Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gunshots, whistles, cowbells,
hiccups
A hiccup (scientific name ''singultus'', from a Latin word meaning "to catch one's breath while sobbing"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hic ...
,
burps
Burping (also called belching and eructation) is the release of gas from the upper digestive tract (esophagus and stomach) of animals through the mouth. It is usually audible.
In humans, burping can be caused by normal eating processes, or as ...
, and outlandish and comedic vocals. Jones and his band recorded under the title Spike Jones and His City Slickers from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, and toured the United States and Canada as "The Musical Depreciation Revue".
Biography
Lindley Armstrong Jones was born in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
, the son of Ada (Armstrong) and Lindley Murray Jones, a
Southern Pacific railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
agent. Young Lindley Jones was given the nickname 'Spike' for being so thin that he was compared to a
railroad spike
A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties ( North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to parts ...
. At the age of 11 he got his first set of
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
. As a teenager he played in bands that he formed himself; Jones' first band was called Spike Jones and his Five Tacks. A railroad restaurant chef taught him how to use pots and pans, forks, knives and spoons as musical instruments. Jones frequently played in theater pit orchestras. In the 1930s, he joined the
Victor Young
Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor.
Biography
Young is commonly said to ...
orchestra and got many offers to appear on radio shows, including
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jews, Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-bi ...
's ''Lifebuoy Program'', ''
Burns and Allen
Burns and Allen was an American comedy duo consisting of George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen. They worked together as a successful comedy team that entertained vaudeville, film, radio, and television audiences for over forty years.
The duo ...
'', and
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
's '' Kraft Music Hall''.
Jones became bored playing the same music each night with the orchestras. He found other like-minded musicians and they began playing parodies of standard songs for their own entertainment. The musicians wanted their wives to share their enjoyment, so they recorded their weekly performances. One of the recordings made its way into the hands of an
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
executive, who offered the musicians a recording contract. One of the City Slickers' early recordings for the label was a
Del Porter
Del Porter (April 13, 1902, Newberg, Oregon – October 4, 1977, Los Angeles) was an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, in the 1930s, performed on Broadway, toured with Glenn Miller, and recorded with Bing Crosby, Dick Powe ...
arrangement of "
Der Fuehrer's Face
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...
". The record's success inspired Jones to become the band's leader. He initially thought the popularity the record brought them would fade. However, audiences kept asking for more, so Jones started working on more comic arrangements.
From 1937 to 1942, Jones was the percussionist for
the John Scott Trotter Orchestra
John Scott Trotter Jr. (June 14, 1908 – October 29, 1975), also known as "Uncle John", was an American arranger, composer and orchestra leader.
Trotter was best known for conducting the John Scott Trotter Orchestra which backed singer and ...
, which played on Bing Crosby's first recording of " White Christmas". He was part of a backing band for songwriter
Cindy Walker
Cindy Walker (July 20, 1918 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, as well as a country music singer and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists.
She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songwr ...
during her early recording career with
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
and Standard Transcriptions. Her song "We're Gonna Stomp Them City Slickers Down" provided the inspiration for the name of Jones's future band.
The City Slickers developed from the Feather Merchants, a band led by vocalist-clarinetist
Del Porter
Del Porter (April 13, 1902, Newberg, Oregon – October 4, 1977, Los Angeles) was an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, in the 1930s, performed on Broadway, toured with Glenn Miller, and recorded with Bing Crosby, Dick Powe ...
, who took a back seat to Jones during the group's embryonic years. They made experimental records for the Cinematone Corporation and performed publicly in Los Angeles, gaining a small following. Original members included vocalist-violinist Carl Grayson, banjoist Perry Botkin, trombonist King Jackson and pianist
Stan Wrightsman
Stanley Aubrey Wrightsman (June 15, 1910 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz pianist.
Biography
Wrightsman, whose father was a musician, began playing professionally in a Gulfport, Mississippi hotel, and in territory bands in Oklahoma. In ...
.
The band's early records were issued on RCA Victor's budget-priced
Bluebird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
label, but were soon moved to the more-prestigious Victor label. They recorded extensively for the company until 1955. They also starred in various radio programs (1945–1949) and in their own
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television shows
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
from 1954 to 1961.
During the 1940s, prominent band members included:
*
George Rock
George Rock (October 11, 1919 – April 12, 1988) was a trumpet player and singer with various bands before starring with Spike Jones, Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
A man of large physical stature, Rock attended Illinois Wesleyan Univ ...
