Song:Purple People Eater
Album:Dr. Demento's 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records Of All Time
I'm sure most folks are familiar with this 1958 million selling novelty classic. But you're probably not aware that Shelby "Sheb" Wooley had a long career as a country music star and actor. This was his only big pop hit. He was born Apr. 10, 1921 in Erick, OK and worked the rodeo circuit as a teen. He moved to Fort Worth, TX in 1946 and had his own radio show but moved to Los Angeles in 1949. A publishing deal led to a record contract with MGM Records in 1950. He started acting usually in Westerns. You might have seen him as Ben Miller in the 1952 classic High Noon. But he's best known as a regular on the TV series Rawhide. Wooley didn't seem to have much success in music until Purple People Eater. The song was supposedly influenced by the 1958 film The Blob with sped up tape effects that were obviously influenced by David Seville's 1958 hit Witch Doctor. Purple People Eater topped the pop singles chart and sold three million copies. Apparently it was one of the biggest sellers in MGM history. Though Wooley never had another novelty hit, he continued to act and had a country music chart topper with the 1962 song That's My Dad. He also had some success in the late 60s with his drunken comedian character Ben Colder that appeared on the TV series Hee Haw. He also wrote the theme to the show. Bear Family has released several Sheb Wooley comps. But I suspect most folks are only interested in Purple People Eater and this 2CD comp of Dr. Demento selections is perfect. Sheb Wooley continued to perform and appear in films (he was in the 1986 film Hoosiers) until he was diagnosed with Leukemia in 1998 and died on Sept. 16, 2003 at age 82. Here's Sheb Wooley performing Purple People Eater 1958.
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