OK, so this isn't TOTALLY shameless; I grew up Mormon, so shame is an integral part of my personality. Anyway, here are a couple of places I (or my song parodies) have made appearances lately; hopefully there are some items of general interest here so that I can pretend this isn't all about me me me.

THE ALLAN SHERMAN THING

Many of you know the song "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"; hopefully many of you have discovered even more of Allan Sherman's oeuvre. He released a series of phenomenally successful parody song albums in the Sixties and remains a standard-bearer for satirists. (For example, maybe just maybe you've heard of Weird Al Yankovic? He included a pic of Allan Sherman on the cover of his first album.)

Jeff Brown at KTOO Radio recently did an hour-long retrospective of Allan Sherman's work; the show is available via Public Radio Exchange: http://www.prx.org/pieces/9556 

Quote from the PRX site: "'Hail To Thee, Allan Sherman' combines many of Sherman's best songs with memories from his son, Robert; as well as a cast of current satirists and music historians." Which leads us to the semi-shameless plug: I am one of the "current satirists and music historians" (presumably the former) interviewed on the show. Check it out. Better yet, harass your local public radio station into airing it.

THE DOCTOR DEMENTO THING

Music journalist Jamie Lee Rake writes a monthly column for the webzine "The Bohemian Aesthetic." His June column focuses on a recent Doctor Demento Show and includes profiles of many of the performers whose songs aired that week. If you're a Demento fan (and I assume you are or you'd be hanging out on a different website), you'll enjoy learning a bit more about some of the people behind the songs.

Proving that karma isn't foolproof, the song that was number one in the Funny Five that week was Robert Lund's "I Blog Alone." Rake, therefore, says a bit about Robert, and even mentions me - sort of - with his reference to "whomever else is responsible for his voluminous catalog of hilarity found HERE" (with the HERE being a link to Spaff.com). Much to my delight, Rake also mentions "I Got Crabs from Darth Vader" and the CD "Elves Gone Wild!"

Helpful links:
Rake's column: http://www.patsymoore.com/bohemians/RK2_5.html
Playlist for the Dr Demento show in question: http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/cgi-bin/plinfo.pl?drd06.0402.html
"I Blog Alone": http://www.amiright.com/parody/2000s/greenday254.shtml

One more Demento thing I must mention: Tomorrow night's show (playlist: http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/cgi-bin/plinfo.pl?drd06.0625.html) includes both "Iranian Uranium" (http://www.amiright.com/parody/misc/meredithwillson1.shtml) and a return to the Funny Five by "I Got Crabs from Darth Vader" (http://www.amiright.com/parody/90s/garthbrooks26.shtml). I'm thrilled beyond repair.

Bottom line: I'm pleased to announce that an Amiright author has officially hit the Little Time. Especially since it's me me me.

xoxox
Spaff

I just returned from the year 2048 and song parodies in that time are called "spaffs". So congratulations, and greater things are to come!

http://www.cave-crag.co.uk/ProductImages/LIF-Bath-Sink-Plug.jpg
THE SHAME

Shredded confetti and flatulent congratulations, Spaffster!
(Dibs doing the commentary for the obscure Easter-Egg "Behind the Magic: The Making of Spaff's Avatar" as found in the fourth disc of your Special-Deluxe-Collector's-Second-Edition DVD release. )

I just returned from the year 2048 and song parodies in that time are called "spaffs". So congratulations, and greater things are to come!


Whew. It's a relief to know that I only have to stay at this for 42 more years before I make an impact. Thanks, Rex!


(Dibs doing the commentary for the obscure Easter-Egg "Behind the Magic: The Making of Spaff's Avatar" as found in the fourth disc of your Special-Deluxe-Collector's-Second-Edition DVD release. )


I *love* my JAR(LB)(Nib)(South Park) avatar. (I was going to change it for this post just to be cheeky, but I'm too lazy.)

xoxox
Spaff

Congrats on the "Iranian" airing Mr. S.! The music arrangement was dead-on, adding to the fun. Glad I caught the show.

Congrats on the "Iranian" airing Mr. S.! The music arrangement was dead-on, adding to the fun. Glad I caught the show.


Thank you for tuning in, Mr. Aggro. And God bless Doctor Demento.


THE UTAH PARODY CONTEST THING

The Salt Lake Tribune and KUER Radio recently held a Utah-themed parody songwriting contest. I had to enter, of course. In today's Trib they announced the ten finalists; the story includes some quotes from me and a picture of me playing with my knob. (The one on my car stereo.) Here's the story: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4068457

They ran an even goofier picture on the front page of the paper. Yes, today I finally got to share the limelight with Hezbollah.
http://spaff.com/media/tribfrontpage.jpg

Anyway. They had the Capitol Steps narrow down the finalists from ten to three, and tonight a local group called The Saliva Sisters is recording the three winners. They'll be announced and played on KUER tomorrow (Thursday) at 11 AM and 7 PM Mountain Time. You can listen live at http://www.kuer.org/

By the way, I plugged Amiright to the reporter; alas, she didn't work it into today's story. Maybe tomorrow...?

