JERRY SAMUELS
Kim Fowley’s follow-up single to “The Trip” was a cover of the bizarre novelty song “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” that made the charts. The original version of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” was recorded in 1966 by Napoleon XIV, the pseudonym of Jerry Samuels. The lyrics include just about every pejorative and urban legend ever applied to the mentally ill: berserk, flip my lid, funny farm, men in white coats, basket weavers, maniacal laughter, etc. The song climbed to #3 on the charts but then plummeted almost out of the Top 40 just two weeks later after radio stations quit playing the record because of its offensive lyrics.
(January 2015/1)
|