Wasn't Space Oddity the song considered a bit of a novelty song when it first came out?
I was wondering that while I was typing that post....
Lorne: Once the word spreads you beat up an innocent old man, well, the truly terrible will think twice before going toe-to-toe with our Avenging Angel. Spike: Yes. The geriatric community will be soiling their nappies when they hear you're on the case. Bravo.
'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'
Buffista Music 4: Needs More Cowbell!
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
tommyrot - Mar 26, 2010 7:51:46 am PDT #2796 of 6436
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
DavidS - Mar 26, 2010 7:52:04 am PDT #2797 of 6436
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
But it wasn't a hit until two years later!
tommyrot - Mar 26, 2010 7:55:42 am PDT #2798 of 6436
Sir, it's not an offence to let your cat eat your bacon. Okay? And we don't arrest cats, I'm very sorry.
I would say the song transcends its novelty-song-ness to some extent due to its dark conclusion.
DavidS - Mar 26, 2010 7:57:20 am PDT #2799 of 6436
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Yes, well, the novelty element is somewhat a matter of perception. It's notable that the song wasn't a hit until it was past the novelty association of the Apollo flights and 2001.
Frankenbuddha - Mar 26, 2010 8:05:26 am PDT #2800 of 6436
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
So, The Blues Brother - novelty act or vanity project?
Or are the two not mutually exclusive? In any case, I'm tempted to say novelty act, but apart from "Rubber Biscuit" the songs themselves were done pretty straight.
Also, where does Buster Pointdexter fit in?
Or Spinal Tap?
DavidS - Mar 26, 2010 8:09:28 am PDT #2801 of 6436
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Blues Brothers - Vanity project, though "Rubber Biscuits" is totally a novelty song.
Spinal Tap - awesome novelty.
Buster Poindester - novelty. NSM the songs as the character.
The New York Dolls (my favorite band ever!) were unfairly dismissed as a novelty band by many critics and hippies. The twat on the Old Grey Whistle Test (UK music show) introduced them as "Mock Rock."
Trudy Booth - Mar 26, 2010 8:27:11 am PDT #2802 of 6436
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
Gerard Way's video interview with Spin after his magazine interview with Spin.
Favorite quote so far: "I didn't shower a lot back then. I used to drink a lot back then."
Fred Pete - Mar 26, 2010 9:23:47 am PDT #2803 of 6436
Ann, that's a ferret.
So what does a band have to do to be pegged with the "Novelty band" label? Just one novelty song? One popular novelty song?
I'd vote for a number of novelty songs, certainly for acts in the pre-rock era. A lot of the big bands -- dare I say most of them -- recorded at least some novelty songs. But, for example, I wouldn't call Tommy Dorsey's band a novelty band because of "The Music Goes Round and Round."
javachik - Mar 26, 2010 10:24:43 am PDT #2804 of 6436
Our wings are not tired.
I think Moxy Frouvous, the Roches and Barenaked Ladies all straddle the novelty band thing, but I think it's mainly because they don't cover the usual suspects in their music, i.e., love and heartache. I mean, one can argue that the Barenaked Ladies' best love song is about alcohol.
Cass - Mar 26, 2010 2:51:25 pm PDT #2805 of 6436
Bob's learned to live with tragedy, but he knows that this tragedy is one that won't ever leave him or get better.
but it does parody the immediate pre-grunge era top 40 music video style effectively.
Really effectively.
Favorite quote so far: "I didn't shower a lot back then. I used to drink a lot back then."
I don't think he showers a lot NOW. Well, certainly no water touches that hair.