Dr. Demento Covered In Punk Unveils Adam West's Cover of 'The Thing' I
By: Caryn Robbins Dec. 15, 2017
Demented Punk today unveiled the late Adam West's cover of "The Thing," originally performed by Phil Harris of the Jack Benny Show. "The Thing" was first released in 1950, where it spent four weeks atop the Billboard Pop charts and eventually became one of the most successful novelty songs of all time. West is famous for his iconic role as Batman in the 1960s TV series of the same name, the voice of reoccurring character "Mayor West" on the animated series "Family Guy," and countless other appearances in TV and film. He contributed one of his final performances to this classic novelty track prior to passing earlier this year.
"The Thing" appears on Demented Punk's Dr. Demento Covered In Punk which is due for release on January 12, 2018. The song was produced by John Cafiero and backed by Osaka Popstar's Demented Punk Orchestra, which features drums by Dennis Diken (The Smithereens), bass guitar by Sal Maida (Roxy Music, Milk 'n' Cookies) guitar by Dean Rispler (Dictators, Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black), and a full horn section. Cafiero, who produced and curated the entire project, had the following to add about the experience of working with West:Dr. Demento Covered In Punk is a special two-hour demented punk extravaganza, structured like one of Demento's original radio shows. The collection features an eclectic mix of artists from the world of classic and contemporary punk/indie/alt-rock, along with special guest stars from film, TV and more. "The Thing" is available now as an instant grat track to fans who preorder the physical album HERE and those who preorder it digitally from iTunes. It can also be previewed HERE. Original artwork for "The Thing" was created by pop culture artist and enthusiast Neil Camera, known for Topps' Garbage Pail Kids, Wacky Packages and Mars Attacks cards and sticker sets.
Dr. Demento Covered In Punk features over thirty different, never before released, all-new 'punk' cover versions of 'mad music and crazy comedy' songs famously heard on the airwaves of the legendary "Dr Demento Show"- intermixed with 'wild card' tracks showcasing some incredible, newly 'demented' versions of punk-rock classics! Joined by everyone from the Misfits, Joan Jett, Fred Schneider of the B52s, to "Weird Al" Yankovic, and Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner (to name just a few). The Doctor is in...and he's 'Covered in Punk'!! A full track listing can be found HERE.
Dr. Demento Covered In Punk includes an in-depth booklet with equally entertaining liner notes and personal quotes from the participating artists, a foreword by album producer and Demented Punk founder John Cafiero (Misfits, Ramones, Osaka Popstar), an afterword by Dr. Demento, as well as factoids, photos and an array of dynamic paintings and illustrations created exclusively for the project by a team of visual artists spanning the world of comic books, classic punk rock album covers, Topps trading card series, Mad Magazine and more. The cover artwork for the album was created by iconic illustrator Drew Friedman whose work has appeared in countless publications from Entertainment Weekly and Time Magazine to Rolling Stone and the New Republic and just about everything in between.
Wind up your radio dementites and dementoids-the doctor is in!
About Dr. Demento The Dr. Demento Show has been celebrating 'mad music and crazy comedy' on the airwaves playing everything from Spike Jones to Frank Zappa for nearly five decades. Responsible for introducing the world to its #1 most requested song of all time, "Fish Heads", and launching the career of the most successful artist in the entire history of funny music-"Weird Al" Yankovic; the world-famous Doctor's influence on pop culture has earned him induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame, a documentary feature film on his life and career currently in production, and even an appearance on The Simpsons.
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