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Dr. Demento
American radio personality Dr. Demento
American radio personality Dr. Demento
Background information
Birth name Barret Eugene Hansen
Also known as Dr. Demento
Born April 2, 1941 (1941-04-02) (age 67)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Genre(s) Comedy, parody
Occupation(s) Disc jockey
Years active 1974–present
Associated acts "Weird Al" Yankovic, Whimsical Will

Dr. Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Comedy rock is a term used to describe Rock music that is mixed with satire or other forms of Comedy. Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or recycling existing (usually very well known musical ideas or lyrics - or copying the peculiar style of a composer or artist A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (ˈjæŋkəvɪk born October 23 1959 is a Grammy Award winning American singer Musician, actor satirist Whimsical Will (real name William Simpson) is the Demented News broadcaster on the Dr Demento is the stage name of Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941),[1] a radio disc jockey specializing in novelty songs and pop music parodies. A stage name, also called a screen name, is a Pseudonym used by Performers and Entertainers such as Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. A disc jockey (also known as DJ or deejay) is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience A novelty song is a silly or nonsensical Song, performed principally for its comical effect. Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or recycling existing (usually very well known musical ideas or lyrics - or copying the peculiar style of a composer or artist He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West [1] After Hansen played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, DJ Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play that. Nervous Norvus was the performing name of Jimmy Drake (born 1912 in the Oakwood district of Los Angeles California; died July 24, 1968) Thereafter, the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974[1] and from 1978–92 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Networks. Westwood One ( is an American Radio network. It is based in New York City, and it was previously managed by CBS Radio, the Radio It is still on the air as of 2008.

Contents

Background

Hansen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of an amateur pianist. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers A pianist (/'piənɪst/ is a Musician who plays the Piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces play with an ensemble or Orchestra He claims to have started his vast record collection as early as age 12, when he found "that a local thrift store had thousands of old 78 RPM records for sale at 5 cents each". A charity shop, second-hand shop ( UK) thrift shop, thrift store, hospice shop ( U A gramophone [1] He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he was promoted to Program Director of KRRC in 1960 and General Manager in 1961. Reed College is a private, independent Liberal arts college located in southeast Portland Oregon. Portland is a city located in the Northwestern United States, near the Confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. In service industries such as Education, a program director researches plans develops and implements one or more of the firm's professional services KRRC (979 FM) is the student-run Radio station of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, United States. General Manager or GM for short is a descriptive term for certain executives in a Business operation He wrote his senior thesis on Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck and Claude Debussy's opera Pelleas et Melisande. Alban Maria Johannes Berg (February 9 1885 &ndash December 24 1935 was an Austrian Composer. Wozzeck is the first Opera by the Austrian composer Alban Berg. Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. He graduated in 1963, and later studied at UCLA, from which he earned a master's degree in folklore and ethnomusicology. The University of California Los Angeles (generally known as UCLA) is a public research university located in Westwood Los Angeles, California, United History The concept of folklore developed as part of the 19th century ideology of Romantic nationalism, leading to the reshaping of oral traditions to serve modern ideological This article is about the concept For the society and academic journal see Society for Ethnomusicology.

After earning his master's degree, he lived for two years "in a big house on a hill" in Topanga Canyon with members of the rock band Spirit ("Fresh Garbage" was a hit for them). Topanga is an Unincorporated area in western Los Angeles County, California, USA. Spirit was an American Jazz / Hard rock / psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California He also served briefly as a roadie for Spirit, and for Canned Heat, before being hired as an A&R man, or scout, for Specialty Records. Canned Heat is a Blues-rock /boogie band that formed in Los Angeles in 1965 Artists and Repertoire ( A&R) is the division of a Record label that is responsible for talent scouting and artist development Specialty Records was an American Record label based in Los Angeles It was while working for Specialty that the Doctor began his weekly radio show. He later worked for Warner Bros. Records. Warner Bros Records Inc is an American Record label that operates as a wholly owned Subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Hansen married his wife, Sue, on November 26, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West At that time she was a senior training officer at the Union Pacific railroad. Hansen describes himself as "an armchair railfan". A railfan or rail buff ( American English) railway enthusiast or railway buff ( Australian / British English) or (often

The rise of Dr. Demento

To some people, Dr. Demento is best known as the man who brought rock parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention (and appeared in a number of Weird Al's music videos, as well as Weird Al's movie UHF). A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic (ˈjæŋkəvɪk born October 23 1959 is a Grammy Award winning American singer Musician, actor satirist A music video is a Short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music most commonly a Song with lyrics UHF (also known as The Vidiot from UHF in Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, Los Telelocos Hansen also played a role in the success of Elmo and Patsy's 1979 Christmas song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and the continuing success of Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash". Elmo Shropshire, better known as Dr Elmo, is a singer of Comedy songs most notably " Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer is a novelty Christmas song and the eponymous animated movie Robert George Pickett ( February 11, 1938 &ndash April 25, 2007) was an American singer who found fame under the name Bobby "Boris" " Monster Mash " is a 1962 Novelty song and the best-known song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett.

Hansen created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West [1] From 1972–82, he performed a four hour live show on KMET in Los Angeles, plus a separate pre-taped top 50 in 1979 for KSAN in San Francisco. KMET was a Los Angeles Radio station originally owned by Metromedia that first took to the air in June 1968 at 94 For the former KSAN see KYLD or KSOL KSAN (1077 FM, "1077 The Bone" is a commercial Radio station located The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The four hour "local" show was divided up into two general segments. The first segment lasted three hours and the "Doctor" played whatever he chose, often thematically. The last hour was devoted to the so called "Top Ten" which was determined by petitions and requests.