(trumpet, and vocals from 1944 to 1960)
*
Mickey Katz
Meyer Myron "Mickey" Katz (June 15, 1909 – April 30, 1985) was an American musician and comedian. He was the father of actor Joel Grey and paternal grandfather of actress Jennifer Grey.
Early life
Meyer Myron Katz was born on Sawtell Court in ...
(clarinet, vocals)
*
Doodles Weaver
Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon "Doodles" Weaver (May 11, 1911 – January 17, 1983) was an American character actor, comedian, and musician.
Born into a wealthy West Coast family, Weaver began his career in radio. In the late 1930s, he p ...
(vocals – specialized in playing sports commentators and absentminded singers who persistently scrambled their lyrics into
malapropism
A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
s and digressed into
stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up.
Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...
)
*
Red Ingle
Ernest Jansen "Red" Ingle (November 7, 1906 – September 6, 1965) was an American musician, singer and songwriter, arranger, cartoonist and caricaturist. He is best known for his comedy records with Spike Jones and his own Natural Seven sides f ...
(sax, vocals)
*
Frank Rehak
Frank Rehak (July 6, 1926, in New York City – June 22, 1987 Badger, California) was an American jazz trombonist. He began on piano and cello before switching to trombone. He worked with Gil Evans and Miles Davis. He also appeared with Davis on t ...
(trombone)
*
Del Porter
Del Porter (April 13, 1902, Newberg, Oregon – October 4, 1977, Los Angeles) was an American jazz vocalist, saxophonist, and clarinetist who, in the 1930s, performed on Broadway, toured with Glenn Miller, and recorded with Bing Crosby, Dick Powe ...
(clarinet, vocals)
*Carl Grayson (violin, vocals)
* Perry Botkin (banjo)
*Country Washburne (tuba)
*Luther "Red" Roundtree (banjo)
*Earl Bennett, a.k.a. Sir Frederick Gas (vocals)
*Joe Siracusa (drums; died 2021)
*Joe Colvin (trombone)
*Roger Donley (tuba)
*Dick Gardner (sax, violin)
*Paul Leu (piano)
*Jack Golly (trumpet, clarinet)
*John Stanley (trombone)
*Don Anderson (trumpet)
*Charlotte Tinsley (harp)
*Eddie Metcalfe (saxophone)
*Dick Morgan (banjo)
*George Lescher (piano)
*Freddy Morgan (banjo, vocals)
* A. Purvis Pullen, a.k.a. Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath (bird calls, dog barks)
* Russ "Candy" Hall (bass, tuba)
The band's 1950s personnel included:
*
Helen Grayco
Helen Grayco (; September 20, 1924 – August 20, 2022) was an American singer and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on ''The Spike Jones Show'' in the 1950s and the 19 ...
(vocals)
*Earl Bennett, as Sir Frederick Gas
* Billy Barty (vocals and comedy routines, including impersonations of
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
)
*
Lock Martin
Joseph Lockard "Lock" Martin Jr. (October 12, 1916 – January 19, 1959) was an American performer afflicted with giantism. Martin and a twin brother were born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his brother died in childbirth.
Martin would e ...
(comedy routines)
*Freddy Morgan (banjo)
*Peter James (vocals)
* Jad Paul (banjo)
*
Gil Bernal
Gil Bernal (1931–2011) was a singer and a session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as " Searchin'" by The Coasters. In the 1950s he played on Duane Eddy's 1958 album ''Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel''. In later years, ...
(sax, vocals)
*
Paul Garner
Paul Albert "Mousie" Garner (July 31, 1909 – August 8, 2004) was an American actor. Garner earned his nickname by assuming the role of a shy, simpering jokester. He was one of the last actors still doing shtick from vaudeville, and has ...
(vocals)
*Bernie Jones (sax, vocals)
*Phil Gray (trombone)
*Marilyn Olsen Oliveri (vocals, harp)
The liner notes for at least two RCA compilation albums claimed that the two Morgans were brothers (the 1949 radio shows actually billed them as "Dick and Freddy Morgan"), but this was not true; Freddy's real name was Morgenstern. Peter James (who was sometimes billed as Bobby Pinkus) and Paul "Mousie" Garner were former members of
Ted Healy
Ted Healy (born Charles Ernest Lee Nash; October 1, 1896 – December 21, 1937) was an American vaudeville performer, comedian, and actor. Though he is chiefly remembered as the creator of The Three Stooges and the style of slapstick comedy th ...
's stage act on Broadway. James joined Healy for a two-year run in the Shubert revue ''A Night in Spain'' (1927–1928) where he worked alongside
Shemp Howard
Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent.
