[Survivor] Novelty Songs Survivor | WINNER

[cheapthrills]

With a few days removed from the April Fool hijinks, it just might be appropriate to follow that up with a salute to novelty songs! What is a novelty song, you may ask? Oh, you didn't ask? You clicked in here by accident? Well, too bad, I'm going to tell you anyway.

A novelty song is a song that uses some sort of stunt or gimmick - it could be an off-beat topic, it could be about a current topic, it could be comedic, or it could just sound wildly different from something else out there, as part of its attempt to delight you.

With some contribution from matthew, below is a list of novelty that span back to the 1940s. I could have come up with dozens of songs more, but I tried to go mostly for songs that charted or in the last two decades went viral. I chose to only have one representative per artist, and I chose not to include Christmas songs, as I think that could be its own survivor! I hope you join me on popular novelty songs through the decades.

1. Spike Jones - Cocktails For Two (1944)
2. Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
3. Kay Kyser - Woody Woodpecker Song (1948)
4. Patti Page - (How Much is) That Doggie in the Window (1952)
5. Hollywood Argyles - Alley Oop (1957)
6. Bobby Darin -Splish Splash (1958)
7. Royal Teens - Short Shorts (1958)
8. David Seville - Witch Doctor (1958)
9. Sheb Wooley - Purple People Eater (1958)
10. Alvin and the Chipmunks - Alvin's Harmonica (1959)
11. Dodie Stevens - Pink Shoelaces (1959)
12. Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango (1959)
13. Lonnie Donegan - Does Your Chewing Gun Lose Its Flavor (1959)
14. Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren - Goodness Gracious Me (1960)
15. Rolf Harris - Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport (1960)
16. Bobby Herman - Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)? (1961)
17. Brian Hyland - Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini (1961)
18. Bobby Boris Pickett & the Crypt Kickers - Monster Mash (1962)
19. Trashmen - Surfin Bird (1963)
20. The Kingsmen - The Jolly Green Giant (1964)
21. Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
22. Napoleon XIV - They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haa! (1966)
23. David Bowie - The Laughing Gnome (1967)
24. Rufus - Do The Funky Chicken (1969)
25. Ernie - Rubber Duckie (1970)
26. Jerry Reed - When You're Hot, You're Hot (1971)
27. Melanie - Brand New Key (1971)
28. Michael Jackson - Rockin' Robin (1972)
29. Chuck Berry - My Ding-a-Ling (1972)
30. Ray Stevens - The Streak (1974)
31. Cheech and Chong - Earache My Eye (1974)
32. CW Mccall - Convoy (1975)
33. Dickie Goodman - Mr Jaws (1975)
34. Transylvanians - Time Warp (1975)
35. Rick Dees - Disco Duck (1976)
36. Randy Newman - Short People (1977)
37. Meco - Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band (1977)
38. Meri Wilson - Telephone Man (1977)
39. Steve Martin - King Tut (1978)
40. Village People - In The Navy (1979)
41. Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
42. The Tweets - Thr Birdie Song (1981)
43. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Hooked on Classics (1981)
44. Valley Girl - Frank and Moon Unit Zappa (1982)
45. Pac-Man Fever - Buckner & Garcia (1982)
46. Rodney Dangerfield - Rappin' Rodney (1983)
47. Black Lace - Agadoo (1984)
48. Spitting Image - The Chicken Song (1986)
49. The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
50. Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
51. Timelords - Doctorin' The Tardis (1988)
52. Bananarama & Lananeeneenoonoo - Help! (1989)
53. Simpsons - Do The Bartman (1990)
54. Right Said Fred - I'm Too Sexy (1991)
55. Hale and Pace and the Stonkers - The Stonk (1991)
56. Green Jelly - Three Little Pigs (1992)
57. Yeastie Girlz- You Suck (1992)
58. King Missile - Detachable Penis (1992)
59. Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
60. Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
61. BC-52s - Meet the Flintstones (1994)
62. Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say "Eh-Oh!" (1997)
63. Aqua - Barbie Girl (1997)
64. Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (1997)
65. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee) (1998)
66. Chef - Chocolate Salty Balls (1998)
67. Pauline Pantsdown - I Don't Like It (1998)
68. Hampton the Hamster - The Hamster Dance (1998)
69. Lou Bega - Mambo #5 (1999)
70. Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch (1999)
71. Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out (2000)
72. Afroman - Because I Got High (2001)
73. Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
74. The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing Called Love (2003)
75. Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather For Ducks (2003)
76. Electric Six - Gay Bar (2003)
77. Günther featuring The Sunshine Girls - Ding Dong Song (2004)
78. Crazy Frog - Axel F (2005)
79. Weird Al Yankovic - White and Nerdy (2006)
80. Tay Zonday - Chocolate Rain (2007)
81. No More Kings - Sweep the Leg (2007)
82. Flight of the Conchords - If You're Into It (2007)
83. Margaret Cho - I'm Sorry (2010)
84. Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand (2010)
85. The Gregory Brothers and Anotine Dodson - Bed Intruder Song (2010)
86. The Lonely Island - I Just Had Sex (2011)
87. Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
88. Rachel Bloom - You Can Touch My Boobies (2012)
89. Psy - Gangnam Style (2012)
90. William Belli - Boy Is a Bottom (2013)
91. Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) (2013)
92. The Chainsmokers - #SELFIE (2014)
93. Pinkfong - Baby Shark (2016)
94. Pikotaro - PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen) (2016)
95. Big Shaq - Man's Not Hot (2017)
96. Lil Nas X - Old Town Road (2019)
97. Annie Murphy - A Little Bit Alexis (2019)
98. The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)
99. Todrick Hall - Mask, Glove, Soap, Scrubs (2020)
100. Bo Burnham - Welcome to the Internet (2021)