His weekly show went into syndication in 1974[1] and from 1978–92 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Networks. Westwood One ( is an American Radio network. It is based in New York City, and it was previously managed by CBS Radio, the Radio It is still on the air as of 2008, syndicated by Hansen's own company, Talonian Productions, whose sole purpose is to produce and distribute this program. The show airs for two hours weekly, usually on a Sunday night, although stations are free to air the show at other times.

Dr. Demento Today

The show has, in recent years, fallen on financial hard times. According to Hansen, the show has 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 pay a rights fee for the program. Barter is a type of Trade in which goods or services are directly exchanged In addition, he has stated that "unless the show's financial situation changes soon I will be unable to continue the show much longer". [2] Beginning January 2008, the weekly "Funny 5" was abandoned and was replaced by a monthly Top Ten[3].

The Dr. Demento Show can also be heard via audio streaming at his official website. Large archives from 1992 to the present, as well as a few select archives from the early 1970s, are available, but the syndicated programs from 1978 to 1992 are not because Westwood One apparently still owns those programs. Some live local shows which aired in Los Angeles from this period are slowly being, with a small per-show fee is levied for this service so as to make the show profitable. As part of the contract between Dr. Demento and radio stations, radio stations are prohibited from streaming the program on any streams the stations provide. Several radio stations have been forced to drop the program because of this policy, thus reducing Dr. Demento's affiliate count, making the show even less appealing to advertisers. A spokesperson for Dr. Demento mentioned in his official forum in October 2007 that the show is working to make "lots of changes" regarding the internet services,[4] including a new webmaster.

Hansen has developed an interest in the roots of rock 'n' roll in R&B and country music, and he has written about it in many magazine articles, liner notes to compilations and new recordings by a variety of artists, and two chapters on early R&B for The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. His shows and public appearances display an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of recorded music in general, from the earliest Edison cylinder recordings onward. The earliest method of recording and reproducing sound was on phonograph cylinders.

Dr. Demento was inducted into the Comedy Music Hall of Fame in June 2005. [5]

In September 2007, Dr. Demento portrayed the role of Hippocrates on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd. Hippocrates of Cos II or Hippokrates of Kos ( ca. 460 BC – ca "Dr Floyd" redirects here For the character from The Space Odyssey series, see Heywood R

Favorite songs

At the end of each year on his syndicated radio show, he counts down the top 25 comedy hits of the year, called the "Funny 25". (From 1972–82, he also did a year-end top 50 countdown for his four-hour live show in Los Angeles, plus a separate pre-taped top 50 in 1979 for San Francisco. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city ) The chart is based on requests, so it is common for classic comedy songs to appear on the chart for many years in a row. Despite that, only four artists have appeared at the top of the chart in two consecutive years; three of those appeared at the top of the charts with two different songs each year, and the fourth is the case of Ogden Edsl, whose song "Dead Puppies" is thus far the only one to appear at the top of the charts two years in a row. Ogden Edsl (shortened from The Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band) was a band formed in 1970 in Omaha, Nebraska by Bill Frenzer

1980 - "Another One Rides The Bus"
1981 - "Yoda" (Original Demo Version)
1982 - "Dead Puppies"
1983 - "Dead Puppies"
2002 - "Peter Parker" (with guest vocals by Sudden Death)
2003 - "Stealing Like A Hobbit"
2004 - "Great Idea For A Song"
2005 - "Inner Voice" (as guest vocals for Sudden Death)

The 1947 song "Pico and Sepulveda" by Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra (actually Freddy Martin & His Orchestra) was frequently featured on Dr. Pico and Sepulveda is a song by Felix Figueroa & His Orchestra (stage name for Freddy Martin 's band Frederick Alfred (Freddy Martin ( December 9 1906 – September 30 1983) was an American bandleader and tenor saxophonist Demento's syndicated radio show. [6] During the early years of his show, this song became so requested, and hence played, that the "Doctor" decided to give the song a special status. From about 1973 onward, the song was played once a month, on the first Sunday of every month. The Doctor's unidirectional covenant he made with his listeners was that in exchange for playing this same song ad infinitum once a month via this special arrangement, it was thereafter voided from ever being voted upon, requested, and/or played in any monthly Top 10 or annual Top 50 format. For the last twenty years or so, he has played "Pico and Sepulveda" beneath his weekly sign-off.

Discography

A number of compilations have been released by Dr. Demento, including:[7]

Affiliates list

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "About The Dr. Syracuse (locally ˈsɛrəkjuːs sometimes ˈsɪrəkjuːs or /ˈsɪərəkjuːs/ by non-natives is a city in Central New York, USA. KVEN 1450 "The Boomer" is an Oldies station licensed to Ventura, California. Incorporated in 1866 the city of San Buenaventura (usually referred to as Ventura) is the County seat of Ventura " The Online Internet Site For Information on Dr. Demento music, songs, lyrics, and chat. 2005. 03 Mar. 2006 <http://www.drdemento.com/dr-bio.html>.
  2. ^ Dr. Demento (October 6, 2007). Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Home page: "A Note from the Doctor". DrDemento. com. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.
  3. ^ Dr. Demento (January 5, 2008). Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Home page: "A Couple of Changes". DrDemento. com. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes
  4. ^ Site admin "Arthyr" (18 October 2007). Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Forums: General Discussion: "Lots of buzz". DrDemento. com. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.
  5. ^ "Dr. Demento / Inducted: July 11, 2005". throwingtoasters. com. Comedy Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.
  6. ^ "Pico and Sepulveda". The Mad Music Archive. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.
  7. ^ "Dr. Demento: Discography: Compilations". All Music Guide. allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song.

External links

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