He is ...
and
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.
Early life
Fine was born to a Russian Je ...
. Mousie joined with Healy from 1931 to 1932 after
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He is best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television ...
,
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg (October 5, 1902 – January 24, 1975), known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is best known as a member of the comedy act the Three Stooges.
Early life
Fine was born to a Russian Je ...
and
Shemp Howard
Samuel Horwitz (March 11, 1895 – November 22, 1955), known professionally as Shemp Howard, was an American actor and comedian. He was called "Shemp" because "Sam" came out that way in his mother's thick Lithuanian Yiddish, Litvak accent.
He is ...
had their first split with Ted, and with fellow Healy "stooges" Dick Hakins and Jack Wolfe, appeared in the Broadway shows ''The Gang's All Here'' and ''Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt''. Mousie, with Hakins and Sammy Glasser (aka Sammy Wolfe) rejoined Healy in 1937 for radio and personal appearances, until Healy's death in December 1937.
Spike Jones's second wife, singer
Helen Grayco
Helen Grayco (; September 20, 1924 – August 20, 2022) was an American singer and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on ''The Spike Jones Show'' in the 1950s and the 19 ...
, performed in his stage and television shows. Jones had four children: Linda (by his first wife, Patricia), Spike Jr., Leslie Ann, and Gina. Spike Jr. is a producer of live events and television broadcasts. Leslie Ann is the Director of Music and Film Scoring at
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...
'
Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is a movie ranch and workplace of film director, writer and producer George Lucas located in a secluded area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, named for an early-20th-century l ...
in
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
.
Record hits
"Der Fuehrer's Face"
A strike by the American Federation of Musicians in 1942 prevented Jones from making commercial recordings for over two years. He could, however, make records for radio broadcasts. These were released on the Standard Transcriptions label (1941–1946) and have been reissued on a CD compilation called ''(Not) Your Standard Spike Jones Collection''.
Recorded just days before the recording ban, Jones scored a huge broadcast hit late in 1942 with "
Der Fuehrer's Face
''Der Fuehrer's Face'' (originally titled ''A Nightmare in Nutziland'' or ''Donald Duck in Nutziland'' ) is a 1943 American animated anti-Nazi propaganda short film produced by Walt Disney Productions, created in 1942 and released on January 1, ...
", a song ridiculing
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, which followed every use of the word " Heil" with a derisive
raspberry
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
sound, as in the repeated phrase " Heil, (raspberry), Heil (raspberry), right in Der Fuehrer's face!".
More spoof songs
The romantic ballad "
Cocktails for Two
"Cocktails for Two" is a song from the Big Band era, written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow. The song debuted in the movie '' Murder at the Vanities'' (1934), where it was introduced by the Danish singer and actor Carl Brisson. Duke Ellingto ...
", originally written to evoke an intimate romantic rendezvous, was re-recorded by Spike Jones in 1944 as a raucous, horn-honking, voice-gurgling, hiccuping hymn to the cocktail hour. The Jones version was a huge hit.
Other Jones spoofs followed: "
Hawaiian War Chant
"Hawaiian War Chant" is an American popular song whose original melody and lyrics were written in the 1860s by Prince Leleiohoku. The original title of the song was '' Kāua I Ka Huahuaʻi'' or "We Two in the Spray." It was not written as a chant ...
", "
Chloe
Chloe (; ), also spelled Chloë, Chlöe, or Chloé, is a feminine name meaning "blooming" or "fertility" in Greek. The name ultimately derives, through Greek, from the Proto-Indo-European root ', which relates to the colors yellow and green. T ...
You Always Hurt the One You Love
"You Always Hurt the One You Love" is a pop standard with lyrics by Allan Roberts and music by Doris Fisher. First recorded by the Mills Brothers, whose recording reached the top of the '' Billboard'' charts in 1944, it was also a hit for Sammy ...
", "
My Old Flame "My Old Flame" is a 1934 song composed by Arthur Johnston with lyrics by Sam Coslow for the film ''Belle of the Nineties''. It has since become a jazz standard.
History
"My Old Flame" first appeared in the 1934 film ''Belle of the Nineties'' when ...
", referring to
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
's voice (impersonated on the recording by
Paul Frees
Solomon Hersh "Paul" Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986) was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass, and Walt Disney theatrical cartoons during ...
) and eerie scenes in contemporary movies, and many more.