xoxox
Spaff

Wow, they never have parody contests in Australia

Great entries too - must be somnething in that Utah water

btw - it took me a bit of work to track down the entries from the link the article gave, but I got there eventually

To save everyone else the trouble (and I know how humble and modest spaff is (!!) so he wouldn't have done it) here are spaff's two entries -


Song No. 2: "Under the Lake" (The Bear Lake Monster Song, apologies to "Under the Sea" from Disney's "The Little Mermaid") Submitted by: M. Spaff Sumsion

You say dat dere ain't no monstah
Dat lives underneath Bear Lake
You tink I'm an urban legend
But dat is a big mistake
You say dat my tales ring hollow
Jus' stunts for publici-ty
But you're not so hard to swallow
I tink you'll believe, in me
Under de lake
Under Bear Lake
Swimmers are sweetened
When dey been eatin' Raspberry shakes
"Dis is de place" for folk cuisine
Basted in SPF-15 Bearlakeosaurus
Sure love de tourists
Under Bear Lake
Like Hefner, I got de grotto
Though my plumbing's not so great
But come north to play de Lotto
You might be my next Playmate
Though bite marks could cause a bit of
Concern from de HMO
You owe me for gettin' rid of
De in-laws from Idaho
Under de lake Under Bear Lake
Dis spot's a winnah
For your stake's dinnah I'll eat de stake!
I dig de Mormons 'cause dey all
Low in caffeine and alcohol
Praise Garden City's
Travel committees
Under de lake (Under de lake) Under Bear Lake
We creatchas fake an
Accent Jamaican
For tourists' sake (Tour-is-m's sa-a-ake)
I been impossible to catch
Almost as long as Orrin Hatch
No monstah's cutah
In all of Utah
Under Bear Lake
De boats scratch my throat
De rafts make me laugh
De way dat they shrink
When dey bit in half Canoes, dey amuse
De tubes, dey fast foods
Like skis, dey bring treats to chew (Yeah!)
De chicks, dey my fix
De guys appetize
De Dad's not so bad
Won't Mom be surprised?
De kids make a scene
Dey ask, "Do he mean To eat us?"
Yes, Sea Doo!
Under de lake (Under de lake) Under Bear Lake (under de lake)
Nice weather change'll
Bring little angels
As in "food cake" (Angel food is great)
If Mrs. Bear Lake Monster rings
Tell her I'm pickin' up a few tings
"Tings" meaning you, mon
We fond of hu-mon
Under Bear Lake
You and your gramma
Beat Chuck-a-Rama
Under Bear Lake
Beach crowds are formin'
Gentile and Mormon
I should start warmin'
My new George Foreman
Please come and play here
You're my buffet here!
Under Bear Laaaaake!



Song No 10: "A Few of the Testimonies" (apologies to "My Favorite Things") Submitted by: M. Spaff Sumsion

Brother Johansen says God fixed his prostate
Sister Hill wails that her son's gone apostate
Missy Brown details her trip to Belize These are a few of the testimo-nies
Brother Stone calls his ex-wife to repentance
Sister Dean can't form a blubber-free sentence
Ammon Smith's grateful the Jazz beat the Kings
These are a few of the Fast Meeting things
There's unchaste movies at Wal-Mart in Layton
Hillary Clinton's a minion of Satan
God loves you just a bit less if you're gay
These are some nuggets I've picked up today
When this low-key
Karaoke
Shows how odd we are
I simply remember I'm not Warren Jeffs
And then I don't feel - bi - zarre
Madison cries that her mom flushed her turtle
Then she announces her daddy's infertile
Tyler loves Jesus and recess and peas
These are a few of the testimo-nies
Elder Jones gripes that less-actives frustrate 'im
Nine CTRs thank the same things verbatim
Brother McPhie knows Rush Limbaugh is true
And The Da Vinci Code may well be too
Sister Cabell says the U-nited Nations
Must be the beast from the book Revelations
Folks squirm through dubious doctrine and then
Everyone drowsily mumbles "Amen"
When euphor-ya
Starts to bore ya
Here's the thing that's sweet:
Each talk brings us nearer Hymn 152 AND THEN WE GO HOME - TO - EAT!




(hope you don't mind me doing some shameless plugging on your behalf, spaff ;))

Do I hear a 'horn' fanfare for Spaff's shoe-in victory?

Nice pics, too. Though I always thought of you as more centrefold than front page material...

...ahem, GOOD LUCK.

Your South Park caricature avatar does not begin to capture your likeness Spaffer.  ;)

Congratulations on being one of the winners in the contest!  :) ;) :D ;D 8)

Here's a quote from the article:

"Lots of great rhyming," judges proclaimed of Sumsion's "Under the Lake," a Jamaican-accented rip-off of "Under the Sea" from "The Little Mermaid," which invented the image of a Bear Lake monster who likes munching on raspberry-shake-sweetened tourists. The song was noted for following the meter of the original, a tricky feat in parody writing, and judges underscored this line as a favorite: "I dig de Mormons 'cause dey all / Low in caffeine and alcohol."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4072808

Congrats Spaff!

