RIP VAN WINKLE
One of my favorite songs for a while was on Roulette Records; it was “Rip Van Winkle” by the Devotions. It was basically a novelty song retelling the famous legend that also featured a lot of bowling sounds for some reason (I can’t recall ever hearing that on another song!). I was on a bowling team in those days, so maybe that’s what got me going.
“Rip Van Winkle” wasn't as good as a later novelty hit that I absolutely loved – “Martian Hop” by the Ran-Dells.
(March 2012)
* * *
It is not really a rare event for a song to come out of nowhere and grab the zeitgeist – that’s virtually the definition of a novelty song – but there have been a host of songs that are just as sideways compared to the recording charts at the time without truly being of the novelty variety. I have written of several in previous posts: the Trashmen’s 1963 hit “Surfin’ Bird”, the Ran-Dells’ “Martian Hop” (also from 1963), and “Rip Van Winkle” by the Devotions from 1961. They were among my very favorite songs for years after I first heard them, so it is easy to see that I am partial to this kind of song.
(March 2013)