"Ghost Riders"
Spike's parody of
Vaughn Monroe
Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973) was an American baritone singer, trumpeter, big band leader, actor, and businessman, who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for rec ...
's rendition of "
Ghost Riders in the Sky
"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend" is a cowboy-styled country/western song written in 1948 by American songwriter, film and television actor Stan Jones.
A number of versions were crossover hits on the pop charts in 1949, the most ...
" was performed as if sung by a drunkard and ridiculed Monroe by name in its final stanza:
CHORUS: 'Cause all we hear is "Ghost Riders" sung by Vaughn Monroe.
I.W. HARPER: I can do without his singing.
SIR FREDERICK GAS: But I wish I had his dough!
The official American release edited out the dig at Monroe, because Monroe, a popular RCA Victor recording artist and also a major RCA stockholder, demanded it. The original version was released in the European market in 1949. (A limited number of original 78 rpm pressings containing the first ending were mistakenly released on the West Coast and are a prized rarity today.) The original recording with the unedited ending was later issued on a German RCA LP collection and on some CD and audio tape releases containing the song.
"Trailer Annie"
In the 1940s, Spike also recorded a comedic song titled "Trailer Annie", about a woman who tries to find a job in the United States military.
George Rock
George Rock (October 11, 1919 – April 12, 1988) was a trumpet player and singer with various bands before starring with Spike Jones, Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
A man of large physical stature, Rock attended Illinois Wesleyan Univ ...
, was a number-one hit in 1948. (
Dora Bryan
Dora May Broadbent, (7 February 1923 – 23 July 2014), known as Dora Bryan, was a British actress of stage, film and television.Beatle".)
Murdering the Classics
Among the recordings Spike Jones and his City Slickers made in the 1940s were many humorous takes on
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
such as the adaptation of
Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
's '' Liebestraum No. 3'', played at a breakneck pace on unusual instruments. Others followed: Rossini's ''William Tell Overture'' was rendered on kitchen implements using a horse race as a backdrop, with one of the "horses" in the "race" likely to have inspired the nickname of the lone
chrome yellow
__NOTOC__
Chrome yellow is a yellow pigment in paints using monoclinic lead(II) chromate (PbCrO4). It occurs naturally as the mineral crocoite but the mineral ore itself was never used as a pigment for paint. After the French chemist Louis Va ...
Blue Angels
The Blue Angels is a flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.
aerobatic team's shows in the late 1940s, "Beetle Bomb". In live shows Spike would acknowledge the applause with complete solemnity, saying "Thank you, music lovers." An LP collection of twelve of these "homicides" was released by RCA (on its prestigious Red Seal label) in 1971 as ''Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics.'' They include such ''tours de force'' as Pal-Yat-Chee (''
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who m ...
''), sung by the Hillbilly humorists
Homer and Jethro
Homer and Jethro were the stage names of American country music duo Henry D. "Homer" Haynes (1920–1971) and Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), popular from the 1940s through the 1960s on radio and television for their satirical versio ...
, Ponchielli's ''
Dance of the Hours
''Dance of the Hours'' (Italian: ') is a short ballet and is the act 3 finale of the opera '' La Gioconda'' composed by Amilcare Ponchielli. It depicts the hours of the day through solo and ensemble dances. The opera was first performed in 1876 ...
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
''.
In 1944, RCA Victor released "Spike Jones presents for the Kiddies" version of Tchaikovsky's ''Nutcracker Suite'', in three 10 inch 78 rpm records, P-143, arrangement credited to Joe "Country" Washburne with lyrics by Foster Carling. The set was also issued by RCA Victor on three 7 inch vinyl 45 rpm records in 1949 as WP-143 and on one 45rpm "extended play" record, EPA-143 in 1952. An abridged and re-sequenced version of the recording is also included in the aforementioned RCA Red Seal 'classics' album, with the complete original version available on the CD collection ''Spiked: The Music of Spike Jones''.
Radio
After appearing as the house band on ''
The Bob Burns Show
''The Bob Burns Show'' (also known as ''The Arkansas Traveler'') was an American old-time radio comedy program that starred comedian Bob Burns. The program derived from a character Burns performed for five years on Bing Crosby's ''Kraft Music Hal ...
,'' Spike got his own radio show on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
Edgar Bergen
Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters Ch ...
's summer replacement in 1945.
Frances Langford
Julia Frances Newbern-Langford (April 4, 1913 – July 11, 2005) was an American singer and actress who was popular during the Golden Age of Radio and made film and television appearances for over two decades.
She was known as the "GI Nighting ...
was co-host and
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
was among the guests. The guest list for Jones's 1947–49 CBS program for
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...