The article said you have over 200 parodies written. You holding back on us?  ;)



Here's a quote from the article:

a Jamaican-accented rip-off


Rip-off? WTF?  ???

Congrats Spaff!  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

(But you deserved the big prize! Phooey on that other lady!) We'd love to hear their recording of it if you get the opportunity.

As for Red Ant, I noticed that the "fake an accent Jamaican" was originally used in Spaff's "Under The Tree." But Spaff, it's okay. It's better to recycle lines from your old works than lift bits and pieces from others (as I have done in the past... :-[)

Stuart: Yes, I am quite impressively humble and modest. More humble and modest than most people, that's for darn sure. Thanks for digging up and posting the lyrics, and you're always welcome to plug my stuff.

Luke: That's how I think of myself too (speaking humbly and modestly).

Aggro: Fortunately, Luke didn't model my avatar on the Salt Lake Tribune pics, but on my Will To Power promotional 8x10 (which, admittedly, was taken a few years ago): http://spaff.com/media/spaff_will_to_power.jpg

Rex: Thank you for your diligent research. Credit is due, of course, to all the Amirighters who parodied "Under the Sea" before I did, especially those who made it standard procedure to transcribe the Caribbean accent. I believe that Phil Alexander initiated that with "Mend My PC."

Red Ant: I'm pretty sure she was using "rip-off" as another term for "parody" or "spoof." (Either that or she realized that I had ripped off the accent transcription from Phil, Claude, and others. Heh heh.) And yes, I am holding back on you. I have numerous Utah/Mormon-themed parodies that I haven't put up on Amiright, plus a bunch that I wrote as a kid.

Cat: I'm impressed that you caught that "fake an/Accent Jamaican" thing that I previously used. "Under the Tree" didn't really go anywhere, and I hated for that rhyme to be wasted. Plus it's my justification for why very white characters (like Santa Claus and a Utah monster) are speaking that way.


THE UTAH PARODY CONTEST THING, PART TWO

I now have a page on my site with links to the Tribune articles, a transcript (sort of) of the KUER radio program, formatted lyrics for my two parodies that made the finals, and an MP3 of the Saliva Sisters' recording of "Under the Lake." Here 'tis: http://www.spaff.com/media/radiowest.html

Some of you might enjoy listening to and/or reading what was said on the radio show, especially what Mark Eaton of the Capitol Steps says about what makes a good song parody.

xoxox
Spaff

I found that transcript riveting reading, Spaff - I recommend it - in Australia parodies are not a big thing at all, and to have a whole radio segment devoted to discussing the processes involved would be unthinkable

I'm glad also that they explained (or suggested an explanation for) Mormon testimonies (a little like Catholic Confession?) because that provided me with a handrail for your parody which made it a lot more entertaining

Thanx for checking it out, Stu. Parody is not a very common media subject here either. That's why I had to jump on this. Hopefully they'll make it an annual thing.


I'm glad also that they explained (or suggested an explanation for) Mormon testimonies (a little like Catholic Confession?)


More like karaoke night, minus the music. And the alcohol.

The first Sunday of each month is Fast Sunday, where Mormons are invited to fast two meals and give the money saved to charity. Church services culminate in Fast & Testimony Meeting, where ANYONE can walk up to the podium and "bear testimony" of God, The Church, etc.

Of course, as in any open-mic situation, you have precious little control over what people are actually going to say. The meetings are usually pretty staid, but, as you know, kids can say the darnedest things. And so can adults.

xoxox
Spaff

Appearing soon on Amiright (presumably):
Robert Lund's latest:
"Mad Max Got Pulled Over by a Hebrew"
http://www.spaff.com/poesy/madmax.html

xoxox
Spaff

Spaff:
Congrats man.  I think that you should have had your picture taken with a beer in the car - I could send you a bottle of Brooklyn Lager for your next photo op.  Kool Aid also would have worked.  By the way, did they ever find Destiny?
bob

Thanks, Bob. It would have been perfect to be drinking a big jug o' Kool-Aid. Unfortunately, I had no prep time, and very little sense of what they were going to do with the photos. A photographer called saying she was on the way over. Had I known in advance, I would have grown some hair or something.

As for Destiny, it's a horrible story. If you want to get depressed, do a Google News search on Destiny Norton.

xoxox
Spaff

See, Kool-Aid scares me - so I refuse to drink it - I'm afraid that I'll have a couple of glasses, wake up the next morning and go out and vote republican. 

I am now able to grow hair on my face; coincidentally, it happened as it started to fall off the back of my head. 

I probably shouldn't have made fun of Destiny but I just had to laugh, I saw the photo . . ., ah, I mean the placement of you above this huge Desiny headline which was alongside the lead story on Hezbollah - it kind of made me wonder who edits the paper.  Anyway, talk about a story above the fold - you can't get much more above the fold than yours. 

Hey, the offer still stands - if you ever crave a Brooklyn Lager or a Brookly Pennant Ale - hell, we even make a  Brooklyn Abbey Ale  and Sixpoint Righteous Ale, let me know.
Later man,
bob 

Congratulations Spaff ! Anything you write turns to gold, dude! (even if it does take 42 years).