Search - Various Artists :: Dr Demento 30th Anniversary: Dementia 2000

Oh, the threads that weave the cloth of Dementia...

Sparky P. | composer, all around nice guy, yada yada yada | 05/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's great to find even more Dr. Demento favorites on one tidy package, especially "It's a Gas," "I Want My Baby Back" (both of which I have not heard in almost 25 years!), and "Hamster Love." OK, so there isn't any Spike Jones or Allan Sherman here; that's all right, there are plenty of anthologies of their material around. OK, so there are one Tom Lehrer and three "Weird Al" Yankovic tracks; that's all right as two of the "Weird Al" tracks fit very nicely into the scheme of things (true, I, too, am tired of seeing Weirld Al on these anthologies). What is great about this set is that almost all of the tunes relate to each other in some bizarre way or another in a series of thematic chains; some are obvious, others subliminal. Starting on the first disc, the first five tracks are almost independent to each other, complete with an overture ("Daffy Duck's Rhapsody"). The first thematic chain begins with "Dungeon and Dragons," leading to a few tracks of matters of fringe characters. The Ozzie Fudd track leads to "Stress," then to "On the Shoulders of Freaks," which leads nicely to a tome of "over the shoulder boulder holders" ("Bras on 45") and other tunes regarding undergarments, culminating to Brian Hyland's ditty leading to beach scenes. The Cheech & Chong bit leads to the subject of vacations, tied in with Weird Al's "Twine" track. After the Chuck Berry fluke tune (his only #1 when his prime tunes came up quite short; chart robbery I say, but that's another story), "It's a Gas" relates to the "Twine" tune in regards to roadtrips and what to put into the vehicle, leading to another car tune which tragically goes awry ("I Want My Baby Back"), segueing to what happens after someone departs ("Last Will and Temperment").The second disc opens with the Bonzo's Beatle Paul-produced "Urban Spaceman" (I am glad to see the Bonzos acknowledged in a Demento anthology; the complete boxset of all of their albums, Cornology, is worth seekingout; we miss Viv Stanshall), which goes to "Bulbous Bouffant," taking place at an urban bus stop. The bus eventually arrives, but it is alas stuffed to the rafters ("Another One Rides the Bus"). Then we get a series of fauna-related tunes, culminating to one critter which meets it demise ("Dead Skunk"), what likely caused it ("You Were Speeding") and the feelings arising from it ("I Hate When That Happens"). The rest of the disc is made up of a combination of odd lifestyles, occupations, dementia(of course), and what to do about it. The last three tunes offer some choices (as it were) on the last subjects; one can, A) seek professional help("Everything Reminds Me of My Therapist", harking to the previous "Rock & Roll Doctor"); B) escape and have some fun (Mrs. Miller's spirited, if that is the correct word, rendition of "Downtown"); or C) just revel in its demented glory as Ivor Biggun so eloquently states (not that there's anything wrong with that!). But you know, despite all that blathering, it is quite a fun set (although I would have love to have seen Les Crane's "Desiterata" segue right into "Deteriorata"). It is a great combination of well-known tidbits of lunacy and lesser-known diamonds in the dementia rough. I just wish the good Doctor's show could get back here in the Bay Area. I hope that in future Demento anthologies such acts like anything by the Android Sisters, "Mama Get Your Hammer (There's a Fly on Baby's Head)" by the Bobby Peterson Quartet and Ogden Edsel's "Kinko the Kid Loving Clown" will get to see the light of CD day. Thank you, Dr. Demento."