(originally ''The Spotlight Revue'', retitled ''The Spike Jones Show'' for its final season) included
Frankie Laine
Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...
,
Mel Torme
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
, Peter Lorre,
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...
and
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American musician, actor, and author with a career that spanned more than six decades.
Ives began his career as an itinerant singer and guitarist, eventually launching his own rad ...
.
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
appeared on the show twice October 1, 1948 & December 3, 1948 and Lassie in May 1949. Jones's resident "girlsinger" during this period was
Dorothy Shay
Dorothy Shay (April 11, 1921 – October 22, 1978) was an American popular comedic recording artist in the late 1940s and early 1950s, who later became a character actress. She was known as the "Park Avenue Hillbillie".
Early life
Shay was bor ...
, "The Park Avenue Hillbillie." One of the announcers on Jones's CBS show was the young
Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
. Writers included Eddie Maxwell, Eddie Brandt and
Jay Sommers
Jay Sommers (January 3, 1917September 25, 1985) was an American producer, director and comedy writer whose career spanned four decades. He wrote more than 90 television comedy episodes, produced 63, and was creator and producer of the ''Green Ac ...
. The final program in the series was broadcast in June 25, 1949.
Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra
While Jones enjoyed the fame and prosperity, he was annoyed that nobody seemed to see beyond the craziness. Determined to show the world that he was capable of producing legitimate "pretty" music, he formed a second group in 1946. Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra played lush arrangements of dance hits. This alternate group played nightclub engagements and was an artistic success, but the paying public preferred the City Slickers and stayed away. Jones wound up paying some of the band's expenses out of his own pocket. Some of the City Slickers band members appeared and recorded with the Other Orchestra, but most of the Other Orchestra personnel consisted of "serious," accomplished studio musicians from the Los Angeles area.
The one outstanding recording by the Other Orchestra is "Laura", which features a serious first half (played exquisitely by the Other Orchestra) and a manic second half (played hilariously by the City Slickers).
Jones's son, Spike Jones Jr., called attention to the precision of his father's most outlandish musical arrangements: "One of the things that people don't realize about Dad's kind of music is, when you replace a C-sharp with a gunshot, it has to be a C-sharp gunshot or it sounds awful."
Movies
In 1940, Jones had an uncredited bandleading part in the
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play '' Dead End'' in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They prov ...
film ''Give Us Wings'', appearing on camera for about four seconds.
As the band's fame grew, Hollywood producers hired the Slickers as a specialty act for feature films, including '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1943), ''
Meet the People
''Meet the People'' (1944) is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film, musical comedy film made, and set, during World War II, and starring Lucille Ball and Dick Powell and featuring Virginia O'Brien, Bert Lahr, Rags Ragland and June Allyson. The film ...
Breakfast in Hollywood
''Breakfast in Hollywood'' is a morning radio show created and hosted by Tom Breneman broadcast from 1941 to 1948 on three different radio networks: NBC, ABC and Mutual. These unscripted shows were spontaneous and involved much audience partici ...
'' (1946) and ''
Variety Girl
''Variety Girl'' is a 1947 American musical comedy film directed by George Marshall and starring Mary Hatcher, Olga San Juan, DeForest Kelley, Frank Ferguson, Glenn Tryon, Nella Walker, Torben Meyer, Jack Norton, and William Demarest. It was prod ...
'' (1947). Jones was set to team with
Abbott and Costello
Abbott may refer to:
People
*Abbott (surname)
*Abbott Handerson Thayer (1849–1921), American painter and naturalist
* Abbott and Costello, famous American vaudeville act
Places Argentina
* Abbott, Buenos Aires United States
* Abbott, Arkansas ...
for a
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
comedy, but when Lou Costello withdrew for medical reasons, Universal replaced the comedy team with look-alikes
Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–196 ...
and
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...
, and promoted Jones to the leading role. The finished film, '' Fireman Save My Child'', turned out to be Spike Jones's only top-billed theatrical movie.
Soundies
In 1942, the Jones gang worked on numerous
Soundies
Soundies are three-minute American musical films, and each short displays a performance. The shorts were produced between 1940 and 1946 and have been referred to as "precursors to music videos" by UCLA. Soundies exhibited a variety of musical gen ...
