Annoying Songs and Annoying Covers: An Origin Story.

There are, we are almost certain, a “gazillion” reasons and/or origin stories for how blogs get started; this is ours.

At the beginning of May 2024, Randy Dafoe (RD), of “Mostly Music Covers” fame, wrote about the song “What Kind of Fool Am I,” which was written and composed by the team of Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricuse. North Shubert (NS), of “Deeper Under the Covers,” responded to that post with the following: “Newley and Bricuse definitely wrote some good songs.” What follows is the rest of the conversation thread:

RD: “That they did, and I forgive them for “Candy Man.”

NS: “Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. Now it’s going to be in my head the rest of the day. Thanks!

RD: “Sorry, try and think of “Who Let the Dogs Out.”

NS: “Perhaps this needs to be a future post: “The Most Annoying Songs and Those That Brave to Cover Them!”

RD: “That’s not a bad idea North! It might take some hunting.

NS: “Perhaps we should pool our resources and co-author that post.”

RS: “I’m up for that.”

NS: “I just found a metal cover of “Disco Duck. We need to do this!”

We are aware that this a completely subjective exercise (as we all know “objectivity” is a myth), picking songs that we both find particularly annoying. We are also aware that we are opening ourselves up to receive comments like: “How can you say that this song is annoying. What is wrong with you two? My wife and I danced to this at our wedding 40 years ago. You guys suck!” The two of us would then pool our resources and come up with these two responses, before choosing one: 1: We are so sorry if we offended you in any way; Or, 2: You danced to that song at your wedding? Just how drunk were the two of you?

There are two ways to approach this endeavor: Choosing well-known artists that have literally butchered songs that we know and love, or choosing really annoying original songs that for some reason were covered. Sometimes the covers are equally annoying if not more, with the rare occasion of the song being made somewhat less annoying. So, equipped with these parameters, we went to work and in a short time had a list of 28 possible songs, with many more to come. Below is the first contribution, and in two weeks Randy will post his. No, we are not trying to one-up each other…at least that’s what Randy said! We hope you enjoy this journey down musical mayhem, and hopefully we will achieve our goal of pissing off at least one person with each post. Hey, it is important to have goals!

A.S. #1

“Disco Duck” (1976) “is a satirical disco novelty song” which, as far as I am concerned, brings new meaning to the word “novelty.” It was written by Rick Dees (Rigdon Osmond Dees III) who was, at the time, a Memphis disc jockey, and performed by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots, in itself an interesting moniker for one’s fellow performers. The song was inspired by a 1960s novelty (there’s that word again!) dance song called “The Duck,” which was recorded by Jackie Lee (Earl Lee Nelson) in 1965. According to Dees, it took him only one day to write the song, but three months to convince anyone to perform it. When you watch the video you will be very surprised that it only took three months. The song combines orchestral disco styles with a Donald Duck-esque voice, the “story” of the song centering on a man at a dance party who is overcome by the urge to get up and “get down” in a duck-like manner. Weren’t the 70s great? The song went on to become a nationwide hit in the United States by September 1976. It peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 16, 1976, holding that spot for one week, and then four weeks at number two. And of course, once you have success, you try and replicate it. “Disco Duck” was followed by “Dis-Gorilla” (about a disco-loving simian 1977), “Bigfoot” (1978), “Eat My Shorts” (1984), and “Get Nekked” (1984). I’d hum a few bars of that last one, but I don’t want to scare anyone.

Just in case you’re wondering, the voice of the duck was provided by a guy that Dees met at the gym, Kenneth Pruitt. After the song became a hit, as the story goes, Pruitt sued Dees, claiming he was paid only $188 for his services, which included dressing up in a duck suit to promote the song on various TV appearances and on a walk through Times Square in New York City. In all likelihood, the suit must have been settled and Pruitt ordered to keep quiet, as he was never heard from again. I can’t help but wonder how many times his grandchildren have heard this story.

“Disco Duck” was the last “novelty” song to reach #1, as the genre was reaching its last gasp. In the early years of Rock and Roll, novelty songs were huge, with three #1s in 1960 alone: “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” “Alley Oop,” and “Mr. Custer.” Despite the efforts of Jim Stafford (“Spiders and Snakes,” “My Girl Bill,” and “Cow Patti”) and Cheech and Chong, novelty songs waned in the 70s.

After watching the video of this song for the first time, I was almost certain that I would not find a cover version…I was wrong. Thanks to a Texas-based guitarist, Josh Jenkins (#SMGOldiesButBaddies), whose YouTube channel has 52 subscribers, I present you with a metal cover of “Disco Duck.” All I will say is that it’s a toss-up as to which one is more annoying. Or, put another way, it’s satire².

Warning: You cannot Unsee These Videos!

Rick Dees and his Cast of Idiots – Disco Duck 1976.

Disco Duck – Metal Cover by Josh Jenkins 2017.

Bonus video. Come on, you knew it was coming. There is no cover of this one, phew!

Rick Dees and the same cast of Idiots. Dis-Gorilla 1977.

Los Angeles 2024