[There are 21 MP3s contained in this post]
Call me crazy, but in 2005, I compiled a bunch of whacked out tunes for my WFMU marathon premium. Back then, the disc, Loony Tunes, was given out exclusively to pledgers to my show Give the Drummer Some, but now, invoking the insanity clause, I'm making the whole shebang available here. Posted below are the original liner notes, MP3s of (most of) the tracks, and quotes uttered by each manic maestro. Go nuts!
LOONY TUNES:
Loony Tunes reveals that, right up there with love, sex and
death, insanity is among the most enduring—and entertaining—themes in
popular music. The idea for such a collection originated with Madness in Opera,
a sampler of tormented arias released in '76 as part of a promotional
blitz for Loxitane, a new schizophrenia treatment from Lederle
Laboratories. No psychopharmaceuticals are included with this
compilation, but repeated listening just may produce similar results!
1. WILLIE DIXON & KOKO TAYLOR ~ Insane Asylum
"I can't eat and I can't sleep. Lord, I can't even live in peace.
Please take me baby for your slave. And save me from that early grave."
Insane Asylum (MP3)
2. SCREAMING JAY HAWKINS ~ I Hear Voices
"I long so much to be where I was before I was me.
My mind can't stand the strain. Wow if my heart
could help the pain."
I Hear Voices (MP3)
3. PORTER WAGONER ~ The Rubber Room
"Illusions in a twisted mind to save from self destruction...where a
man can
run into the wall till his strength makes him fall and lie
still and wait for help."
The Rubber Room (MP3)
4. LA LUPE ~ Going Out of My Head
"Out of my head,
night and day, day and night, and night,
right or wrong, yeah, yeah,
uh-huh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh,
uh, uh, ay, ah, aaay, yah, ah, ah,
aaah, yeaaah, aaah, ah,
oy, eh, ah, oy, yah, ah, oy, eeaaah...."
Going Out of My Head (MP3)
5.
BETTY HUTTON ~ I've Got Blue Birds in My Belfry
"Do I look funny? Do I
look strange? I feel a mysterious change....
I do weird things. I can't
help it."
I've Got Blue Birds in My Belfry (MP3)
6. DINAH WASHINGTON ~ New Blowtop Blues
"I see all kinds
of little men, although they're never there.
I tried to push a subway
train and poured whiskey in my hair.
I'm a gal who blew a fuse."
New Blowtop Blues (MP3)
7.
ANNIE ROSS ~ Twisted
"They all laughed at A. Graham Bell, they all
laughed at Edison, and also at Einstein,
so why should I feel sorry if
they just couldn't understand the idiomatic logic that
went on in my
head."
Twisted (MP3)
8. HANK SNOW ~ I've Got a Tangled Mind
"I lost a million friends, I'm trudgin' on in the dark. Can't find my way,
don't know where to start. I had a home one time, I left it all behind,
I can't go back."
I've Got a Tangled Mind (MP3)
9.
CLINT EASTWOOD ~ I Talk to the Trees
"I talk to the trees, but they
don't listen to me. I talk to the stars,
but they never hear me."
I Talk to the Trees (MP3)
10.
DOLLY PARTON ~ The Bridge
"My feet are moving slowly, closer to the
edge. Here is where it started,
and here is where I'll end it...."
The Bridge (MP3)
11.
NINA SIMONE ~ The Desperate Ones
"And underneath the bridge, the
water's sweet and deep. This is their journey's end,
the land of
endless sleep. They cry to us for help, we think it's all in fun."
The Desperate Ones (MP3)
12.
JOE BATAAN ~ My Opera
"Here comes the doctor to remind me it's
visiting day.
Must convince him that I'm crazy so my folks will stay
away."
My Opera (MP3)
13. THE SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY ~ Next
"One day I'll cut my
legs off, I'll burn my self alive. I'll do anything
to get out of life
to survive not ever to be next."
Next (MP3)
14. LENNY BRUCE ~ Psychopathia Sexualis
"My second wife was a ten-pound goose named Tex.
I'm paranoid
and sublimated. In love with a horse that
ain't been spaded."
Psychopathia Sexualis (MP3)
15.
JOHNNIE RAY ~ Mountains in the Moonlight
"Sometimes I feel as lost as a
leaf, fallen from the tree on which I've grown.
Panic all around me,
the black of night surrounds me like a child who's been
left alone."