, musical shorts similar to later
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
s which were shown on coin-operated projectors in small nightclubs, arcades, malt shops, and taverns. The band appeared on camera under their own name in four of the Soundies ("Clink! Clink! Another Drink", "Pass the Biscuits, Mirandy", "The Sheik of Araby", and "Blacksmith Song"), and, according to musicologist Mark Cantor, provided background music for at least thirteen others. Mel Blanc, the voice of
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
and other
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
cartoon characters, performed a drunken, hiccuping verse for 1942's "Clink! Clink! Another Drink" (reissued in 1949 as "The Clink! Clink! Polka").
Television
Jones saw the potential of television and filmed two half-hour pilot films, ''Foreign Legion'' and ''Wild Bill Hiccup'', in the summer of 1950. Veteran comedy director Eddie Cline worked on both, but neither was successful. The band fared much better on live television, where their spontaneous antics and crazy visual gags guaranteed the viewers a good time. Spike usually dressed in a suit with an enormous check pattern and was seen leaping around playing a washboard, cowbells, a suite of klaxons and foghorns, then xylophone, then shooting a pistol. The band starred in variety shows, such as ''
The Colgate Comedy Hour
''The Colgate Comedy Hour'' was an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show featured many notable comedians and entertainers of the era as guest stars. Many of the scripts of the series ...
'' (1951, 1955) and their ''
All Star Revue
''Four Star Revue'' (also known as ''All Star Revue'' and ''All Star Summer Revue'') was an American variety/comedy program that aired on NBC from October 4, 1950, to December 26, 1953.
The series originally starred four celebrities, Ed Wynn, Dan ...
'' (1952) before being given his own slot by
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
, ''
The Spike Jones Show
''The Spike Jones Show'' was the name of several separate American comedy and variety show, variety series that aired on NBC and CBS in the 1950s and 1960s. The series was presented by actor and musician Spike Jones, his wife, musician Helen Gray ...
'', which aired early in 1954, and Club Oasis on NBC, in the summer of 1958; and by CBS, as ''The Spike Jones Show,'' in the summers of 1957, 1960, and 1961. Jones and his City Slickers also appeared on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's ''
The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford
''The Ford Show'' (also known as ''The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford'' and ''The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show'') is an American variety program, starring singer and folk humorist Tennessee Ernie Ford, which aired on NBC on Thursday eveni ...
'' in the episode which aired on November 15, 1956. In 1990,
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
screened six compilation shows from these broadcasts; they were subsequently aired on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
stations.
Later years
The rapid decline of big bands immediately following the end of World War II and the rise of
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
in the early 1950s had a marked effect on Spike Jones's repertoire. Early rock songs were ''already'' novelties, and Jones could not spoof them the same way he had lampooned "Cocktails for Two", "Laura" or "Chloe". He played rock music for laughs when he presented "for the first time on television, the bottom half of
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
!" This was the cue for a pair of pants—inhabited by dwarf actor Billy Barty—to scamper across the stage.
Jones was always prepared to adapt to changing tastes. In 1950, when America was nostalgically looking back at the 1920s, Jones recorded a straight album of Charleston arrangements. In 1953, he responded to the growing market for children's records, with tunes aimed directly at kids (like "Socko, the Smallest Snowball"). Over the years, Jones had become increasingly unhappy at RCA Victor due to management censoring his recordings and other matters, and he left the label in 1955. His later recordings were issued by
Verve
Verve may refer to:
Music
* The Verve, an English rock band
* ''The Verve E.P.'', a 1992 EP by The Verve
* ''Verve'' (R. Stevie Moore album)
* Verve Records, an American jazz record label
Businesses
* Verve Coffee Roasters, an American coffee ho ...
,
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
In 1956, Jones supervised an album of Christmas songs, many of which were performed seriously. In 1957, noting the television success of
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...
and his dance band, he revamped his own act for television. Gone was the old City Slickers mayhem, replaced by a more straightforward big-band sound, with tongue-in-cheek comic moments. The new band was known as Spike Jones and the Band that Plays for Fun. The last record credited to the City Slickers was the LP '' Dinner Music for People Who Aren't Very Hungry''. Spoken-word comedy (
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...
,
Mort Sahl
Morton Lyon Sahl (May 11, 1927 – October 26, 2021) was a Canadian-born American comedian, actor, and social satirist, considered the first modern comedian. Sahl pioneered a style of social satire that pokes fun at political and current event t ...
,
Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director.
His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...
, Shelley Berman) was the current trend in comedy records. Spike Jones adapted to this, too; most of his later albums are spoken-word comedy, including the horror-genre sendup '' Spike Jones in Stereo'' (1959) and the send-up of television programs of the period in ''Omnibust'' (1960). Jones remained topical to the last: his final group, Spike Jones's New Band, recorded four LPs of brassy renditions of pop-folk tunes of the 1960s (including "Washington Square" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett"). One of his New Band tracks in 1964 was a cover of "
Dominique
"Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...
