Artist:Spike Jones & His City Slickers
Song:Chloe
Album:The Best Of Spike Jones
They say humour is a serious business but you wouldn't know it from watching Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones and his outrageous song parodies and stage antics. He was born Dec. 14, 1911 in Long Beach, CA. The nickname Spike was because his father was a railroad man. He started out as a session drummer and played in the John Scott Trotter orchestra that backed up Bing Crosby on White Christmas. The idea for The City Slickers came out of a band called the Feather Merchants headed up by vocalist Del Porter. Spike Jones signed with RCA Records in 1941 and became known for his song parodies and even crazier stage shows. Their big breakthrough hit was 1943's Der Fuhrer's Face and they had a very successful radio show in the 40s. Chloe is a fairly typical parody of a pretentious pop song as performed by Sir Frederick Gas. This comp is a reasonable introduction for beginners. Other main member of The City Slickers included trumpeter George Rock, Yiddish comedian Mickey Katz, Doodles Weaver, midget actor Billy Barty and Spike's singer wife Helen Grayco. Spike Jones also had a popular TV series in the 50s. As Rock 'N' Roll became more popular, Spike's career wound down because he thought the music was a parody already. Also his lifelong smoking habit caught up with him. He continued to record for Verve & Liberty and died of lung cancer on May 1, 1965 at age 53. Spike Jones invented song parodies and has influenced all who followed. Here's a medley of hits including Chloe with Sir Frederick Gas from the 1954 Spike Jones TV show.
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