Mountains in the Moonlight (MP3)
16.
FRED LANE ~ Rubber Room
"I don't slip on the tile in an empty
hospital. I don't choke on
my bile. Everything's sunny weather. I'm a
happy, sappy
son-of-a-gun living in a rubber room."
Rubber Room (MP3)
17. MARIJATA ~ No Condition Is Permanent
"Condition is getting unstable. Aaaaaaaagh."
No Condition Is Permanent (MP3)
18. SUICIDAL TENDENCIES ~ Institutionalized
"And they keep on bugging me and it builds up inside,
it builds up inside."
Institutionalized (MP3)
19.
NAPOLEON XIV ~ They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!
"I know you
laughed. I heard you laugh. You laughed, you laughed and
laughed and
then you left. But now you know I'm utterly mad."
They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa! (MP3)
20. WOODY LEAFER ~
There Are Drums in My Typewriter
"I think I'm losing my mind. I'll
call up and find out.
Information, maybe you can tell me."
There Are Drums in My Typewriter (MP3)
~~ and here's a bonus track not on the Loony Tunes premium CD ~~
21. LITTLE WILLIE JOHN ~ Spasms
"Woooooooooooooo! Please save me from going crazy.
You're giving me spasms, baby."
Spasms (MP3)
This collection was created as a gift for listeners and supporters
of WFMU and my radio program
Give the Drummer Some." Bone-chilling
shrieks of thanks go to Steinski, Laura Cantrell, Mike Lupica,
and, especially, Monica Lynch. —Doug Schulkind
Other tracks on Loony Tunes:
The Beach Boys ~ "In My Room"
The Kinks ~ "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues"
Jimi Hendrix ~ "Manic Depression"
Any psychotic songs send you into convulsions? Leave them in Comments...
An equally appropriate Napoleon XIV track for this collection would have been "I Live in a Split-Level Head."
Posted by: Andy | January 30, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Thanks for this, Doug - it looks really cool. As for other psycho songs, all I can think of are Bowie's "I'm Deranged" (Thanks, LOST HIGHWAY!) and possibly The Fabulous Mark III's "Psycho".
Posted by: Matt | January 30, 2008 at 12:42 PM
One I forgot - Randy Newman's "Back On My Feet Again".
Posted by: Matt | January 30, 2008 at 12:48 PM
A WFMU list like this without Buddy Holocaust? WTF?
"I haven't Decided" by Buddy Holocaust
...and of course the other great BH's: Butthole Surfers "22 going on 23"
Posted by: Sam | January 30, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Just about anything by (and the)native hipsters
Posted by: Brandon | January 30, 2008 at 12:54 PM
How about these whacked-out ditties?
Jack Kittel-Psycho
Bill Haley & The Comets-Crazy Man Crazy
B-52s-Private Idaho
Leona Anderson-Rats In My Room
Talking Heads-Psycho Killer
Roger Miller-I'm A Nut
Edith Massey-Big Girls Don't Cry
Count Five-Psychotic Reaction
Black Sabbath-Psycho Man
Ramones-Teenage Lobotomy
Larry "Wildman" Fischer-My Name Is Larry
Rolling Stones-19th Nervous Breakdown
Lon Chaney Jr.-Spider Baby Theme
Wynn Stewart-I'm Gonna Kill You
Enjoy, you crazy bastards!
Posted by: Rory Murray | January 30, 2008 at 01:51 PM
Elvis Costello also did a mean cover of Jack Kittel's "Psycho" (actually written by Leon Payne of "Lost Highway" fame) -- sure would love to find *that* one again.
Posted by: Hell's Donut House | January 30, 2008 at 02:55 PM
Patsy Cline / Willie Nelson - (I'm) Crazy
The Who - Whiskey Man, and Behind Blue Eyes
R. Crumb's Cheap Suit Serenaders - The River
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks - I Scare Myself
The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
see http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Crazy-Songs.html for more more-or-less insane songs
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy for various songs entitled CRAZY
Posted by: RioRico | January 30, 2008 at 03:15 PM
How about Rudimentary Peni?
All of this one for example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Adrian_37th_Psychristiatric
Posted by: Ivan | January 30, 2008 at 04:41 PM
are these all tagged properly? or will this turn my iTunes library into one big clusterfuck like listener greg's posts do?
Posted by: Scott Anger | January 30, 2008 at 05:38 PM
I also need to put in a vote here for "My Mind Capsized" by The Holy Modal Rounders. Hell, the whole "Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders" album, for that matter.
Posted by: Hell's Donut House | January 31, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Ballad of Dwight Frye - Alice Cooper
Posted by: yragentman | January 31, 2008 at 01:13 AM
Australia's Beasts of Bourbon do a great cover of Payne's 'Psycho', too.
And, for good measure:
Afghan Whigs - Crazy
Wall of Voodoo - Far Side of Crazy
Geto Boyz - Mind's Playing Tricks on Me
Boingo - Insanity
Posted by: Ringo Stalin | January 31, 2008 at 02:50 AM
"Crazy In The Night" Kim Carnes (yep, the same Kim Carnes that gave us "Bette Davis Eyes".) The album this came off of was titled Barking At Airplanes. Released in 1985.
Posted by: The Original Larry | January 31, 2008 at 02:55 AM
How could they miss Dolly's magnificent "Daddy come and get me" ?
Any song with the first line -
"In this mental institution,
lookin' out through these iron bars "
Is just dandy by me.
Posted by: The Pube | January 31, 2008 at 03:41 AM
Sonics- Psycho
Music Machine- Talk Talk
Lil Jon and The Eastside Boys - Don't F*ck With Me
Posted by: Infamous | January 31, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Ramones- Psychotherapy
Posted by: Infamous | January 31, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia
Posted by: Don | January 31, 2008 at 10:40 PM
Alice Cooper's entire 1978 album From the Inside (written by Cooper and Bernie Taupin, longtime Elton John collaborator) takes insanity as its theme. The back of the LP's gatefold cover has cutout institutional doors, behind which hide Cooper and a crowd of crazy-looking characters flaunting newspapers headlined "RELEASED."
The theme is relatively subtle in "How You Gonna See Me Now," the most-played cut ("I might have gone out of style/In the place I've been") but is much more explicit in tunes like "The Quiet Room," "Nurse Rozetta" (who "popped the buckle on my Bible Belt"), "Millie and Billie" and, of course, the finale, "Inmates (We're All Crazy)."
Posted by: Alan P. Scott | February 01, 2008 at 01:13 AM
Betty Hutton's "Blow a Fuse" (the original version of Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet") is also fantastic.
Dawn: "I'm Afraid They're All Talking About Me"
Feelies: "the Boy with the Perpetual Nervousness"
Mose Allison: "Lost Mind"
Purple Canteen: "Brains in My Feet"
Pick a Pink Floyd song...
Posted by: Joe | February 01, 2008 at 11:42 AM
All the Madmen - Bowie
Posted by: Quizmaster Chris | February 01, 2008 at 02:35 PM
Blah Blah Blah can offer "Hands Beckoning" from their Green Album.
Posted by: Chris Andrews | February 02, 2008 at 04:30 PM
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy - "Paralyzed": Possibly the most deranged two minutes ever set to tape.
Wesley Willis - "Outburst": An ode to the sinister voices in Wesley's head. See also: "Chronic Schizophrenia"
Hasil Adkins - "We Got A Date": A sequel of sorts to the infamous "No More Hot Dogs". Hasil attempts to woo the object of his desire by vowing to cut off her head and mount it on his wall.
Toadies - "Possum Kingdom": The scariest Top 40 hit of the '90s; basically a four-minute ode to serial murder.
Comus - "Drip Drip": One of the creepiest songs ever about homicide.
The Police - "Mother": The best Oedipal rock song that isn't "The End".
Posted by: Mike | February 03, 2008 at 02:09 PM
Bit late on this one but im throwing this one into the mix.
Looney Tune
Lyrics by Jeffrey Delman
Music by Larry Juris
It is from the awful horror movie Deadtime Tales aka Freaky Fairytales and is played over the top of an escape scene during the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
You can hear the song here.
http://hometown.aol.com/deadmagoga/LoonyBin.html
Posted by: Moomin | February 05, 2008 at 12:07 PM
And then there's the totally madcap performance of Leroy Pullins from the mid sixties doing "I'm A Nut" on the Kapp label. Quote: "The head on my shoulders is sorta loose, I ain't got the sense God gave a goose"
Posted by: David M | February 05, 2008 at 07:00 PM