Hunting the Wily Birdaphone
This post at my friend Jonathan's 'blog about the Birdaphone led me to the Spike Jones Fan site, which in turn brought me to Thomas Pynchon's (?!) liner notes for the album, Spiked! The Music of Spike Jones, then finally to this musical postcard at the Internet Museum of Flexi/Cardboard/Oddity Records.
I never did find a picture of a Birdaphone.
Spike caricature courtesy of the Wondrous Wayno
Comments
I have Spiked. It's a great collection of Spike Jones tunes. Pynchon's notes are rather good. I always felt he must've listened to a lot of '40s music while writing Gravity's Rainbow. He has "appeared" twice now on the Simpsons.
Posted by: jim | March 19, 2005 1:31 PM
Jim-I've caught both of Pynchon's appearances on the Simpsons, but I have to confess that I couldn't make it past page 10 of Gravity's Rainbow (although, my wife and I did name one of our cats, "Brigadier Pudding").
I grew up listening to Dr. Demento, so Spike's music is a big aural touchstone for me.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | March 19, 2005 3:55 PM
Really, MrBaliHai? Somebody suggested GR to me in college. They thought I'd like it. I'd never heard of Pynchon. I read it in a little under a week. I thought it was the greatest thing since the light bulb. I still like flipping through it. An old friend of mine's mom used to play us 45s of Spike Jones. We though it was the best thing since ...
Posted by: jim | March 20, 2005 11:12 AM
This is just an educated guess, but I believe this is the same thing as a "birdophone." These people call it a fartwhistle, but I'm pretty sure it's the same old novelty gag (like P.D.Q. Bach renaming the toy "floogle" the "Lasso D'Amore" for added komedy value).
Your friend,
Posted by: HP | March 26, 2005 1:35 PM
I think you're right, HP. After much searching, I found a site that claimed the Birdaphone was a simple rubber razzer, also known as a Bronx Cheer.
Kind of disappointing, actually.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | March 26, 2005 3:09 PM