How A Brain Works and Dr. Demento

by Carmelita Morales

My man was just telling me how he is going to play a gig in Istanbul.
That got me thinking of that old song by They Might be Giants "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
That got me thinking about where I first heard They Might be Giants, on Dr. Demento's radio show.
That got me thinking about how RAD Dr. Demento was when I was growing up.
That got me thinking how long ago I use to listen to him and how old I'm getting.
That got me thinking how much I wish my brain would just shut the eff up.

Anyway, the one good thing that did come out of all those thoughts was remembering Dr. Demento. He was this wacky weirdo of a radio dj who had a syndicated show called Dr. Demento. I guess I shouldn't talk about him in the past tense because apparently he is still around and still has a radio show, though it is much less popular than it once was.

His show was always something to look forward to. I mean, I was about 13 when I first discovered him and the stuff he played was wayyyy out there as far as I was concerned. He specialized in comedic, weirdo music and is best known for 'breaking' Weird Al Yankovich even appearing in a few of his videos. Dr Demento also played a big role in the success of the 1979 Christmas song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and the best monster song ever, Bobby "Boris" Pickett's "Monster Mash".

He released lots of Dr. Demento compilations, his radio show was syndicated all over America, and he even had a video show for a few years which is where I first saw the awesome videos below.

The first one is a hilarious, kind of stomach-turning film from the 80's which has been edited into video format. It's called 'Fish Heads' and is about a lonely man who has a fish head for a best friend.



This is the first video from a solo Fred Shneider effort which features his bandmates in the B-52's. It's about the 'monster in his pants that does a funny dance' complete with cute animated dancing penis.