DJ PsychoMike Presents SPIKE JONES! The Sex Pistols sang about anarchy, Spike WAS Anarchy!

The first time I saw Spike Jones was an early music film featuring Mel Blanc and I was mesmerized. Hiccups as music? I am still mesmerized by his music! This you gotta hear

Spike Jones played in classical music orchestras and was bored with playing the same music the same way every night, so he gathered together like-minded musicians and including instruments such as pots, pans, whistles and gunshots began murdering music. This was the first music film I saw of him and when I realized Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and so many of my fav cartoon characters I had to know more about Spike Jones. Mel by the way, is wearing the hat at the opening of the short and provides hiccups:

This song was a massive hit and a follow-up to his massive hit DER FUERHER’S FACE from early 1943:

When Spike took on classical music it was a clear case of homicide. The fact all his musicians could play their instruments at the highest possible skill levels made their music even more fun as this clip shows:

Spike and his pals had families when they first began playing together so their wives took care of the kids and Spike would tape their jam sessions for the wives to hear. A tape ended up at RCA records and Spike was offered a contract and his musical mayhem went national. No song, no genre was safe.

GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY: Parody of the cowboy song made famous in 1949 by Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Men. Only Jones can't play it straight - a rather vague lead cowboy appears to be stone drunk, while his opposite number sounds as though he would feel more at home at a barmitzvah. Fine audio comedy, and they name check Monroe in the final verse:

When Spike did his drag performance you must remember a man dressing as a woman was illegal - unless they were onstage. Not only was Spike playing havoc with the music, he was also mocking the law:

A Spike Jones Classic. Billy Barty impersonating Liberace. Along with Sir Frederic Gas (Earl Bennett) performing as Lee's brother, George. Liberace and George, who played the violin, performed together when they started out. Spike Jones Show, January 30, 1954, NBC:

Spike became so popular singers and comedians wanted to work with him.

Spike and his musical gang started appearing in TV shows and movies doing cameos and in 1954 he starred in his own movie:

Here’s Spike on THE JACK BENNY SHOW with guest George Burns:

Spike had a popular radio show as well, here it is with special guest Boris Karloff:

Spike even had a TV show! The Spike Jones Show, August 20, 1957

Spike Jones died on May 1, 1965 in his sleep of complications due to emphysema. He was 53 years old and he was still performing.

Here we are halfway through Summer as we await the return of WFMU DJ Dave The Spazz. I’m the Summer replacement and if today’s post made you smile, I think Spike would be happy. My name PsychoMike comes from my DJ days at punk rock clubs in Chicago: The Liar’s Club, Delilah’s, Crystal Palace, The Holiday Club, Club 950 and I was the first person to play mashups in America at Sonotheque.

Behind The Paywall: A deeper dive into Spike Jones, a record album, TV appearances, Dr. Demento discusses Spike and more!