Spike Jones


Spike Jones (December 14, 1911 - May 1, 1965) was a popular
musician/comedian. He was born Lindley Armstrong Jones in Long Beach,
California. He became a drummer and bandleader, initially supporting such
performers as Al Jolson on the Kraft Music Hall radio programme, then in his
own band The City Slickers.

The City Slickers created and performed a series of anarchic, cacophonous
parodies of popular songs. An early success was "Der Fuehrer's Face". "All I
Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" was a number one hit in 1948.

Other band members were George Rock (voice and trumpet), Doodles Weaver
(voice) and Red Ingle (voice).

Jones's wife was the singer Helen Grayco, who performed on some of his radio shows.

Some other well-known tracks included:

   * "Cocktails for Two"
   * "William Tell Overture"
   * "That Old Black Magic"
   * "The Blue Danube"
   * "The Sheik of Araby"
   * "You Always Hurt the One You Love"

Some modern reissues of Spike Jones recordings suffer from poor sound
quality. A useful and well-remastered compilation is The Spike Jones
Anthology (Rhino, 1994), which was co-produced by Dr. Demento.