Author
DR Rob Gandy I UK
It struck me the other day that there aren’t really many humorous records getting into the charts these days. Of course, I have to qualify what I say because nowadays it is “downloads”, or whatever, that count and it is so hard to keep up with what might be “Top of the Pops” without Alan Freeman on the radio every Sunday!
But when we GBoomers were young things there were lots and lots of funny songs and witty parodies of other hits. Who can forget the Barron Knights’ “A Taste of Aggro”? Or Benny Hill’s “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)”? Or the punk-era songs of Wirral’s own Half Man Half Biscuit? To go back even further there was Mike Sarne getting “a bird up on (his) bike” in “Just For Kicks”.
…Ernie The Fastest Milkman In the West Image
Image by the grocer.co.uk
And going back even, even further we had The Goons with “I’m Walking Backwards For Christmas” and “The Ying Tong Song” and a whole array of songs from Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
I guess that this is possibly a symptom of the altogether more brash and rude comedy climate that we now live in. The comedy songs of our younger days were far more innocent and any rudeness relied more on suggestion and innuendo than anything “in your face”. No doubt today’s young generation will view all of the songs that I have mentioned as being quite tame. So the question is whether this is a genre that can survive? I know that Griff Rhys Jones and Mel Smith made some excellent contributions in recent years. But where is there another Bonzo Dog (Doo Dah) Band (my own favourites) out there!? Maybe, like the Bonzos’ “Urban Spaceman” these sorts of songs now simply don’t exist?
I welcome readers’ letting me know of recent humorous songs, just to prove me wrong! And I also welcome you telling me what your favourite funny song is! Just send the details to: editor@gboomer.co.uk
