THE RAN-DELLS 
“Rip Van Winkle” wasn’t as good as a later novelty hit that I absolutely loved – “Martian Hop” by the Ran-Dells – and I had a connection there also: There was a TV show called My Favorite Martian where the Martian (played by Ray Walston) was named “Uncle Martin”. There weren’t too many Martin’s in the world back then, at least that I knew about. I even created little antennae (bent from the wire that bound the newspapers together for my paper route) that I wore behind my ears to class; they were supposed to be like the ones that would rise up from Walston’s head from time to time when he was doing his Martian thing. (March 2012) * * * It is not really a rare event for a song to come out of nowhere and grab the zeitgeist – that’s virtually the definition of a novelty song – but there have been a host of songs that are just as sideways compared to the recording charts at the time without truly being of the novelty variety. I have written of several in previous posts: the Trashmen’s 1963 hit “Surfin’ Bird”, the Ran-Dells’ “Martian Hop” (also from 1963), and “Rip Van Winkle” by the Devotions from 1961. They were among my very favorite songs for years after I first heard them, so it is easy to see that I am partial to this kind of song. (March 2013) |