Ogden Edsl (shortened from "The Ogden Edsl Wahalia Blues Ensemble Mondo Bizzario Band") was an American band, formed in 1970 in

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, by Bill Frenzer, Bill Carey, and Otis XII. Their music was often darkly comedic and satirical, and was frequently featured on

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

's weekly radio program. Popular songs from Ogden Edsl included "Dead Puppies", "Kinko the Clown", and "Daddy's Money". Over the years, the band has achieved a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

in American

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. The band's name references both poet

Ogden Nash Frederic Ogden Nash (August 19, 1902 – May 19, 1971) was an American poet well known for his light verse, of which he wrote over 500 pieces. With his unconventional rhyming schemes, he was declared by ''The New York Times'' the country's best ...

and two automobile brands,

Nash Motors Nash Motors Company was an American automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1937. From 1937 to 1954, Nash Motors was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. Nash production continued from 1954 to 195 ...

and

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort ...

History

Ogden Edsl's career began by playing the Omaha and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

circuits for about four years. The shows featured not only satirical music and parodies, but also comedy sketches. During this time, they also recorded a 65-episode radio serial. Throughout 1973 and 1974, the members of Ogden Edsl expanded their territory by playing gigs throughout the Midwest with a ten-piece band. They also added TV monitors to their act, which displayed video comedy skits and special effects synchronized to their music. On June 1, 1974, seven core members of the Ogden Edsl arrived in Los Angeles after a lengthy road trip. Within days they were in the Record Plant Studio C recording basic tracks for "Stuffed" with producer and engineer Kelly Kotera. Subsequently, the band played well-received gigs at The Comedy Store (June 16); The Icehouse Pasadena, (June 23) opening for Oingo Boingo; The Troubador (July 1); Whiskey A-Go-Go; Gazzari's. However, by July 10, personal decisions by some band members to return to the Omaha home-base led to the dissolution of the nine-piece version of the band despite bookings at other Los Angeles area venues and pending negotiations with the Smothers Brothers for a potential appearance on their show. Between 1974 and 1976, the band recorded an LP, ''Stuffed'', released on the Sunburn record label. In the late 1970s, the band moved to San Francisco and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to work on some TV shows and produce a local radio series. For a long period of time, Ogden Edsl's "Dead Puppies" was the most requested song on the Dr. Demento radio show, and remains the only song to ever hit number one on the annual "Funny 25" countdown two years in a row (1982 and 1983). Ogden Edsl formally disbanded in 1983. An anthology of their hits featuring Bill Frenzer was released in 1995 by

Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such ...

, entitled ''Mower of the Ogden Edsl''. Clips of Ogden Edsl songs, namely "Dead Puppies", frequently circulated amongst

AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017� ...

users as chatroom-playable

.wav Waveform Audio File Format (WAVE, or WAV due to its filename extension; pronounced "wave") is an audio file format standard, developed by IBM and Microsoft, for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is the main format used on Microsoft Win ...

files in the mid and late 1990s. Ogden Edsl was inducted into the

Nebraska Music Hall of Fame Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

on 27 October 2001 at the Ranch Bowl in Omaha, and performed one last time before a hometown crowd. The song "Kinko the Clown", about a pedophile who poses as a clown to lure children, appears on ''

The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records ''The Rhino Brothers Present the World's Worst Records'' is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1983. It purports to compile the worst music ever recorded and features mostly novelty songs, parodies and cover versions of popular song ...

''.

References

{{reflist

External links

Ogden Edsl's page at the Nebraska Music Hall of FameThe Dr. Demento Funny 25 annual countdown
American comedy musical groups Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups from Nebraska Outsider musicians