood One decided that I was not big enough for them anymore. So, I actually hooked up with another syndicator, On the Radio Broadcasting, which was a much smaller version of Westwood One. I went with them for five years. After that I decided to take it over myself.'
- ^ "The Dr. Demento Show through the eyes of a disc jockey". Dmdb.org. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ^ "Dr. Demento Ends His 40 Year Old Radio Show". Chicagoradioandmedia.com. 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
- ^ "Dr. Demento - Streaming".
- ^ "The Online Internet Site for Information on Dr. Demento music, songs, lyrics and chat". Drdemento.com. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ "Dr. Demento: Off The Air, But Still Happily Deranged". Npr.org. 2010-06-22. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "'Under the Smogberry Trees: The True Story of Dr. Demento' by Meep Morp Studio". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
- ^ Hansen, Barret (27 September 2016). "A Message from Dr. Demento". Under the Smogberry Trees: The True Story of Dr. Demento and Mr. Hansen. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ "Dr. Demento documentary usurped from producers – ComicMix". www.comicmix.com. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
- ^ "Dr. Demento / Inducted: July 11, 2005". throwingtoasters.com. Comedy Music Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
- ^ "Radio Hall of Fame – Arthur Godfrey, Music / Variety". Radiohof.org. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
- ^ "Oregon Music Hall of Fame".
- ^ The Book of Lists, pg. 178
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (2022-03-02). "See Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna in First Look Photo From 'Weird Al' Yankovic Biopic". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ "Dr. Demento: Discography: Compilations". AllMusic. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
External links
- Official website
- Demented Music Database – official playlist archive and more
- "Under the Smogberry Trees: The Dr. Demento Story" website
- Dr. Demento Discography
- Dr. Demento discography at Discogs
- Dr. Demento at IMDb
- The Mad Music Archive – a fan-run, user-supported site with song and artist information
- Top 100 (or so) Demented Hits (from Funny 25’s) – updated annually
- Another Side of Dr. Demento: An Interview at Twenty-Four Hours