I have NO idea who to tag, so tagging randomly here, and if you recoil from these type of songs, no hard feelings! I did grab a few of you from the Weird Al survivor matthew did.

Spoiler!

matthew_dixon JSparksFan SholasBoy trebor tdc2000 heppolo Metalweb Benny crystalphoenix Thriller jszmiles CrazyCrazy RayRay Plym Thombus ludichris arab Chantal Phoenixx Tansike

[jszmiles]

I wonder why you have started it on FRIDAY

[Affillate]

This classic could've made the cut from 2003; Fannypack- Cameltoe lol:

[heppolo]

Eurovision has a 100 novelty songs of their own.

[arab]

Chocolate Salty Balls ❤️

[matthew_dixon]

Brilliant list - I think you basically included all the essentials from the list I sent you. Several I hadn't necessarily thought of as "novelty songs" in there as well that really are. I'd say the only essential novelty song from a UK perspective that isn't in there is "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". Maybe "It's Chico Time" as well. However, much as things like Zig and Zag, Verka Serduchka, the Cat from Red Dwarf, "The Ladies' Bras" and the "song" which is sheep "singing" "Baa Baa Black Sheep" are unquestionably novelty songs, I totally agree with you not including them!

[SholasBoy]

Nice weather for ducks FTW

[Plym]

lou bega, bloodhound gang or cher to win

[matthew_dixon]

Nooo - that Cher collaboration with Beavis and Butthead was truly awful!

[Chantal]

This looks fun. Please add me to the tags when it starts.

[matthew_dixon]

Just realised I forgot to suggest the Cartoons!

Also forgot "Rat Rapping" by Roland Rat. There's just SO many novelty songs out there!

[Plym]

won't let me reply to matthew_dixon comment to my comment but yeh, that's the point, they're all awful

[Metalweb]

I'd say the only essential novelty song from a UK perspective that isn't in there is "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep". Maybe "It's Chico Time" as well.

Benny Hill's 'Ernie' leaps to mind too...

[cheapthrills]

So happy to see interesting in these silly songs!

I plan on starting this either tomorrow or Sunday!

[matthew_dixon]

Benny Hill's 'Ernie' leaps to mind too...

Oh yeah - of course. He drove the fastest milk cart in the west! How did I forget Ernie?

[cheapthrills]

Welcome to the wacky world of novelty songs!

There's a hundred songs here, and even cutting it down to that was painful! I was trying to think of a way to introduce this without it being overwhelming since I suspect many of these songs are new to people. I think I'll go about this the way I did with Whitney Houston. People can vote only on the songs they want to. Still, you never know what wackiness is lurking behind these links.

I'll break this into ten groups of 10 - I originally was going to do this chronologically, but that makes too much sense for a novelty survivor! We will lose the bottom performing forty songs (barring a tie) after the tenth round. I' may let the first ten rounds go a little longer, though I'll see if having a second day is necessary.

Before we get started, let's welcome Peter Cottontail as you all prepare to enjoy your Easter eggs and jelly beans tomorrow. This could have qualified for inclusion - this song was released in 1950 and hit the US top five in time for Easter that year. Happy Easter!

