Do You Remember These Wacky Songs from the ’60s?
When I was a little boy, we would often visit my grandparents. They lived in a house near Kwik Trip on the north end of Faribault. At the time, the old McKinley school was still standing and used as a type of Community Center, that may have been it's designation but I can't remember. I do know that I took an art class there one summer.
On sunny days I would go over there and play on the playground equipment for hours, but on rainy or cold winter days we would hang out in the living room and my grandma would play records on the stereo. Most of the music she played for me ended up being those funny novelty songs and we would sing and laugh along to them. Every time I hear any of those old tunes it brings back warm memories of my grandma.
This morning as I was working, one of those old tunes popped into my head. It was a song by English singer Leapy Lee called "Little Arrows." I decided to resurrect some of those old tunes and share them with you. Maybe you remember them, maybe you don't, but I still hope you enjoy them.
- 1
Leapy Lee: Little Arrows
Basically a one-hit wonder in the U.S., this tune made it to No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
- 2
Roger Miller: Dang Me
This was probably one of my favorites. It was Miller's first chart-topping country hit and earned him a Grammy for Best Country & Western Song in 1964.
- 3
Ray Stevens: Gitarzan
A song about a jungle man who puts together a band consisting of his girlfriend and his monkey sidekick. It peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.
- 4
Roger Miller: Chug-a-Lug
I didn't realize what this song was about when I was a kid, but it sure was a fun tune. It reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964.
- 5
Lonnie Donegan: Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)
Here's another British artist who scored a hit in his homeland as well as in the United States, topping out at No. 3 in the UK and No. 5 in the U.S.
- 6
Roger Miller: Do-Whacka-Do
This single broke into the Top 40 in 1965 and made it to No. 31 on the Hot 100.
- 7
Johnny Horton: The Battle of New Orleans
This single topped the charts at No. 1 on both the Country and Hot 100 in 1959.
- 8
Roger Miller: King of the Road
Who doesn't love a song about a hobo. This single reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
- 9
Sheb Wooley: The Purple People Eater
A single about an alien that comes to Earth to be in a rock and roll band, scored Wooley a No. 1 hit in the U.S. in 1958.
- 10
Roger Miller: You Can't Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd
A nonsense-filled song that landed at No. 40 on the Hot 100.
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