", a recent hit by
The Singing Nun
Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire () and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dominican Order in ...
, in which he not only plays part of the melody on a
banjo
The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
but melds the melody successfully with "
When the Saints Go Marching In
"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as simply "The Saints", is a traditional black spiritual. It originated as a Christian hymn and is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstron ...
"
Jones was a lifelong heavy smoker, reportedly 4-5 packs a day, and eventually he developed breathing problems, including
emphysema
Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...
. Never the picture of health, his emphysema advanced to the point where he used an oxygen tank both on and offstage and he was confined to a seat behind his drum set while performing. In spite of his illness, he continued smoking until his death on May 1, 1965, at the age of 53. He is interred in Holy Cross Cemetery,
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most d ...
.
His second wife,
Helen Grayco
Helen Grayco (; September 20, 1924 – August 20, 2022) was an American singer and actress active from the 1930s to the 1960s. She was most famous for appearances with her husband Spike Jones on ''The Spike Jones Show'' in the 1950s and the 19 ...
, died as a result of cancer in Los Angeles on August 20, 2022, at the age of 97.
Influence and legacy
There is a clear line of influence from
Harry Reser
Harrison Franklin Reser (January 17, 1896 – September 27, 1965) was an American banjo player and bandleader. Born in Piqua, Ohio, Reser was best known as the leader of The Clicquot Club Eskimos. He was regarded by some as the best banjoist of ...
's 1920s hot-comic "Six Jumping Jacks" band (whose drummer and vocalist was the distinctive
Tom Stacks
Thomas De Armen Stacks, known professionally as Tom Stacks (November 9, 1899 – February 19, 1936) was an American musician who was the lead singer, drummer, and sound effects man for many of Harry Reser's late-1920s jazz and novelty bands that i ...
, "The Voice With a Smile"), the
Hoosier Hot Shots
The Hoosier Hot Shots were an American quartet of musicians who entertained on stage, screen, radio, and records from the mid-1930s into the 1970s. The group formed in Indiana where they performed on local radio before moving to Chicago and a n ...
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
to Spike Jones — and to
Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director.
His best-known works include " St. George and the Dragonet ...
,
Gerard Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung (22 March 192528 September 1959) was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works.
Raised in Germany, Hoffnung was brought to London as a boy, to escape the Nazis. Over the next two decades in England, he became kno ...
,
Peter Schickele
"Professor" Peter Schickele (; born July 17, 1935) is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist, best known for comedy albums featuring his music, but which he presents as being composed by the fictional P. D. Q. Bach. He also hosted ...
's
P.D.Q. Bach
P. D. Q. Bach is a fictional composer invented by the American musical satirist Peter Schickele, who developed a five-decade-long career performing the "discovered" works of the "only forgotten son" of the Bach family. Schickele's music combines ...
Joe Raposo
Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer, songwriter, pianist, singer and lyricist, best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme ...
,
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle is an American experimental rock band formed in Eureka, California in 1985. Having gone through many incarnations throughout their career, the band is best known for music created during their most experimental era. During this time, ...
,
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
,
George Maciunas
George Maciunas (; lt, Jurgis Mačiūnas; November 8, 1931 – May 9, 1978) was a Lithuanian American artist, born in Kaunas. A founding member and the central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers ...
,
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band or The Bonzos) was created by a group of British art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelia with surreal humour and avant-garde ar ...
,
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo
The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo was an American surrealist street theatre troupe, formed by performer and director Richard Elfman in 1972. The group was led by Richard until 1976, when his brother Danny Elfman took over. The group evolved ...
, and
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
. According to David Wild's review in Rolling Stone Magazine,
Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...
's 1989 Album "
Spike
Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Books
* ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave
* ''The Spike'' (book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick
* ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter F. Hamilto ...
" was named partly in tribute to Jones.
Syndicated radio personality
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 ...
regularly features Jones' records on his program of comedy and novelty tracks. Jones is mentioned in The Band's song, " Up on Cripple Creek". (The song's protagonist's paramour states of Jones: "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk.") Novelist
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
is an admirer and wrote the liner notes for a 1994 CD reissue, ''Spiked!'' (BMG Catalyst). A scene in the romantic comedy ''
I.Q.
An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...
'' shows a man demonstrating the sound of his new stereo to
Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap oper ...