Songs have been randomized into ten groups of ten

RATE THE SONGS 1-5, 5 BEING THE BEST. HALF POINTS ARE ALLOWED.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO VOTE ON EVERY SONG.
YOU CAN RATE SONGS FROM ANY ROUND UNTIL THE 10TH ROUND IS COMPLETE.

Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

Subjecting some of you poor people to a tag of this survivor. After that, I'll only tag first round participants:

Spoiler!

matthew_dixon JSparksFan SholasBoy trebor tdc2000 heppolo Metalweb Benny crystalphoenix Thriller jszmiles CrazyCrazy RayRay Plym Thombus ludichris arab Chantal Phoenixx Tansike @Affillate

[cheapthrills]

5 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
2.5 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
4 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
1 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
5 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
5 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
4.5 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
4 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
5 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
3 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

[Plym]

5 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
5 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
2 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
1 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
2 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
5 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
1 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
5 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
1 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
1 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

[arab]

4 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
4 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
3 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
4 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
1 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
1 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
2 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
5 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993) <3
4 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
2,5 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

This survivor is a pure madness!

[jszmiles]

3 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
1 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
5Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
5 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
5 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)

[Chantal]

2 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
2.5 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
4 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
3.5 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
4.5 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987) (I listened to this so much as a child. I'm pretty sure I've still got the vinyl)
1.5 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
3 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
2.5 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993) (I'm not sure if this somehow passed me by at the time, or if I've just blocked it from my memory!)
4 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
3.5 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

[matthew_dixon]

1 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
1 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
5 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
1 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
5 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
1.5 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
4.5 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
1 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
2 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
2.5 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

Wonderfully mixed first batch. The Firm is a HUGE childhood favourite, and likewise to a lesser extent the much maligned "Shaddap Your Face". At the other end, WTF is that Shaving Cream song? I never saw the fuss with Beavis and Butthead, and as for the Cheeky Girls and Mr Blobby - they might be iconic novelty acts, but for all the wrong reasons.

[heppolo]

3 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
4 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
2 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
2 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946)
2 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
1 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
3 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
2 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
2 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
4 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

[Metalweb]

2 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) (2002)
3 Mr Blobby - Mr Blobby (1993)
4.5 Joe Dolce - Shaddap Your Face (1980)
4 Benny Bell - Shaving Cream (1946) (never heard this before - infantile but pretty daring for '46?)
4.5 The Firm - Star Trekkin' (1987)
3 Rebecca Black - Friday (2011)
3.5 Herman's Hermits - I'm Henry VIII, I Am (1965)
2 Cher with Beavis and Butthead - I Got You Babe (1993)
3 Julie Brown - Cause I'm a Blond (1988)
4 The Chats - Pub Feed (2019)

[BerniceCurtis]

Thank you for sharing the songs. Have a nice day

[cheapthrills]

Thank you to those of you who have decided to participate with these strange songs.

There won't be any eliminations until the tenth round at which point, we'll lose the bottom performing forty songs, but one song that looks to be dead on arrival is Benny Bell's Shaving Cream. The song was released in the 1940s, but it pulled off a Running Up That Hill when three decades later, it became an unlikely hit thanks to the Dr. Demento show, which was fairly new at that time. It made it to the top 40 in 1975.

It's kind of a one-note joke though, and so it was the lowest-ranked song of the last round.

Songs have been randomized into ten groups of ten

RATE THE SONGS 1-5, 5 BEING THE BEST. HALF POINTS ARE ALLOWED.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO VOTE ON EVERY SONG.
YOU CAN RATE SONGS FROM ANY ROUND UNTIL THE 10TH ROUND IS COMPLETE.

Ernie - Rubber Duckie (1970)
Baha Men - Who Let the Dogs Out (2000)
Spike Jones - Cocktails For Two (1944)
Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (1997)
CW Mccall - Convoy (1975)
Rick Dees - Disco Duck (1976)
Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand (2010)
Pinkfong - Baby Shark (2016)
Steve Martin - King Tut (1978)
Dodie Stevens - Pink Shoelaces (1959)

Tagging the brave, intrepid participants

Spoiler!

Affillate Plym arab jszmiles Chantal matthew_dixon heppolo Metalweb SholasBoy

[matthew_dixon]

I think you meant Benny Bell, not Benny Hill. Still it gives me an opportunity to link to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI