Definition:

Reserved for ridiculous or nonsensical songs which are performed principally for comical effect. For the record, purveyors of satirical pop or rock music do not usually fall into this category.

The Jukebox Pick (of 630):

 The Intro And The Outro

 (Vivian Stanshall)

 Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

  “All-time classic” Novelty

 Think I was about 12 or 13 when I picked up on a snippet in Smash Hits (or-such-like) where Buster Bloodvessel was serving up his All-Time Top 10 tunes (he listed “I'm The Urban Spaceman” btw). I had never heard of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band at that stage, but I really wanted to! Eventually, they appeared on some compilations that I picked up and all became clear; turns out Vivian Stanshall's (talented) group of bored art students were just as nuts as I thought they might be. “The Intro And The Outro” opened side two of their debut album, “Gorilla”, released in October, 1967. It was the ultimate piss-take of the old “namecheck the band cliché”, Vivian's roll call seemingly genuine at first as the real seven band members get a shout-out. The absurdity of the situation soon becomes apparent as an improbable cast of tens unfolds including Princess Anne on sousaphone, Charles de Gaulle on accordion (“really wild General!”) and the whole of the Count Basie Orchestra playing a triangle! According to the Wiki, discounting fictional characters, all of the “performers” mentioned were alive at the time of the recording, with the exceptions of Casanova and Adolf Hitler. Adding to the magical surrealism was the fact that Eric Clapton got a shout-out on ukelele whilst actually playing the thing there and then, and Val Doonican got an in-person shout-out for playing himself, adding his goofy catchphrase “hello there!” a couple of times. Onstage namechecks would never sound the same again...

Some favourite artists:

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band; Phil Harris; Stan Freberg; Peter Sellers

The Jukebox pick: