Song Of The Day 4/11/2013: Rose & The Arrangement (or Possum) (or with Possum) - "Chula Vista"

During my time in junior high and high school, you had your Dr. Who geeks, and you had your Dr. Demento geeks. For at least a while I was one of the latter. Dr. Demento was, and remains, the foremost novelty-song DJ in America, if not the world. For you young kids, he is primarily responsible for foisting 'Weird' Al Yankovic upon the world. For the rest of us in our motor-assisted walking devices, Demento first introduced us to such stuff as Tom Lehrer, Monty Python's music, and globally revered superstars like Ogden Edsl ("Dead Puppies") and Damaskus ("Making Love In a Subaru"). What wonderful times, what perennial comedy, what social impediments and hormonal delays Dr. Demento provided us young men.

One of the biggest Demento hits from the early '70s was "The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati" by Rose & The Arrangement. They also either recorded as the name Possum, or collaborated with a band named Possum (the internets are not clearly resolving this for me), on one of my favorite Demento tracks, "Chula Vista." It's about the Neverland between San Diego and the Mexican border. As you can hear it's minimalist and not punch-line funny at all, unless you consider a twanging sound to be an effective punch-line. The laughing people on the recording seem to think so, but let's face it, they're stoned.