DDD's Music List of the Day: Top 5 Most Bizarre Songs of my lifetime

[TripletDaddy]

I like putting together offbeat playlists for my iTunes. I am currently working on a "bizarre songs" playlist and want to share my top 5 with you. My criteria was pretty simple....the songs had to be genuinely bizarre, for no apparent reason. In determining the criteria, I applied the following:

1. Has to be from my lifetime, so 70s onward.
2. Cannot be a commercial, a jingle, a parody, a fad launcher (such as a dance tune like Macarena or Boot Scootin' Boogie) or part of a comedic recording.
3. Must be in English (foreign languages may sound strange to some, but that doesnt make the song bizarre in and of itself).
4. The less commercially appealing, the better, thereby increasing the level of bizareness (my thinking being that sometimes, you are purposely weird to sell records. I can understand this strategy. If you arent even successful at selling records, then what was the purpose?)

So here they are for your enjoyment. I have also attached the YouTube link if you are interested in experiencing these tunes.

5. "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas--written at the intersection of the chopsocky and blaxploitation eras, the banal nature of this tune defies any sort of logic or conscience by not only completely ignoring the racial issues both cinematic movements presented, but by unintentionally promoting racism, or at least cultural sterotyping. The song was literally inspired by Carl Douglas's having seen a kung fu movie. The video is amazingly strange, poorly choreographed, and ultimately, very bizarre.



4. "Norman Bates" by Landscape--British electronic nobodies from the 80s who released a few electronic/sythn singles. They never went anywhere, but got there especially fast with this curious homage to history's most beloved Psycho and mamma's boy. This video was a semi-staple on MTV during its era. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect about this record is the extended spoken vocal portion wherein the narrator opines as to the nature of Norman's psyche. As a record producer, I am always excited about songs that feature lots of spoken dialogue.



3. "Porcupine Pie" by Neil Diamond--usually, I am a big fan of The Diamante. But this time, I have to call drug-induced hallucinogenic BS. I grew up with this song in my house and have always loved it, but never grasped it. The only thing that rivals the annoyance of the nonsensical lyrics is the inability to remove the tune from your head once you hear it. The video is equally strange....instead of a family sitting around eating a porcupine pie, they seem to be eating a pie made of lizards. Makes sense to me.



2. "Respect Yourself" by Bruce Willis--the 80s saw a fair share of movie star wannabes trying to leverage silver screen success for a chance at airwave stardom. Eddie Murphy enjoyed some commercial success with his awful "Party all the Time." At least he paired with Rick James. Don Johnson took it a step further by releasing 2 albums in the 80s. His "Heartbeat" is shameful, but not bizarre. Bruce Willis managed to take bizarre to an entirely new level with his album. Not only did he record an album to begin with, but he assumed the identity of a character named "Bruno" and even did interviews in real life as "Bruno the Bartender." The video features a Pointer Sister, a pool hall, and Bruno wearing some sort of vest and t shirt--ironic for a song demanding some self-respect.



1. "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)" by The Carpenters. I love KC and RC. I love their music. And nothing reminds me more of The Carpenters than UFOs, spaceships, and interstellar communication. This song is a remake of an old Klaatu song (yes, "Klaatu" is taken from the famous phrase from the classic SciFi flick, The Day the Earth Stood Still, for all you movie lovers out there). The Carpenters version is much better. It was written for "World Contact Day," an actual event from the early 50s in which a national group of UFO chasers tried to actually initiate telepathic communication with extraterrestrials. KC hired over 100 musicians to rearrange the tune with strings and keys. The video is equally remarkable, including space-themed special effects, tuxedos, KC lounging on an organ in an evening dress, and a DJ taking a radio request directy from the alien mothership. The result is nothing short of the most shocking, puzzling, and brilliantly bizarre recording made during my lifetime--a song written with the express purpose to serve as a soundtrack for a concerted global effort to speak to aliens via mindwaves.



Please feel free to add your own suggestions, as this list is not exhaustive and I need more for my playlist.