's character by playing a Jones recording.
In the 1948 Warner Bros.
Merrie Melodies
''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
animated short '' Back Alley Oproar'', a caterwauling Sylvester the Cat does a Spike Jones-inspired solo finale cover of " Angel in Disguise" by opening with a brief, serious-sounding introduction before immediately breaking into a jazzy rendition featuring a collection of crazy sound effects produced by firing guns, breaking bottles and exploding firecrackers among other sounds, much to Elmer Fudd's annoyance.
Spike Jones is referenced several times in the American TV series ''
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
Th ...
''. In season 2, episode 5 "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde", an exhausted Hawkeye sings a line of "Der Fuehrer's Face" in reference to the great songs that came out of World War II; in the season 8 episode " "Good-Bye, Radar: Part 1," when
Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
returns from leave in Tokyo to a generator-less 4077th, he calls up Sparky to unsuccessfully bargain for a new one with a variety of items which included some Spike Jones records and in the season 11 episode "Foreign Affairs," visiting French Red Cross nurse Martine LeClerc (
Melinda Mullins
Melinda Mullins (born April 20, 1958) is an American film, television and theatre actress.
Early life and education
She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in the Romance languages from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, i ...
), who develops a warm if brief affair with Charles Emerson Winchester III tells him that she's a huge fan of Spike Jones, which inspires him to admit, in a rare confession, secretly loving
Tom & Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
cartoons.
In 1974,
Tony Levin
Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (since 1 ...
(future bass player for
King Crimson
King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
), recording under the name, The Clams, released a Spike Jones tribute of him giving the songs " Close To You" by
The Carpenters
The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct ...
and "
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer-songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to his ...
" by
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like M ...
, the Jones treatment.
In 1986, the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
group
Telex
The telex network is a station-to-station switched network of teleprinters similar to a Public switched telephone network, telephone network, using telegraph-grade connecting circuits for two-way text-based messages. Telex was a major method of ...
paid homage to Spike Jones in their album ''Looney Tunes'', with a song named after him. The intro of that song is a part of the intro from "
Camptown Races
"Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races" (popularly known simply as "Camptown Races") is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864). () It was published in February 1850 by F. D. Benteen of Baltimore, Maryland, and Benteen published ...
".
In 1997, singers
Artie Schroeck
Arthur Bruce Schroeck (born October 10, 1938) is an American musician, best known for arranging and composing popular songs and jingles. He has won multiple Clio Awards, such as when he composed the music for the 1981 ABC-TV promo "Now is t ...
and
Linda November
Linda Ellen November (born October 16, 1944) is an American singer who has sung tens of thousands of commercial jingles. She was the voice of the singing cat in the Meow Mix commercials, sang the jingle "Galaxy Glue" in the 1981 film ' ...
directed a production in
Atlantic City
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
titled "The New City Slickers Present a Tribute to Spike Jones", with a band that attempted to re-create the style and humor of Jones's music.
Both
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
and
Spike Jonze
Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television.
Jonze began his ca ...
were nick-named in reference to Jones.
Discography
* ''Spike Jones Plays the Charleston'' (1950)
* ''Bottoms Up, Polka'' (1952)
* ''Spike Jones Murders Carmen and Kids the Classics'' (1953)
* '' Dinner Music For People Who Aren't Very Hungry'' (1956)
* ''Spike Jones Presents a Xmas Spectacular'' (1956) (reissued as ''It's a Spike Jones Christmas'' and ''Let's Sing a Song of Christmas'')
* ''Hi Fi Polka Party'' (1957)
* '' Spike Jones in Stereo'' (1959) (reissued as ''Spike Jones in Hi Fi'')
* ''Omnibust'' (1960)
* ''60 Years of "Music America Hates Best"'' (1960)
* ''Thank You Music Lovers!'' (1960) (reissued as ''The Best of Spike Jones'' in 1967 and 1975)
* ''Rides, Rapes and Rescues'' (1960)
* ''Washington Square'' (1963)
* ''Spike Jones New Band'' (1964)
* ''My Man'' (1964)
* ''The New Band of Spike Jones Plays Hank Williams Hits'' (1965)
* ''Spike Jones Is Murdering the Classics'' (1971)
* ''The Best of Spike Jones Volume 2'' (1977)
* ''Spike Jones and His Other Orchestra, 1946'' (Hindsight Records HUK185 1982)
* ''Never Trust a city Slicker: Standard Transcription Discs 1942–1944'' (Harlequin HQ2042 1986)