Barry & the Bookbinders
Triumphs & Tragedies: Hits and Misses From 1982-2002
© 2003 Barry Bookbinder (659057638621)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
Gut-busting comedy music in a variety of styles.
tracks
- 1 She Grabbed My Coconuts
- 2 Inner Thoughts
- 3 The Knuckle Song
- 4 2 Hot 4 U, Pt. II
- 5 18 Wheels Later
- 6 Fart In An Elevator
- 7 You Have 257 Messages
- 8 Right Hand
- 9 How Wuz I 2 Know?
- 10 Learn How To Drive!
- 11 This Song . . .
- 12 Hairy Sheri
- 13 Good Things Come In Small Packages
- 14 I Can't Sing
- 15 Chocolate Anaconda
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notes
Barry & the Bookbinders:
How It Happened, Who's To Blame
Barry & the Bookbinders began, literally, as Barry & the Bookbinders. Back in 1978, my youngest brother Fathead (a.k.a. Brad) discovered Peter Criss of the band KISS and had a quasi-religious experience. Fats immediately convinced The Red Tornado and Snazzy Hal (a.k.a. my mom and dad) to buy him a drum set, and he began his long (and ultimately successful) quest to cause the old bag who lived across the street to suffer a myocardial infarction.
Shortly thereafter, I discovered KISS and had a quasi-religious experience of my own. However, to me, lead vocals and rhythm guitar were the place to be, so I worshipped the ground upon which Paul Stanley strutted. I blew a huge wad of cash on a guitar, an amp, and a P.A. system. Fatty dragged his drum set into my room, and we began to jam together, much to the chagrin of my parents, the cops, and the old bag who lived across the street.
My other brothers, Barney (a.k.a. Brian) and Le Scum (a.k.a. Bruce), were not yet musicians at that time. (To this day, Barnacle Barn still isn't, although Tweedle Scum eventually became quite the bassist/keyboardist). However, in the early days, they were willing to step up to the microphone and vocalize.
The first song I ever wrote was a demented pile of crap called "Dr. Mad." It was inspired by a haunted house game we used to play where we would try to scare the shit out of each other. In one particular game, someone (I can't remember who) had the brainstorm of trying to make the haunted house lame instead of scary. When everyone walked into the darkened room, this person held a flashlight under his chin and said, "He's Dr. Mad. If you are good, he'll make you bad. If you are happy, he'll make you sad. He's Dr. Mad." Needless to say, whoever this person was achieved his goal of being lame. Yet, the song I wrote mocking his lameness was far lamer.
As time went on, I wrote a few more demented songs like "I Can't Sing" (self-explanatory) and "(I've Fallen In Love With My) Right Hand" (equally self-explanatory). I played them for my friend Nyeah! (a.k.a. Elliot Solomon), a keyboardist/aspiring record producer. Lucky for me, he was as twisted as I was, and he convinced me to record my tunes and send them to the undisputed king of all that is warped: DR. DEMENTO.
The name "Barry & the Bookbinders" was coined by my friend Kirsten (nickname unknown). Following one high school party at my parents' house where I had played guitar and Minnesota Fathead had played drums, Kirsten sent a "Thank You" card to us that had a drum set drawn on the envelope. She wrote the logo, "Barry & the Bookbinders" on the kick drum head. To this day, I am haunted by my decision to use that name for my Dr. Demento submissions; I can't be anonymous when singing about jerkin' the gherkin, cuttin' the cheese, or a certain body part with the dimensions of a cocktail frank.
The first song I ever sent to Dr. Demento was "(I've Fallen In Love With My) Right Hand." He promptly rejected it. Nevertheless, he was nice enough to send me a letter explaining why he felt the song sucked. So I was inspired to send him a second tune, "The Old Bag Convention." It was about wild senior citizen shindigs that were being thrown by my grandmother at my parents' house. Again, Dr. Demento gave it the big thumbs down. But he sent me another letter explaining that he couldn't play it because I urged homicidal violence against the elderly. Picky, picky.
Hoping the third time would be the charm, I sent Dr. D the aptly-titled, "I Can't Sing." To my delight, he wrote back and said he'd like to play it on his show. My dad heard the song for the first time when it was being played live on Dr. D's show, and after about 30 seconds, he yelled, "It's just a bunch of screaming!!!" I beamed with pride.
Since then, I've sent Dr. Demento songs at the incredibly prolific rate of less than one per year. (Hey, I'm a busy guy. Aw, screw it; I'm lazy). There has never been a steady Barry & the Bookbinders band lineup. Instead, I use whatever musicians are right for the particular song I'm
working on. If I need a chick singer, I get a chick singer. If I need someone who plays the harp, I get someone who plays the harp. If I need someone with big knockers to dress up in a nurse's uniform and administer a hot caramel enema, I . . . hey, can anyone out there help me with this one?
As 20 years have passed since I sent Dr. D that first song, and I've never released a compilation of my work, I figured it was about time. Hence, if you enjoy this collection, you'll have to live for another 20 years, because that's probably how long it will take me to release the next one. But thanks for listening, sucka! ROCK ON!!!
Barry Bookbinder, Esq.
2002
reviews
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Great hits I remember!
author: JunodLooked for this for years! Awesome -- especially 2 Hot 4 U. Thanx guys!
Another "Wierd" Al in the making?
author: GregGreat album. My favs were the tunes. IMO, Barry could be another, yet darker, Weird Al.
will tickle your funny bone
author: underground williethis cd will get you laughing and you will find it hard to stop. warning: don't play this during surgery. first rate stuff hitting all sorts or unmentionable topics. have fun.
Long time Bookbinder fan - waiting for this cd!
author: SteveI've been listening to the songs from this cd since they first appeared on the Dr. Demento show and I was very excited to see that he put out the compilation. The styles are diverse, the humor is excellent and I had a blast reading the liner notes. I'd gladly wait another 20 years for another cd of this quality. Buy it today!
- author: Sid Yip
I like this CD a lot. I wish Barry & the Bookbinders would try some classics like Silent Night.
- author: Robert Whitaker Sirignano
Well, this isn't anything I'd play for my wife or daughter, cause it is mostly creepy guy stuff (but I find it funny) and often begs me to ask "is he grown up yet?" I wish he'd have a few other people record "Big things come in small packages" like Wayne Newton and Maryln Manson. I listen to this recording in my car. That way I don't have to listen to right wing talk radio.
I heard the hits, where's the misses?
author: Derik "Fat DJ D" RhumI've long enjoyed The Bookbinders work on the Dr. Demento show and it's so awesome to finally have Barry's work collected on one CD. Even those who don't normally like demented music should enjoy Triumphs & Tragedies because the wide range of musical styles and the superb musicianship. Unless of course your comically challenged and melodically intolerant. However, if you were I don't think you'd be on CDBABY.com!
Verrrrry Funny!
author: BobSeriously funny CD. Too bad Dr. Demento won't play all the songs on this CD, because they are well done and haven't gotten stale inspite of many re-listenings. CD Baby was cheap and fast in shipping. They are my new CD source, with better pricing than local, even with shipping!
Great CD
author: Derwood BowenI actually enjoyed the CD. Some were kind of quirky, and some were plain comedy. Either way, it was good. My favorite tracks are The Knuckle Song, 2 Hot 4U Part II, You have 257 messages, and This Song. I say go out and get it.
Best damn comedy CD ever!
author: Crazy JayFirst song I ever heard by Barry and The Bookbinders was She Grabbed My Coconuts, and I could not get Dr. Demento to play it enough, so one day after a ton of letters and phone calls he played it for me, and gave me my name Crazy Jay www.thecrazyjayshow.com
An amusing comment upon our society
author: Larry LangI was so pleased to find this cd available. I had been in touch with Barry to try to get a copy of his works a while back. I enjoy nearly all the tracks immensely and enjoy hearing the couple I never heard on Dr Demento and the new unreleased track. Keep up the strong work Barry and I'll buy the next disc in another 20 years!
I like it!
author: Zack EthridgeI first heard of Barry and the Bookbinders many years ago on the Dr. Demento show. The work was funny, professional and best of all, not repetitive! Each song could have come from a different artist, they were that far from each other in terms of classification or sound or whatever. As I kept hearing the material appear over the years I often wondered who these folks were and why they took such effort without trying to sell the public a package. I mean really, how can you make a living producing unreleased songs played by only one radio program? Now a cd appears and it's a true eye opener. I love the liner notes, and the chatter about each song! Thanks Barry! Has it really been 20 years? (it's surely about time!)
Funny songs with great production values.
author: Jeff MorrisI first heard talk of Barry & The Bookbinders compiling a CD ten years ago. I'm glad they finally did it! Each song on the CD is different from the last, and twisted in its own way. This is a compilation of almost everything they've done in the past 20 years, but it's all high quality because they only record when inspiration strikes.