G5 – Shel Silverstein – Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out West's Medicine Show & Junk Band – The Eggplant That Ate Chicagoį6 – Tiny Tim – Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Meį7 – Tom Lehrer – So Long, Mom (A Song For World War III) He is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists of the early and middle 20th century whom they might not have otherwise discovered, such as Harry McClintock, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan Freberg, and Tom Lehrer, as well as with bringing parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attentionĪ2 – Groucho Marx – Hooray For Captain SpauldingĪ5 – Billy Costello – I'm Popeye The Sailor ManĪ7 – The Hoosier Hot Shots – I Like Bananas Because They Have No Bonesī4 – Tex Williams – Smoke, Smoke, Smoke (That Cigarette)ī5 – Benny Bell & Paul Wynn – Shaving CreamĬ1 – Sheb Wooley – The Purple People EaterĬ4 – Homer & Jethro – The Battle Of KookamongaĬ7 – Spencer & Spencer – Russian Bandstandĭ3 – Stan Freberg – Little Blue Riding HoodĮ1 – Lonnie Donegan – Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On The Bedpost Overnight)Į2 – Brian Hyland – Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot BikiniĮ7 – Allan Sherman – Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!į1 – Bobby (Boris) Pickett – Monster Mashį3 – Napoleon XIV – They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!į4 – Dr. Hansen has a degree in ethnomusicology and has written magazine articles and liner notes on recording artists outside of the novelty genre. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974] and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present.
Barret Eugene "Barry" Hansen (born April 2, 1941) better known as Dr.