Why did I NOT know girlfromthenorthcountry back then? My friends and I did the same thing but we had no idea that any geeky girls that like Dr. Demento existed … in fact we had no idea about girls, in general.
I had female Demento Society pen pals in the late 1980s, along with a certain friend of mine who will probably comment later. In the mid- 1990s we sealed all their letters in a plastic lion head and buried it at an undisclosed location. Maybe some day we’ll dig them up and post them. But probably not.
We also had a male pen pal who sent us a tape. It must be in a box in the basement or something.
Staying up late on Sundays out in the country on the Range listening in bed to a staticy (wasn’t it on KQ?) transmission on my flip-clock radio. Geeky now, but not then, man. It couldn’t have been cooler. Thanks, Doctor, and I’m glad you’re not dead, too.
Used to listen to him on the A.M. on sauna nights on the homestead-I remember how good the reception was on those clear winter nights. Everybody run. The homecoming queen’s got a gun.
As you might have guessed, I was Paul’s friend who also had demented pen pals. Incidentally, that PDD banner where I’m in the “Beast Master” truck? That was taken the day we buried the letters. We used the truck to uproot an old flagpole in Paul’s backyard, and buried the letters in the hole.
Why did you guys bury the letters?? was it some strange adolescent ritual to expunge yourselves of your geekiness? I want to know what goes on in the he-man woman hater’s club.
@Wildgoose, by the time I met you, you were too busy making mix tapes of Chicago and Rush to bother with the Doctor any longer. 😉
I didn’t say where in the yard it’s buried. Did you see Stand by Me? Ol’ Verno looked for his buried jar of pennies for 9 months under the porch and never found it. I’m not worried.
If I were to honestly say why we buried the letters, I’d say that it was because we had three choices as to what to do with them: 1) Keep them forever in a box somewhere. 2) Throw them away. 3) Bury them.
You could have dressed up in the geekiest old clothes you could find, built a bonfire, and burned the letters while cranking Dead Puppies or some other such dementedness. That’s what I would have done.
Well, we didn’t really want to destroy the letters. We kind of thought of it as a time capsule, though I’m sure we’ll never dig them up and if we did, I can’t believe that they’d still be intact after 20+ years underground.
Back to the Doctor. It’s fun to peruse his playlist archives (on what is billed as his “online internet site” perhaps tongue-in-cheek but I somehow don’t think so). Although, doing so shows you that the late 70s/early 80s really were the heyday of novelty music, and that recent shows are still made up largely of material from that era. If you listened to the Doctor in 1983, chances are that a show from the past few years would sound very familiar.
I was actually reminiscing with a coworker about Dr. D the other day. As a kid, I spent a good amount of time listening to him on an old AM radio I found in a pile of junk outside a dumpster near our house.
I too would stay up late and record the broadcasts back in high school. I actually heard the original broadcast when Weird Al was discovered. Those were good, nerdy times.
Every once in a while still, a random song from that era would pop into my head and I’ll have to find his playlists from broadcasts online and figure who sang it. Thank you, internets. And thank YOU, Dr.
Dagger to the heart there, GirlFromtheNorthCountry. Ouch.
This one was originally going to be a long drawn out comment but instead I thought better of it made a little blog post instead, not wanting to suck up any more bandwidth here with my geekiness/suckage … But hey, great post, this one took me down memory lane and a little further than I probably wanted to go even.
Wildgoose, you know I got nothin but love for you, old friend. Sending out a dedication to you of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Haha.” Stay demented!
He knows things that you don’t know
Which he transmitted on the radio
He still loves a big black 78
And always eats what’s on his plate
He loves a rock and roll 45
A train whistle makes him come alive
He loves an LP 33
Demented music will set you free
You can’t imagine how he feels
With a new cassette or a reel to reel
Vinyl dreams and time suspended
Don’t forget to stay demented!
(Adapted from the song, “Doctor of Dementia.”)
Holy crap, for a second I thought you were going to say he’s dead! O_o
Well, bummer that he’s not broadcasting anymore, but I’m glad he’s not dead.
I’m such a dork, I used to stay up till midnight on Sundays to record his show. And play it over and over. Geeky.
