novelty song
A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...
by Tony Burrello, written by Burrello and Tom Murray.
Burrello, better known under his birth name Tony Tamburello, a songwriter and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...
, and Murray started writing novelty songs after they were unsuccessful in having their more serious-minded songs recorded by prominent musicians. They noted the success of music that was seemingly intentionally bad, after hearing a
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
play
Harry Stewart
Harry Stewart (October 21, 1908 – May 20, 1956), born Harry Skarbo, was an entertainer, singer, comedian, and songwriter. He was best known for his portrayal of Yogi Yorgesson, a comically exaggerated Swedish American.Yes Sir, That's My Baby" sung in a faux-Japanese accent and featuring a
geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...
orchestra. According to Murray, the disc jockey said that the record was one of the top hits but also "one of the most horrible records he had ever heard".
Burrello and Murray responded by creating the songs "There's a New Sound" performed by Burello and "Fish" sung by
Leona Anderson
Leona Anderson (born Leona Aronson; April 3, 1885 – December 25, 1973) was an American silent film actress who is possibly best remembered for her 1957 shrill music album ''Music to Suffer By''.
Biography
Leona Anderson was born as Leona Aronso ...
, which they released as a single. The former song's lyrics consist of a single chorus repeated five times, each time at a higher pitch. The lyrics describe a "new sound ... the strangest sound that you have ever heard", which turns out to be "the sound that's made by
worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...
s". Burrello was credited as the artist on the single, which was released on Burrello and Murray's own record label, Horrible, as catalog numbers H 100 (ten-inch 78 rpm format) and H 100-X45 (seven-inch 45 rpm format). It was the Horrible label's first and only release.
When ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' magazine reviewed the single, it commented, "A weird one. 'The new sound is the sound made by worms.' Strange sound effects go with nonsense lyric. It's a studied attempt to be as screwy as possible. Quien Sabe?" For the flip side, "Fish", ''Billboard''′s review was "Same comment".
Burrello and Murray originally had only 500 copies of "There's a New Sound"/"Fish" issued, to be sent to disc jockeys as a protest record. However, within two weeks, they received orders for more than 100,000 copies of the single.
Soon afterward, Burrello and Murray were called upon to write a song for Brucie Weil, who was then 6 years old. The song they wrote for Weil, "God Bless Us All", reached #18 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart.
Burrello and Murray were soon called upon to write music for other artists, including a theme song for John Conte and special material for
Tony Bennett
Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...
.
Anderson went on to exploit her newfound fame as a "horrible" musician (the schtick was a parody of
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
singers who, in Anderson's opinion, could never "kid themselves properly (or) let their voices go") by making appearances on ''
The Ernie Kovacs Show
''The Ernie Kovacs Show'' was an American comedy show hosted by comedian Ernie Kovacs, first shown in Philadelphia during the early 1950s, then nationally. The show appeared in many versions and formats, including daytime, prime-time, late-night, ...
'' and signing with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
for two more singles. In 1957, for Unique Records, Anderson released a full-length album, ''Music to Suffer By'', in the same style she used for "Fish."
"There's a New Sound" was later featured often on the
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 ...
showSearch of http://dmdb.org/playlists/search_pl.htmlWolk, Douglas., "Review: Various Artists - Only In America", CMJ New Music Monthly, February 1996, page 16. and performed by Scooter on ''
The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...