I hate to admit that I didn’t know he was still broadcasting. Had I known I would have been listening. Fish heads!
Why did I NOT know girlfromthenorthcountry back then? My friends and I did the same thing but we had no idea that any geeky girls that like Dr. Demento existed … in fact we had no idea about girls, in general.
I had female Demento Society pen pals in the late 1980s, along with a certain friend of mine who will probably comment later. In the mid- 1990s we sealed all their letters in a plastic lion head and buried it at an undisclosed location. Maybe some day we’ll dig them up and post them. But probably not.
We also had a male pen pal who sent us a tape. It must be in a box in the basement or something.
Ah, nerd treasures.
Be A Demented Pen Pal.
Staying up late on Sundays out in the country on the Range listening in bed to a staticy (wasn’t it on KQ?) transmission on my flip-clock radio. Geeky now, but not then, man. It couldn’t have been cooler. Thanks, Doctor, and I’m glad you’re not dead, too.
Used to listen to him on the A.M. on sauna nights on the homestead-I remember how good the reception was on those clear winter nights. Everybody run. The homecoming queen’s got a gun.
As you might have guessed, I was Paul’s friend who also had demented pen pals. Incidentally, that PDD banner where I’m in the “Beast Master” truck? That was taken the day we buried the letters. We used the truck to uproot an old flagpole in Paul’s backyard, and buried the letters in the hole.
Damn it Barrett! You revealed the secret location! Back off scavengers! Back off!
Why did you guys bury the letters?? was it some strange adolescent ritual to expunge yourselves of your geekiness? I want to know what goes on in the he-man woman hater’s club.
@Wildgoose, by the time I met you, you were too busy making mix tapes of Chicago and Rush to bother with the Doctor any longer. 😉
I didn’t say where in the yard it’s buried. Did you see Stand by Me? Ol’ Verno looked for his buried jar of pennies for 9 months under the porch and never found it. I’m not worried.
If I were to honestly say why we buried the letters, I’d say that it was because we had three choices as to what to do with them: 1) Keep them forever in a box somewhere. 2) Throw them away. 3) Bury them.
I think the choice is clear, don’t you?
You could have dressed up in the geekiest old clothes you could find, built a bonfire, and burned the letters while cranking Dead Puppies or some other such dementedness. That’s what I would have done.
Well, we didn’t really want to destroy the letters. We kind of thought of it as a time capsule, though I’m sure we’ll never dig them up and if we did, I can’t believe that they’d still be intact after 20+ years underground.
Back to the Doctor. It’s fun to peruse his playlist archives (on what is billed as his “online internet site” perhaps tongue-in-cheek but I somehow don’t think so). Although, doing so shows you that the late 70s/early 80s really were the heyday of novelty music, and that recent shows are still made up largely of material from that era. If you listened to the Doctor in 1983, chances are that a show from the past few years would sound very familiar.
I was actually reminiscing with a coworker about Dr. D the other day. As a kid, I spent a good amount of time listening to him on an old AM radio I found in a pile of junk outside a dumpster near our house.
Good times … good times.
He looks like Eric Eskola.
I too would stay up late and record the broadcasts back in high school. I actually heard the original broadcast when Weird Al was discovered. Those were good, nerdy times.
Every once in a while still, a random song from that era would pop into my head and I’ll have to find his playlists from broadcasts online and figure who sang it. Thank you, internets. And thank YOU, Dr.
Boot to the head!
Dagger to the heart there, GirlFromtheNorthCountry. Ouch.
This one was originally going to be a long drawn out comment but instead I thought better of it made a little blog post instead, not wanting to suck up any more bandwidth here with my geekiness/suckage … But hey, great post, this one took me down memory lane and a little further than I probably wanted to go even.
Wildgoose, you know I got nothin but love for you, old friend. Sending out a dedication to you of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Haha.” Stay demented!
I feel much better now, and hey “Dead Puppies” right back at you GFNC.
I see your Ogden Edsl and Napoleon the XIV and raise you both some Allan Sherman.
I’ll see your Allan Sherman and raise you some Frantics.